Bernard Ray Day

Bernard Ray (Bernie) Day, age 59, of Watertown, SD and formerly of Clark, died early Saturday morning, February 17, 2007, at the Heart Hospital of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, SD. following a brief illness. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 24th, at 10:30 a.m. at St Michael's Catholic Church in Clark. The Rev Bill Hamak will officiate and burial will follow in the Rose Hill Cemetery at Clark. Military rites will be conducted by the Baker American Legion Post #209 of Raymond and the Louis F. Larson VFW Post #4994 of Clark. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark with a Rosary service at 7 p.m.. Reviewal will continue for one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Anyone who shared a cup of coffee, beer or a pinochle game with him should consider themselves as an honorary casketbearer. The active casketbearers will be Larry Day, Scott Day, Terri Day, Brandi Schweiger, Dick Travers and Paul Terveen.The organist will be Eileen Heilman. Brenda LaBrie will be the song leader. Bernie was born on June 16, 1947 at the Mable Stacey residence in Clark, the son of Clarence Bernard and Josephine (Hanley) Day. He attended all of his schooling at Clark Public schools graduating with the Class of 1966. Following high school, he entered the United States Air Force and served his country actively from 1966 until 1970. He served in Viet Nam during this time. Following his release from active duty, he spent 18 years with the National Guard and the Air Force and Army Reserves. He was united in marriage to Mary Schweiger on June 24, 1967 at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Clark. Following his service duty, Bernie and Mary moved around to various states where he worked. He was employed by the State Highway Department, worked for Schwan's Foods and worked various mechanic jobs. For the last 15 years, he has done forklift work for various companies, being self-employed for A-1 Forklift for the past 10 years. He also did route work for the Watertown Public Opinion for the past three years. The couple resided in Clark until moving to Watertown a little over two years ago. Bernie was a past member of St.Michael's Catholic Church in Clark and a former member of the Baker American Legion Post #13 of Raymond. He was a current member of the veterans of Foreign Wars of South Dakota. Among his hobbies were playing pool and a good card game. He enjoyed doing mechanic work and his family was his pride and joy. Among survivors grateful for having shared in his life are his wife, Mary of Watertown; two sons, Larry Day and his wife Jes and Scott Day, all of Watertown; a daughter, Terri Day of High Point, NC; one brother, Jack Day of Nashua, IA; two sisters, Joyce Temple and her husband Bud of Clark and Dorothy Schrader and her husband Mel of Mesa, AZ; a brother-in-law, Lee Terveen of Clark; his mother-in-law, Ruth Schweiger of Clark; brother-in-law, Tom Schweiger of Watertown; and many nieces and nephews and a host of other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; three sisters, Eva Travers, Gloria Steffensmeier and Geri Terveen; and his father-in-law, Joe Schweiger.