William “Bill” Roger Naugle was born April 29, 1944, in California but spent most of his life in Custer, S.D. After graduating from Custer High School in 1962, Bill and Clara lived a short time in Hot Springs, S.D., before returning to raise a family in Custer.
Bill and Clara (Wellman) Naugle were wed in February 1964 and enjoyed 55 years of marriage.
Bill spent 38 years as a lineman and serviceman for Black Hills Energy. He enjoyed many long-lasting friendships with his colleagues at “Black Hills Power and Light.”
Linda G. Hiermeier was born at St. John’s Hospital in Rapid City, S.D., Jan. 10, 1943, to Florance A. (Davis) and Roy C. Belmont, the seventh of eight children. She grew up in Hill City, S.D., and graduated from Hill City High School. Linda graduated from Green’s Beauty School in Rapid City and worked at Kurly Lox for 15 years in Custer, S.D.
On May 23, 1964, she married her soulmate, Melvin A. Hiermeier, and helped raise his three sons. They were married 49 years.
Duaine Clarence Kanwischer was born March 3, 1941, to Clarence and Bernice (Krahler) Kanwischer in Hamberg, Wells County, N.D.
Duaine grew up on a farm near Hamberg. Upon graduating from the University of North Dakota he became a hospital/nursing home administrator for Lutheran Hospital and Homes. While president of the Wyoming Health Care Assoc., he wrote the policy and procedures for the national swing bed program of hospitals and often lobbied in Washington, D.C.
James “Jim” Russell Winter was born Jan. 24, 1935, in Huron, S.D., to Russell H. and Lulu (Meyer) Winter.
Jim is well-known for his love of planes and flying, a love that formed when he was just a toddler. Stricken with polio, Jim was transferred via a passenger plane to Sioux Falls, S.D., for treatment and numerous surgeries. At the S.D. State Fair in 1947, in between eating cotton candy and taking care of the Herford cattle he took to show, Jim saw a Stinson aircraft and his dreams of flying truly took off.
Jerry Dee Burnam died Dec. 26, 2019, with his family at his bedside.
He was 84 and the only child of Walter and Ruth Harris Burnam of East Alton, Ill.
He served in the United States Army as a surface to air missile officer (Nike) stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, S.D. In 1958 he married the former Phyllis Gould of Hill City, S.D.
Neill Fors was born Sept. 5, 1940. He served his country in the U.S. Navy from 1957-61.
Neill was united in marriage with Doris Nagel July 20, 1968, in Redfield, S.D. He was proud of the fact that he was able to help in the sculpting of Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Neill died Dec. 25, 2019, in Sheboygan, Wis. He was 79.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Darlene “Peg” Reddies; sisters, Patricia Bottum and Mary Nelson; and brother-in-law, Myron Nelson.
Harold V. Keupp was born March 4, 1938, in Sioux Falls, S.D., to Vern and Rose Keupp. Harold grew up in South Dakota and loved the Black Hills.
He enjoyed playing football, basketball and baseball in high school, graduating from Custer (S.D.) High School in 1956. Some of his hobbies included ice racing on Stockade Lake, camping anywhere in the Hills and driving endless miles with his dogs in his car, taking in the local scenery and visiting with his friends coming into the auto body shop.
