Duane Dale Thomas was born July 9, 1950 in Windom, MN to parents Orville "Bud" and Thelma (Brugman) Thomas. He died September 25, 2012 at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Viborg, SD at the age of 62 years, two months and 16 days. Duane was raised in southwestern Minnesota before his family moved to the Beresford, SD area where he graduated from Beresford High School. Duane maintained Bud's Service Station on Highway 77 north of Beresford, where he hauled water to many rural customers. He also worked for many years at Truck Towne. He worked mostly as a cashier on the night shift, where many of his customers became his friends. Duane was also a very good mechanic and enjoyed working on all types of cars and machinery. His nephew and nieces especially appreciated him rebuilding their go cart several times. Duane's hobby was collecting many kinds of things. He was driven by a passion to collect anything with wheels. He most enjoyed collecting tractors (Minneapolis Molines) and all types of cars. Some of Duane's favorite pastimes were going to threshing shows such as at Pioneer Village in Madison and Granite, IA. He also loved going to swap meets. He is survived by his sister, Linda (Tom) Farley of Beresford; nephew, Chris (Amy) Farley of Beresford; nieces, Sherri Bratzel of Alcester, Holly (Collin) Lacher of Sioux Falls and Randi (Mike) Murphy of Harrisburg; eight great-nieces and nephews and one great-great-nephew. His parents and nephew-in-law, Lee Bratzel, preceded him in death. Graveside services will be 2PM Saturday, September 29, 2012 at Beresford City Cemetery. Visitation will be 5-8PM Friday at Wass Funeral Home in Beresford with the family present from 6-8PM.