01/14/2026
I was saddened to hear of the passing of the Veterinarian our family called on for nearly four decades. Dr Delmont Lieske recently passed away. A man I admired and looked up to in my formative years. I often thought of becoming a veterinarian because of him-I stuck with dairy farming. He was a very tall man, with longer arms-anyone who has worked with cattle knows that is an advantage in many situations.
He always would have a current event topic to talk about when he entered our barn.
When my father first called him out to his farm in the early 1960s he soon recognized him from their passing at the University of Minnesota dairy barn, where dad was working as an undergrad and Delmont was a Vet student.
A particular story that I like to share from Delmont is-
When he first started out as a veterinarian he was in North Dakota. He got a call of a cow that was having troubles of some sort. He drove out to a new farm, nobody was around so he went into the barn. There he saw a cow, a new calf and a heat lamp that had just been nocked over and started a fire. Delmont got a pail and some water and put out the fire. He then realized he was at the wrong farm. With no one home he just left. I asked him if he went back and told them what had happened-but he had not.
Leaving the family wondering what Angel had saved their barn from burning down๐
I hadnโt spoken to Dr Lieske since my fatherโs funeral. I did think of him often. He will be missed.
A great husband, father, veterinarian, and friend.
A life well lived