Stuart ‘Tate’ Homer Lane, 95, passed away Jan. 2, 2015, in Austin, Minnesota.

Tate was born May 25, 1919, in Lake Wilson, Minnesota, to Alfred Gilbert and Lura Myrtle Bliss Lane. He attended Park College in Parkville, Missouri, where he met the love of his life, Virginia Margaret Smith. They were married Feb. 22, 1940, at Jackson Heights, Long Island, New York, and lived on the east coast for about three years while he worked for Hormel as a salesman. When World War II approached they moved to his hometown of Austin, Minnesota, where his wife and baby, Karin Parker (March 30, 1943), stayed while he served in the Air Force for two and a half years in England and France (including Normandy).

After the war the family moved to Minneapolis; he continued his career with Hormel. While there they had two more children, Nancy Bliss (April 2, 1947) and Kathy Stuart (April 21, 1948). In 1954, they moved to Austin where he lived for the rest of his life and had a long and happy career with Hormel. In 1981, he became the first Hormel Corporate Director of Public and Trade Relations.

A man of great civic engagement, he served as president of the Austin Civic Music Association, was on the board of the Austin Public Library, the Park and Recreation Board, the mayor’s Industrial Development Committee, was chairman of Austin’s first Public Education Advisory Board, and sang with gusto in the Congregational Church choir.

He became nationally known for his work as president and board member of the National Meat Canners Association and was honored by the Association of National Advertisers for his early insistence that television networks assume responsibility for producing programs with positive family values.

From 1949 on, the family spent part of each summer at Ten Mile Lake, just north of Hackensack, Minnesota. He served on the board of directors of the Ten Mile Lake Association and was an early supporter and board member of The Deep Portage Learning Center.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Ginny; daughter Katherine Martin; and great-granddaughter Ivy Margaret Goodspeed.

Tate is survived by sister Beverly Ann Schulz; daughters: Karin (Ahmet) Arsan of Ten Mile Lake and Prior Lake, and Nancy Mackenzie of St. Paul; grandchildren: Stuart Kemal Arsan (Jessie Jialiang Yang) of Hong Kong and New York, Katherine Stuart (Pete) Nohre of Minnetonka, Jeanne McCreary (Neil) Goodspeed of St. Paul, Elizabeth Leyla Arsan of Anchorage, Benjamin Greenleaf (Alisan) Martin of Mill Valley, and Sibella Margaret (Jeremy) Marshik) of Minneapolis; great-grandchildren: Greta Katherine and Simon Jasper Goodspeed, Henrik Stuart and Madeline Ella Nohre, Cecilia Lane Martin, Piper Mackenzie Marshik, and son-in-law Franc Sloan.

The family is deeply grateful to Jean Hanson; for many years her loving care of Tate and Ginny made it possible for them to stay in their own home where they lived until their very last days.

There will be a joint memorial service in August for Tate and Ginny at the Congregational Church in Hackensack, Minnesota, date to be announced. Please send donations instead of flowers to the Ten Mile Lake Association, the Austin Library Board, or the charity of your choice.

A devoted family man, Tate cherished time with friends, summers at the lake, music, a good conversation and the joy of gardening. He believed in the power of one person to create change, became an outspoken environmentalist, and relished the idea that he would “always continue to be part of the environment.”