Curtis Wayne Hess

Curt was born on February 27, 1945, in Eldora, Iowa, to Wayne Russell Hess and Edith Emma (Sheller) Hess. He grew up on the family farm west of Pipestone, Minnesota, alongside his five siblings in a close-knit family surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. As #7 of 39 Hess cousins, family was always at the center of his life. From an early age, he developed a passion for farming under the guidance of his father, grandfathers, and uncles. Family, faith, farming, and community remained the cornerstones of his life.

Curt attended District #35 Country School and graduated from Pipestone High School in 1963. Active in 4-H, church, football, baseball and wrestling, he excelled as an athlete, earning All-Southwest Conference football honors and placing fifth and third in the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament during his junior and senior years.

During his senior year, Curt began dating his classmate and future wife, Megan Bucher during Homecoming. Though recruited by several colleges for football and wrestling, farming remained his true calling. After attending the University of Minnesota, he transferred to Westmar University in Le Mars, Iowa, where he earned a degree in Industrial Arts Education while continuing to compete in football and wrestling. Curt and Megan were married on April 2, 1966.

He began his career as an Industrial Arts teacher, head wrestling coach, and assistant football coach in Bloomfield, Iowa, where their son, Carl Brooks, was born in 1968. In 1971, Curt and Megan returned to Pipestone to pursue their dream of farming. Their daughter, Angela Faye, was born in 1972, and in 1973 they purchased the farm southeast of Pipestone in Grey Township that Curt called home for the rest of his life.

Curt built a successful farming operation farrowing pigs and producing corn and soybeans. He also worked as a Vigortone Feed Representative and Golden Harvest Seed salesman. His passion for education and athletics continued through substitute teaching, officiating high school wrestling, and officiated at two Minnesota State High School Wrestling Tournaments. He supported his children’s 4-H activities, coached youth softball, and encouraged local wrestling programs.

Beyond farming, Curt was a man of many interests and talents. He enjoyed woodworking, photography, restoring antique tractors, fishing, gardening, cooking, baking, canning, genealogy, history, and poetry. He was an avid reader, a devoted follower of Minnesota sports, and a gifted storyteller. He loved geography, exploring backroads, and learning the history of Pipestone County, where he was a longtime member of the Pipestone County Historical Society. Curt and Megan shared a love of travel and created many cherished memories together. As a Grandfather he took his grandson faithfully to the Minnesota Vikings training camp every year, explored the Pipestone National Monument with them, took them on “dinasour dig” trip for days out west, and spent hours if not days invested helping with 4-H projects. He loved watching their sporting events as well.

Above all else, Curt loved Megan. He faithfully cared for her during her long illness and deeply missed her following her passing in 2016. In recent years, he devoted himself to preserving family memories, writing about their life together and recording his own life story for his daughter and grandsons.

After nearly four years of renal dialysis, Curt made the decision on Memorial Day 2026 to spend his remaining days at home under hospice care. Surrounded by family and friends, he enjoyed ten remarkable days filled with stories, laughter, music, photographs, favorite foods, warm embraces, and visits from loved ones. He delighted in watching his great-grandchildren play outside his window and hearing the familiar farm sounds, birds outside his windows and the sound of his beloved tractors one last time. Each evening he would say, “Wasn’t today just wonderful?” He was able to spend his final days exactly where he wanted to be-on the farm he loved, living life on his own terms in his own time.

Curt is survived by his favorite and only daughter, Angela Hess Buysman (Nathan) of Sibley, Iowa; grandsons, Chane Amdahl of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Chandler Hess Kor (Leanne Slavin) of Burtrum, Minnesota; step-grandchildren, Nick Buysman (Sara) of North Liberty, Iowa, and Lydia Buysman of Sibley, Iowa; six great-grandchildren, Bostyn Morris, Zayden Kor, Atlas Buysman, Elsie Amdahl, Nyah Kor, and Lainey Buysman; siblings, Myrna Huisken (George), Marlys Buddenhagen (Lyle), Joyce Ripley, and Duane Hess (Janelle); brother-in-law Jack Bucher; (his second son), Kerry Bucher (Pam); numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and many treasured friends, including special neighbors and friends Tim and Susie Otto.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of nearly 50 years, Megan Marie Bucher Hess; his son, Carl Brooks Hess; his parents, Wayne and Emma Hess; his parents-in-law, Lyle and Marda Bucher; and his sister, Bonnie Bucher.

To those who loved him most, Curt, Dad, Boopa – will always be remembered as incredibly smart, someone with an amazing memory, superhumanly strong, a will that could not be bent or broken and oh so handsome.