GILMORE CITY — Donald “Don” Tool, 85, of Gilmore City, died Saturday, September 19, 2026, at Humboldt County Memorial Hospital in Humboldt.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, September 25, at First Lutheran Church in Gilmore City. Burial will follow at Marble Valley Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, September 24, at Lentz Funeral Home in Gilmore City.
Don’s family is encouraging those attending his services to wear Case IH clothing or the color red in his honor, a personal touch that says something about a longtime passion that family and friends readily associated with him.
Born December 13, 1940, Don spent much of his life closely tied to Gilmore City and the people who called the community home.
One of the defining relationships of his life began early. Don married his high school sweetheart, Linda Eileen Jacobson, on August 25, 1960, at First Lutheran Church in Gilmore City.
Their marriage would span nearly 64 years.
Together, Don and Linda raised their family in the Gilmore City area and shared decades filled with children, grandchildren and eventually great-grandchildren. Linda died in July 2024, leaving Don to carry forward the memories of a partnership that had begun when they were young.
Their children included Daniel Tool and his wife, Lisa, of Gilmore City; Kathleen Carman and her husband, Richard, of Gilmore City; Tricia Tool of Fort Dodge; and their late son, David James Tool.
The family grew over the years to include grandchildren Chelsey, Nick, Nate, Kennedy, Karter and Cooper, along with a growing generation of great-grandchildren.
Don also endured painful losses during his lifetime, including the death of his son David and granddaughter Amanda Marrie Albrecht.
His connection to First Lutheran Church stretched across generations and important family milestones. It was the church where Don and Linda married in 1960, where Linda’s funeral was held in 2024 and where family and friends will now gather once again to remember Don.
The request for Case IH gear and plenty of red at Friday’s service gives his farewell a distinctly personal character — less about formality and more about remembering Don in a way that would feel familiar to those who knew him.
After the service, Don will be laid to rest at Marble Valley Cemetery in Gilmore City, where Linda was also buried.
Those wishing to read the family’s complete arrangements, leave condolences or follow updates may visit the official obituary for Donald “Don” Tool through Lentz Funeral Home.
For a man whose life was intertwined with Gilmore City for decades, Don leaves behind not only generations of family but the accumulated memories of a long marriage, familiar community connections and the unmistakable splash of Case IH red that his family chose to make part of his final farewell.
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