Duane "Red" Hawthorn

SIOUX CITY -- Duane "Red" Hawthorn, 84, a longtime power company executive in Sioux City and Minneapolis died Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010, in Sioux City. Before his retirement, Mr. Hawthorn worked for many years for Iowa Public Service Company and later managed an electric utility cooperative in Minneapolis.
Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, December 29, 2010, with the family present at Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home. Arrangements are under the direction of Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home.
Mr. Hawthorn was born Dec. 17, 1925, in Ames, Iowa, the son of Dr. H. B. and Hazel Waples Hawthorn. He lived with his parents in Ames, later in Akron, Ohio, and then moved to the family home in Castana, Iowa, where he graduated from Castana High School.
He married Charlotte Carroll of Castana at Grace Methodist Church in Sioux City on Oct. 10, 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and the couple moved first to Idaho and then later to California while he was in training with the Navy. He later entered World War II, serving with the Navy in the South Pacific. After he was discharged from the Navy following the war, he and Charlotte moved to Ames, where he attended Iowa State University, graduating with a degree in engineering.
The couple then returned to Sioux City, where he began his career with the Iowa Public Service Company, now MidAmerican Energy. Duane built a new home on Bushnell Avenue, when that area was just developing in the mid-1950s, and did much of the construction, utility and finishing work himself.
Mr. Hawthorn was an executive with Iowa Public Service, serving as production manager and manager of energy supply, where he was responsible for both the electric and gas divisions. He was responsible for installing and operating a new control center for the utility. He was active in national utility associations and was a member of the North American Power System Interconnected Committee and helped develop operation guidelines which are used today. He was regional coordinator of the association and was chairman of the North Central region.
In 1976, Duane was chosen to manage the Mid-Continent Area Power Pool in Minneapolis, where he served until his retirement in 1991. He managed the center's expansion and oversaw the installation of a new computerized communications network. He also served as the regional director for the Emergency Electric Power Executive Reserve, U.S. Department of Energy, meeting frequently in Washington, D.C., with utility and government executives from across the nation to plan responses to national power emergencies.
At the time of his appointment in Minneapolis, he purchased a home in that city, and he and Charlotte lived in both cities over the next 35 years. Charlotte died in 2008.
Duane was a registered professional engineer in the state of Iowa, a member of the Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers and a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He was a member of the Sioux City Engineers Club and the Optimist Club of Sioux City. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge. He also served on the board of his Minneapolis condominium association. He was very active in both industry and community affairs, and was well-known in the community. He was a wonderful father to four girls, and was always involved and interested in their activities.
He is survived by two daughters, Connie Jo Hawthorn of Jacksonville, Fla., and Susan Jane (John) Adams of Virginia Beach, Va.; a sister-in-law, Dorothy Clark of Westminster, Colo.; two nieces and five nephews; and many other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Charlotte; two daughters, Barbara Annette and Paulette Jill; his father and mother, Dr. Horace and Mrs. Hazel (Waples) Hawthorn of Sioux City; two sisters and brothers-in-law, Carl E. Baker and Miriam (Hawthorn) Baker Nye of Moville, Iowa, and Dr. Donald and Clarice (Hawthorn) Watson of Eugene, Ore.; his mother-in-law, Emily Carroll of Onawa, Iowa; and a brother-in-law, Dr. Donald Clark of Westminster, Colo.
Memorials may be made in his name to the Morningside College scholarship fund.