Don Crouse

A memorial visitation will take place on Sunday, November 27, 2016 from 4-7PM at Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Watertown. Memorial Services will be held on Monday, November 28, 2016 at 11AM at Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Watertown with the Reverend Kent Stillson officiating. A.J. Sherrill will be the organist. Don's grandchildren and great-grandchildren will serve as urn bearers with the D. Crouse & Crew - past and present- serving as honorary urn bearers.  A private burial will be held in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Clark.

He was born Donald Eugene Crouse on November 19, 1925 at Watertown, the son of Thomas and Mabel (Sundvold) Crouse. They lived on the family farm northwest of Carpenter until the family moved in to Clark in 1935.  Don graduated in 1944 and enlisted in the United States Navy, training as an Aviation Electrician in Jacksonville, FL near the end of WWII.

He was united in marriage to Dorothy (Dusty) Ullyot on September 17, 1947 in Aberdeen.  The couple lived in various places. He graduated from the Kansas City School of Watchmaking. They purchased Crouse Drug and Jewelry and spent a truly treasured, nearly 10 years in Willow Lake, SD, where Don was the jeweler and Dusty was the pharmacist.

In 1958, when the City of Willow Lake was celebrating their 75th Anniversary, Don put together a 1917 Model T clown car as an advertising entry for the parade. This began a 58-year, four-generation hobby for D. Crouse & Crew who entertained in many cities throughout the region.

Don and his family moved to Lake Kampeska in 1962 and then into his current home a year later. Don, a natural born salesman, then worked for Fuller Brush, MoorMan's Feeds and J. R. Watkins, where he developed lasting friendships among his customers. He also owned a rental business that included selling motorcycles and snowmobiles. In his 20 years prior to retirement he worked as a rural letter carrier. As a side job, he and Dusty would travel to do final-date cemetery lettering on monuments in the Dakotas and Minnesota.

In 1973, he expanded their home to include a patio which thereafter became a gathering place for family and friends. This patio was the site where he and others hosted an Annual Pancake Breakfast. Later, when the Stoney Point Ballroom was being torn down, he added its old-fashioned popcorn maker to the patio. Don's bags of popcorn became a tradition for summer patio evenings, as well as for donations and gifts.

Don stayed active up until the night before he died when he helped a neighbor with snow removal.  He was a member of Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer where he performed in the Living Last Supper for many years, Karing Kapers, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, the Isaak Walton League, and the Upper Big Sioux Water Shed Project.  Don won numerous national, state and local awards. Over the years he donated gallons of blood to the Red Cross.   As a veteran, he felt privileged to participate in the Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., which he attended with his brother, Kenneth.

Although he had no formal degree in education, he was a natural teacher, teaching his grandkids and others how to fish, hunt, and fix almost anything. Most of all Don, Dad, Grandpa, Mr. "C" showed everyone how to love unconditionally, to be genuinely kind, and to be a good person.

Preceding him in death were his parents, his wife Dorothy, and brother Carroll.

Grateful for having shared in his life are his children, Denni (Rick) Wilson of Fergus Falls, MN, Donlynn (Patrick) Rice of Lincoln, NE, Demarie (Terry) James of Aberdeen and Daniel "Buck" (Belinda) Crouse of Watertown, 8 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren, a brother, Ken Crouse of Avon, SD and a sister, Betty (Wayne) Larson of Bozeman, MT, a sister-in-law Elizabeth (Hank) Gladney of Bevercreek, OH; and several cousins, nieces, and nephews.

T he family prefers memorials to Kampeska Chapter Izaak Walton League % of The Prop, 728 S. Lake Drive, Watertown, SD 57201 or to the Salvation Army.

The Furness Funeral Home of Clark is serving the family where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com