Daniel J. Werner

Daniel J. Werner, age 66, of Decorah, IA, died Sunday, September 21, 2014, surrounded by the love of his family and friends, at Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester, MN. Memorial Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, September 29, 2014 at First Lutheran Church in Decorah with Rev. Chad Huebner officiating. Visitation will begin at 1:00 p.m. Monday, one hour before the service, at the church. Daniel John Werner was born September 14, 1948, the son of Edward and Rosalia (Fork) Werner in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Dan was the third of seven children. He graduated from Deer Lakes High School in 1966 before beginning work at US Steel. In May 1967, Dan enlisted in the Air Force and trained as a weather equipment technician. He served in Vietnam and was later stationed in England and Germany before leaving the service in 1976 as a Staff Sergeant in Sacramento, California. Following his honorable discharge, Dan began attending night school and earned his BA in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento before pursuing his Master’s Degree in Hospital and Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1981. Dan served as Vice President for Mt. Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and St. Mary’s Health Network in Reno, Nevada. After moving back to the Midwest, Dan assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer for Owatonna Hospital in Owatonna, Minnesota, and continued in this role during his terms at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford, Delaware, and finally Winneshiek Medical Center of Decorah, retiring in 2012. He was awarded the honor of Fellow by the American College of Healthcare Executives in 2007. Dan and Jenny Church were united in marriage on July 30, 1988, on her family’s farm in Winona, Minnesota. Together, they have two children, Kathryn and John. He was preceded in death by his parents Edward and Rosalia, and two brothers, Paul and Dennis. Dan is survived by his wife Jenny; his daughter Kathryn of Denver, CO; his son John of Decorah; three sisters, Mary-Ann (Norbert) Rathke of Tarentum, PA, Donna Lane of Spring Hill, FL and Angela (Don) Papin of Finleyville, PA; and one brother Mark (Loretta) Werner of Gibsonia, PA. Memorials can be made in Dan’s name to First Lutheran Church, 604 W. Broadway St., Decorah, IA 52101 or the Decorah Rotary Club, P.O. Box 442, Decorah, IA 52101.