Curtis H. Smook, age 72, of Magnolia, Minnesota, went to his home in heaven on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, while at the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage in Luverne, Minnesota.
Visitation will be Friday, April 15, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Hartquist Funeral Home in Luverne. Funeral service will be Saturday, April 16, at 11 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Luverne. Burial will be held at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne at a later date. To view Curt’s life tribute video livestream of service, or sign an online registry, please visit www.hartquistfuneral.com
Curtis “Curt” Harold Smook was born June 4, 1949, to Harold and Marjorie (Donth) Smook at the (Old Wooden) Luverne Community Hospital in Luverne. Curt was raised in Magnolia and attended school there. He helped his grandfather with shelling corn, scooping corn, and baling hay. He played youth sports, mainly football and basketball. He absolutely loved working on cars with his buddies and driving them hard. Curt volunteered for the SeaBees, a branch of the U.S. Navy, from 1968-1971. He served in Vietnam from January 1969 to September 1969.
Curt met his future wife one October at a Halloween party. On March 26, 1971, Curt was united in marriage to Mary Jane Hogenson at Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead, Minnesota. The couple began their married life in a rented apartment in Luverne. Curt worked at the Mobile Truckstop on Cliff Avenue on the north side of I-90 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He then worked on the farm for Gene Cragoe and then worked for Hansen Silo for a season.
In the fall of 1971, Curt began trucking over-the-road hauling grain. At this time, the couple moved to Dilworth, Minnesota. In 1974 they returned to Luverne, and Curt worked for Midwest Coast Transport trucking out of Sioux Falls. In November they moved to a house in Magnolia where they made their permanent home. In 1977 Curt stopped drinking and continued his sobriety for the remainder of his life. In 1984 Curt bought his own truck and leased it to Midwest Coast for six years. Then he started hauling to the West Coast for American Midwest out of Willmar, Minnesota, and Midwest Transport out of New Ulm, Minnesota. The last six years before his retirement, he worked for B & G Transport out of Madison, South Dakota, taking routes to Kalamazoo, Michigan.
He officially retired in July of 2014 but continued working part time to keep himself busy and to help various people including CHS Elevator in Magnolia, Steve Bendts Trucking and Don Arends Trucking.
Curt was a member of the United Methodist Church in Magnolia. He enjoyed camping and going on cruises. He enjoyed a hobby of collecting model railroad trains. His love for travel often included stops at train museums and other places that had particular history in regard to trains.
He was the proud owner of a 1965 Cushman Super Silver Eagle Scooter. He belonged to the state and national Cushman clubs. In 2017 he entered it in the local parade.
Curt loved his wife, Mary, very much and he affectionately called her “his little sweetie,” which she loved (she was only 5’1”). Often he would mention to others a joke he saw on Facebook, “Short girls are like cuddly little teddy bears until you make them mad. Then they become rabid chipmunks.”
Curt is survived by his wife, Mary; children Jane (Randy) Baker of Steen, Minnesota, Matthew (Ann) Smook of Luverne, and Kay (Craig) Wynia of Rock Rapids, Iowa; grandchildren Emma, Cole, and Kelsey Baker, Jacob Munger and Marissa (Derek) Tuttle, and Braden (fiancée Brianna Van Veldhuizen), Mason and Melanie Wynia; siblings Randy (Vicki) Smook of Luverne, Kevin Smook of Magnolia, and Jenalee (Allen) Klein of Ft. Myers, Florida; sister-in-law Arlene Smook; and numerous relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Marjorie Smook; brothers Myron and Dennis Smook; and grandparents Ed and Jenny Donth and Henry and Tillie Smook.
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