Kenneth Schade, age 95, of Rapid City and formerly of Huron died Tuesday, December 29, 2015, at Clarkson Health Care Center in Rapid City. His funeral service was held at 2 PM Saturday, January 2nd at American Lutheran Church in Huron with burial at the Restlawn Memory Gardens Cemetery. The Huron Veterans Council provided military honors. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be directed to American Lutheran Church in Huron.
Kenneth Wayne Schade, the third of four children, was born on August 1, 1920, to August and Ollie (Austad) Schade at Sinai, South Dakota. Ken grew up on the family farm six miles west of Volga. In 1938, he graduated from Volga High School, where he had met his future wife, Margaret J. Olson.
Ken completed a creamery course at South Dakota State in Brookings and worked at the Volga Co-op Creamery until 1942 when he enlisted in the US Army. A veteran of World War II, he served with the Signal Corps in New Guinea and the Philippines until demobilization. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1946.
On October 10, 1942, Ken and Margaret married in Volga. After returning from WWII, Ken took a skilled technician job with Northwestern Bell Telephone Company in Huron. He retired from the telephone company in 1982.
Ken was a long time member of American Lutheran Church where he held several offices and was active in Sons of Norway, Huron Telco Credit Union and delivered Meals on Wheels. He especially enjoyed family gatherings, his vegetable and flower gardens, sports, music and travel. Ken and Margaret were married almost 65 years, and he was her loving caregiver for several years as her health declined in later life. They lived in Huron until 2004 when they moved to Rapid City.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Avis; two brothers, Fay and Jerald; as well as by his wife, Margaret on January 13, 2007.
Grateful for having shared his life are his children, Michael Schade of Watertown, Mass., David Schade of Sioux Falls, Mary (Kim) Gustke of Rapid City and Mark Schade (Jeannine Lamb) of St. Louis, MO; four grandchildren, Nicholas Schade of Chicago, IL, Steven (Alissa Zvada) Schade of Lafayette, Colo., Emma (Sean) Duffy of Rapid City and Katherine Gustke of Salem, Ore.; and three great grandchildren.