Susanna "Susie" DuShane

Susanna Elizabeth DuShane, 103 of Hastings, died peacefully at home on April 10, 2026.

Susie was born on December 9, 1922, on her parents’ farm to Fred and Anna (Meier) Bauer. All 13 siblings were born at home in nearby Vermillion, Dakota County, Minnesota.

On May 13, 1944, Susie was united in marriage to Robert F. DuShane. The ceremony was solemnized in the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Vermillion. They resided on the DuShane family farm in Ravenna Township. The farm was on the bank of the Vermillion River where family and cousins cruised the river most Sunday afternoons on a pontoon built by Bob. People drove to the country to see her large garden bordered with colorful zinnias. Like her sisters she embroidered towels, bedspreads, crocheted Afghans and tablecloths. She donated her handmade doilies to the Bauer Family Reunion in 2015. Susie was involved in the operation of the farm and related businesses, Sand Coulee Prairie Farmers (SCPF) and Miesville Grain Elevator. While it was common to cook for 30 relatives for holiday weekends, occasionally up to 500 attended business appreciation dinners and snowmobile gatherings on the farm. In the 1970’s they began making almost weekly visits to their cabin in Webster, Wisconsin.

Robert and Susie were blessed with sixty-two years of marriage prior to Robert’s passing, February 6, 2006. Living on the farm were four daughters and two sons. Susie is survived by her daughters, Sharon Young, Jeanne (Mike Deters) DuShane, Nancy (Jeff) Keene, Mary (Richard) Maher; and sons, Robert J. (Nancy Schommer) and James R. (Linda Reamer). There are 13 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Three Bauer sisters survive, Louise (Ernest) Kimmes, Emma (George) Doyle and Tillie (Gerald) Johnson. Until recently she and her sisters played cards on Sunday afternoons.

She was preceded in death by all six brothers, Tony, Mike, Nick, Matt, Leo, Andy; and sisters, infant Margaret, Rosie (Philip) Becker and Helen (John) Peine. In all she had 75 nieces and nephews, all on her Bauer side.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday April 20, 2026 at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, Hastings with a visitation from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the Mass. A private burial will be with her husband at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Cemetery, Hastings with a reception to follow.

Susie’s grandsons will serve as Honorary Pallbearers: Aaron Young, Erik McBeath, Lee DuShane, Christopher Maher, Nicholas Keene, Jeremy Maher and Ryan Young.

In lieu of flowers, Susie’s family requests memorials be made to family’s choice in her memory.