Darwin Laverne Burda

Darwin Laverne Burda was born September 9, 1938 on a farm outside Primrose, Nebraska. His parents were Kenneth L. and Gladys L. (Hemmingsen) Burda. The family moved to Garvin, Minnesota in 1942. Later, they moved to Tracy, Minnesota in 1953. He graduated from Tracy High School in 1956. He attended the University of Minnesota for two years. After that, he served in the U.S. Army for six years including one-half year at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York and one-half year in the reserves. He was a staff English teacher at Kerrobert Composite School in Kerrobert, Saskatchewan. He graduated from St Clous State College with a B.A.. After two years as an extension economist at the University of Minnesota, Department of Agricultural Economics, he began a career in the educational publishing industry in sales and marketing. He met his wife, Marilyn Kroschel from Sleepy Eye, Minnesota in the summer of 1968, She was the daughter of Martin and Mathilda Kroschel of Sleepy Eye. They were married in June of 1969 in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. After working with New York City and Minnesota publishers in the upper Midwest, he and his wife accepted a contract with a St Paul publisher in Alaska in 1995. They moved to a country rambler near Wasilla, Alaska, later moving into the city of Wasilla. He retired in 2016 from the publishing business. He and his wife, Marilyn continued to live in Wasilla. A daughter, Jacqueline Larsen-Burda lives with her family in St Paul, Minnesota. He will be buried at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery at a later date.