David Detert is a retired family physician. He was raised on the family farm near Fairmont, MN, graduated from Augustana University, Sioux Falls, SD, and the U of MN Medical School, then had a 40-year medical career practicing the full range of family medicine. He served in the US Navy in San Diego, the outback of Exmouth, Western Australia, and Kittery, ME, then returned to the Midwest to small agricultural communities. After a residency in Fargo, ND, practices included Redwood Falls/Wabasso, Litchfield, Cannon Falls, and Wanamingo, MN. He was a major in the medical corps of the MN National Guard. He helped establish hospice programs in Redwood Falls and Litchfield. He was a member of the Litchfield school board, including serving as board chair.
Dave and his wife, Sharon, are 40-year members of the Nature Conservancy, as well as members of the Conservancy Legacy program. He currently serves as the president of the Friends of Nerstrand Big Woods State Park and ex officio with the Mill Towns State Bike Trail group, both affiliates of Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota.
Dave enjoys walking, bicycling, gardening, fishing, and hunting. In 2019, 60 acres of the family farm were converted to a permanent environmental easement, reestablishing a wetland and prairie while providing a mechanism to cleanse water drainage from the residual agricultural land. Maintenance of this southern MN land is now a prime focus.