Daniel John Toft

Daniel John Toft, 79, died at his home in Peterson, Iowa on December 22nd, 2014, of natural causes. Born on October 5th, 1935, Dan was shaped by small town life in the fairly new immigrant town of Royal, Iowa, set squarely in the verdant prairie. His family was integral in the establishment of the German Lutheran church. His grandfather had been the town doctor, his mother an English teacher at Spencer High School, and his father, an independent banker. Dan and his parents resided in his grandmother's house while growing up next door to his great aunt and her family. Even though he was an only child, his many cousins, including Sally Shirk and Phyllis and Bentley DeMars, and other relatives constituted a close-knit extended family. His boyhood was teeming with friends from town with whom he enjoyed many hours of fun (and likely mischief) and with whom he kept in contact all his life. Dan was heavily influenced by the Great Depression and WWII; he learned at an early age the importance of gardening, canning, and cooking and would forever endorse the Democratic politics of FDR as his father did. Dan was a precocious musician, playing organ at church from the age of 13. He attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, where he majored in history. Dan made many cherished friends there, among them Bob Bavito, Katie Nash, Susan Burns and Bob Crumpton. He was active in the Grinnell Men's Glee Club and the Scarleteers. He and friends at Grinnell were integral to the music program, with spirited singing, piano, musical theater, and performances of original music. During his summers Dan would play piano at the Hi-Ho Club in Okoboji. The combination of his Grinnell and nightclub performances honed him into an exceptional and willing showman. Dan married Carolyn Hewes, also a Grinnell student and accomplished musician, in February, 1958. Dan enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Kitzingen, Germany where their first child, Eric was born. Due to his quick typing and proficiency in German, Dan was selected to be the Administrative Assistant to the base General. Dan's grandmother and great aunt had spoken German in his childhood home and Dan quickly became fluent. Dan liked to tell the story of surprising these women when, upon return, he jumped into their unguarded German conversation. Dan and family returned to the United States and he was accepted into the Doctoral History program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he studied under the renowned European historian, George Mosse. Dan focused on Renaissance and Reformation history and graduated with exceptional marks as only the third student in the department to receive the distinction of 'Superior' on his doctoral oral exams. While in Madison, Dan's two younger sons, Evan and Phillip, were born. Dan received a German government grant to study for a year at the University of Heidelberg and he and Carolyn became members of the Bach Chorale. They and their burgeoning family of three boys moved to Castro Valley, California, where Dan taught at Cal State at Hayward and his daughter Jessica was born. In 1968 Dan took a position as professor at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1971, moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was a History Professor at Washington University until 1975. Dan then played piano professionally and took lessons from well-known jazz pianist Herb Drury. In the summer of 1972, Dan and Carolyn bought a Victorian summer home in Peterson, Iowa, that they painstakingly restored. The yellow house at the top of Main Street was to become a family retreat and later, Dan's permanent residence. Dan divorced in 1975, but stayed in St. Louis and shared equally in the care of his four children. Dan transformed evening meals into a loving art form, cooking a variety of foods for his children and their friends who often made a point of showing up for dinner. He also made lifelong friends with the Brotherton and Fuss families. Their children (Scott, John and Viv Brotherton, and Jenna Fuss) frequently visited and spent many summers in Peterson and thought of Dan as a second father, as did other kids from town, such as Stew Wren. Dan raised money for Peterson Heritage by putting on 'Sing-alongs' in the VFW. Hundreds of people would come from miles around to sing songs from WWI, WWII, and other popular ballads. Dan enlisted the singing talents of townspeople such as Mavis and Sue Stoner and his children Phillip and Jessica. He wrote the 'Peterson Song' which he and his daughter performed and is still sung during town celebrations. Dan moved to Minneapolis in 1987, and traveled and took advanced jazz piano lessons at McPhail School of Music and Norwegian classes at the University of Minnesota. In 1989 he moved to Peterson full-time where he taught as a nearly full-time adjunct in the history department at Buena Vista College from 1995-2008. He was considered a wonderful lecturer and teacher and, although he prided himself on being a tough grader, his history students gave him high marks. Dan was proud of his four children and considered rearing them among his most significant accomplishments. He often remarked that he saw himself in them in their love of music, gardening, cooking, and debating politics (even though not all of them agreed with his views - much to his chagrin). He was happy in their intellectual, professional and creative pursuits. Dan loved his eight grandchildren and surely saw the arc of history as his son Evan settled in Norway to raise his family close to his paternal ancestral home. It is fitting that Dan, himself, will be remembered as a Renaissance man. He lit up the room with his engaging conversation and humor. He hosted many friends in his house in Peterson and had hundreds of gatherings and dinner parties, most ending around the piano where he would play songs like, 'My Sweet Loraine,' 'Falling in Love Again,' and 'Sentimental Journey' with friends singing along. Dan also rarely turned down a request to play for weddings, school reunions and Christmas parties. Dan took on gardening with vigor, planting trees and growing flowers and vegetables and eventually became a Master Gardener. He loved the prairie and forests of northwest Iowa and would tromp around the local hills with friend Julie Booth finding morels, chanterelles, wild black raspberries, elderberries and plums, all of which found their way into a meal or canning jar. He thoroughly enjoyed his pets, imbuing them with human-like qualities. He was a lover of literature, history, and culture and had a competitive linguistic spirit, spending many hours engaged in crossword puzzles (dispensing demerits) and playing Scrabble with friends Mona Beck and Katie Nash. Dan had an enduring sense of humor and loved to tell jokes, often relayed by friend Kirby Ashburn and most of which cannot be repeated here. Dan had the knack of making lifelong friends with whom he corresponded frequently by phone and letter. Dan is preceded in death by his mother, Dorothy Jones Toft and father, Peter John Toft. Survivors include his four loving children and eight grandchildren: Eric Toft (Karen Toft and children Raena, Eli, and Sonja) of Pittsburgh, Evan Toft (Aud Borve Toft and children Iselin, Ingrid and Knut) of Bergen, Norway, Phillip Toft (Bea Christopher) of Dittmer, Missouri, and Jessica Toft (Max Schott and children Sophia and Linnea) of Minneapolis. Dan will be missed immensely and will be remembered with love.

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