Grand Marshals honored for their years of commitment to Lonsdale

Lori Nickel, Montgomery Messenger

It's hard to think of anyone who has done more for the Lonsdale community than Fritz Duban. So when the Community Days Committee selected Fritz and his wife LaVerne as Grand Marshals for the Lonsdale Community Days events, it seemed a fitting honor for a couple so committed to their town.

The Dubans have lived in Lonsdale since 1960 when they bought a house in the small agricultural town about a year after they were married. Fritz opened a barber shop on Main Street which he later moved to their home.

During their 46 years in Lonsdale, Fritz became involved in nearly every organization in the area and even helped charter the Lions Club in town.

He has a long list of volunteer service, including American Legion Club member for 27 years and Lions Club charter member for 25 years. He was a volunteer firefighter with the Lonsdale Fire Department for 30 years and worked 39 years as the Lonsdale City Administrator. And if all that were not enough, Fritz is a Lonsdale Area Chamber of Commerce member and in his fifth year as a City Councilman.

It is also in part because of Fritz' efforts that Lonsdale has an ambulance stationed in town. He is the president of the Ambulance Association, a service devoted to supporting the dispatch and ambulance service from Northfield that covers Lonsdale 16 hours each day.

The Dubans have been married 47 years and raised three boys; Allen, Dean and Scott. During that time, LaVerne spent many years as a devoted mother while operating a beauty shop from their home.

I wouldn't have been able to be involved in any of that if it weren't for her