A Celebration of Life will be held at 10:30AM, Saturday, October 15th, at West Nidaros Lutheran Church, 25403 471st Ave, Crooks, SD. Visitation hours will be Friday, October 14th, from 5 to 7 PM, at the Minnehaha Funeral Home at 104 East 4th St., Dell Rapids SD. On-line condolences may be left at the Minnehaha Funeral Home website.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Willow Creek Lutheran Church, 24795 470th Street, Dell Rapids, SD 57022, note “Building Fund” in memo.
Milton Eide was born April 17th, 1930 in Lyons, SD to Ingvald and Pearl (Hanson) Eide, baptized at West Nidaros Lutheran Church in Crooks, SD and confirmed at Bethany Lutheran Church in Fairview, SD. After spending several years in Lyons, the family moved to Canton, SD where they lived for several years, followed by a short time living on an acreage in Fairview, SD, before finally settling on a farm northeast of Colton, SD. On March 7th, 1964 Milton married Maureen Smart of Sioux Falls and continued farming on the family farm in Colton until they retired in 2001. Milton and Maureen moved off the Colton farm in 2007 and settled in Dell Rapids, SD.
Milton held various positions on the Willow Creek Lutheran Church council, served as Sunday School Superintendent, sang in the choir and enjoyed spending time with his extend church family.
Milton was a kind, generous and loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend to many. His patience and generosity was given to all those who stayed on the farm to “experience” country life. He loved sharing his passion and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a farmer. After graduating from high school in 1949 from the Augustana Academy in Canton, SD, he returned home to help on the farm until being drafted into the Korean War in 1951. The morning he was set to deploy for Korea, his orders were changed to hold a post in Austria where he would serve two years of active duty before returning home. Milton was Honorably Discharged from the United States Army in 1959 after serving six years in the reserves. Milton enrolled at SDSU after his active duty tour, and graduated with a BS in Agriculture with honors in 1957.
It was his love of learning and curiosity that kept him busy on the farm. Milton loved designing and building “things” that could aid in farming and he truly loved tending to the many animals on the farm. He was a great mechanic, could fix and maintain any piece of equipment to insure its longevity, and had a lifelong appetite for reading and learning. Milton was a man of few words but impacted so many by instilling into his entire family his work ethic, his spiritual life, and his ability to influence and bring out the good in people. Milton was well known for his dry sense of humor and wit; when his eyes twinkled, you knew he was about to share something interesting with you. Milton will be truly missed by many, but his legacy will live on with all who knew and met him.
Milton is survived by his wife of 52 years, Maureen; daughter Laurel Mader (Chris) Medina, OH; son Paul (Angie) Stratham, NH; grandchildren Cameron, Lauren, Samantha, Alyson; sister Eunice Hovland (Howard) Sioux Falls, SD; brothers Earl (Margie) Lake Arrowhead, CA, Joel (Dianne) Clarksdale, AZ; as well as many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Milton was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Allen.