Dennis E. Gaukel

Dennis Gaukel, a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, who also was a longtime marketing executive known for his pioneering database work in the agriculture industry, died at home on Friday, August 20, 2021, surrounded by family.

Dennis was born in Sioux City, Iowa, on May 5, 1940, to Dr. Leo and Frances Gaukel. He grew up near the Loess Hills in Onawa, where he and his four siblings graduated from high school. He married Carolyn McNeill, also from Onawa, in 1961. Dennis and Carolyn attended the University of Iowa, both later transferring to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where he completed his B.S. and M.A. in mass communication and speech. The couple were resident counselors at Brookman Hall and were joined there by the births of their two daughters.

The family moved to Warrensburg, Missouri, where their first son was born and where Dennis taught at Central Missouri State University. After taking a teaching position at Ohio Wesleyan University, the family moved to Delaware, Ohio. Dennis eventually left teaching to take a position at Iowa Beef Packers in Dakota City, Nebraska, at which time the family moved to Onawa and later Sioux City, where their second son was born.

Following seven years with Iowa Beef, Dennis joined Massey Ferguson in Des Moines, where he headed the company's sales promotion for its agricultural and industrial product lines. He established a full database-driven communications program to strengthen dealer-customer relations. He left Massey Ferguson in 1980 to join Fultz, LaCasse Advertising, which later became CMF&Z, one of the largest agencies serving agribusiness. His pioneering work in database development continued at CMF&Z with both agriculture and consumer clients.

Dennis left the agency to become Director of Advertising at the Des Moines Register. After the Gannett acquisition of the paper, he left to begin a new position at Pioneer Hi-Bred, where he drove development of a comprehensive agricultural database and worked on the applications it generated in advertising, sales promotion and sales automation. He retired from Pioneer in 2005 after 20 years with the company.

Surviving Dennis are his wife, Carolyn, and his children, Ann (Kevin) Krone, Stacy (Dana) Thompson, Tom (Elizabeth Brinsfield) Gaukel, and Erich (Moni) Gaukel. He also will be missed by his grandchildren, Abby, Jonathan, and Nick Krone; Geneva, Hanne, and Leo Gaukel; Jonas and Caroline Thompson; and Spencer and Nathaniel Gaukel.

Dennis was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Leo and Frances Gaukel, and brothers Tom and Jim.

A private memorial mass will be held for family members.

Memorials can be made to the American Heart Association at heart.org.