Phil Geenen

Phil Geenen was born in October 1945, in Chicago, Ill., to George and Frances (Wnukowski) Geenen. He graduated from Fenger High School in 1963 and attended Chicago State University on the southeast side of Chicago. He received his bachelor’s degree in college for Biology and Education.
Phil met the love of his life at an A&W Root Beer stand in Blue Island, Ill. He pulled up in his 1964 GTO and a 57-year romance began.
Phil was drafted into the United States Army in July 1967. Before leaving to go to Vietnam Mary Ann and Phil were married July 26, 1967. When Phil started Basic Training a pregnant Mary Ann loaded up the GTO and drove to San Antonio, Texas, to be by his side until he left for Vietnam. He was an Army Medical Corpsman. Phil never mentioned much about his experiences while there, but his family is so grateful he returned safely.
He was Honorably Discharged April 1969.
Phil went to college on the GI bill and started helping his dad, George, with his floor sanding business, Monarch Floor Sanding. Once he got his degree he started teaching Biology, and Driver’s Ed and coached at Brother Rice High School.
A vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota changed their city life forever. Phil and Mary Ann decided to pack up their two daughters, Ellie and Carrie, a dog and two cats and moved to Custer, S.D., August 1978.
Phil’s first job in South Dakota was working for Job Service of South Dakota, helping other people find jobs. He then moved onto working for Burlington Railroad fixing tracks between Hot Springs and Edgemont. He then applied for and was hired by Custer County Sheriff's Office in 1981.
He found his new passion, was darn good at it and was considered a Gentle Giant. He enjoyed busting parties, interacting with the tourists and loved protecting the people of Custer County. In 1986 he decided to run for sheriff.
After losing the election by six votes he decided to move on. He then worked for Outlaw Ranch, Box Elder Police Department and then got his foot in the door with the federal government when he was hired to work at Nemo Job Corps. where he worked for about a year before being hired into the Forest Service law enforcement. Phil made drug busts on the forest, solved major crime cases and took a class on wildland fire and found his calling. He solved the Jasper Fire the day it started and other fires in the Black Hills and surrounding areas.
Phil retired in March 2009.
Upon his retirement Phil and Mary Ann planned on traveling but her health was in decline by then. They did make weekly trips up to Deadwood where he would watch Mary Ann add to their retirement fund while he would be losing it.
Phil was very active with the Jaycees, was on the Custer Volunteer Ambulance Service, sold Shaklee products, had a satellite business with Joe Steichen and sanded the floors in the visitor’s center of Crazy Horse. In his later years he was instrumental when Operation Black Hills Cabin was getting started, still investigated fires when needed and took care of his wife until the day she died in February 2022.
After Mary Ann passed he bought a 1974 Bricklin, which was in very bad condition. He then found and purchased a 1966 GTO that needed some work and a new paint job. Once he and his son-in-law, Jeff McGraw, got it running and had a Black Cherry paint job done on it, Phil could be seen driving up and down Main Street and back and forth to Deadwood. He did enter the GTO in the Gold Discovery Days 2024 Car Show, where he was placed “In the Circle.”
In October of 2023 Phil and his grandson, Quintin Gilg, were on the Mission 17 flight of Midwest Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. Phil was so excited to be a part of this great organization and talked about the trip until he passed.
Phil loved fishing in the beautiful lakes the Black Hills has to offer. He mainly caught trout up at Sylvan Lake where he loved having a young passerby reel in his catch.
Phil, of Custer, passed away March 21, 2025 at his residence in Custer, S.D. with his family by his side. He was 79.
Phil is survived by his daughters, Ellie (Jeff) McGraw of Custer, and Carrie (Wes) Wood of Belle Fourche, S.D.,; grandsons, Corbin Bowker of Rapid City, S.D., Zach Douglas of Brookings, S.D., and Quintin Gilg of Chadron, Neb.; granddaughter, Elise Wood of Belle Fourche; brother, Jerry Geenen (Sharon) of Indiana, and their family, brother-in-law Roger Weber of Custer, sister in-laws Joellen Toth and Mindy Weber of Custer; and his little dog, Mork.
Phil and Mary Ann had a long relationship with Penny Bonnar of Onalaska, Wis., and family, and dear friends, Joe and Sherry Steichen of Pea Ridge, Ark.
Family requests that donations be made in Phil’s memory to Operation Black Hills Cabin at opera
tionblackhillscabin.org or Midwest Honor Flight at midwesthonorflight.org
A celebration of Phil’s life will be held 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April 26, at the the Custer Beacon.
Arrangements have been placed in the care of Chamberlain McColley’s Funeral Home in Custer, SD. Condolences may be left at chamberlainmccol
leys.com