Eugene Donald Furness

The family of Gene Furness would like to acknowledge all who have remembered them with cards, memorials, flowers, food, yard care and so much more. It truly has been overwhelming for all of us that our husband, dad, grandpa, brother and friend to hundreds has been remembered in such a tremendous way. Mere words cannot express the gratitude of his medical staff over these last 8 or so years, all of the various doctors from the kidney, lung and heart docs, to the incredible personal at Sanford Clinic - Clark, Louann Streff, you have really earned your points with God and our family - countless hours were spent by you with Dad at home, in the ambulance, in the hospital, in the clinic and at last as he was dying - you were there so much- we are still in awe. The wonderful care of Golden Living Center at Clark and Prairie Lakes Hospice will never be forgotten. To all of those that participated in his beautiful funeral service from Pastors Pam and Kathy, to Dorothy Fuller, Wendy Christman and Robbyn Givens for the tremendous music, the WELCA of St. Paul Lutheran Church for the lunch and Greg's partner funeral homes for stepping up and assisting in a big way at the visitation and funeral service, especially Mitch Steinhoff, Bill Zink, Kurt Johns and Tim Wingen. We have received since his death over 1000 sympathy cards, many of those with memorials to the Clark Rotary Club-baseball improvement project, Clark Area Community Foundation, South Dakota School for the Deaf Foundation, and others, as well as those that had no marked direction, family choice, we have made a decision regarding the sending of thank-you cards. As many of you know, Gene was very fiscally conservative - squeaky as he often said, or tight, he would be very proud of the fact that we have decided that we will take the money that would be spent on postage, approximately $500.00, and divide amongst the various specified groups. We hope that you will see this as a gift of our love for all of your tremendous support and that this additional money will go to where he wanted it to go and us adding financial support to those groups. We all think he would very much approve of this. What a blessing all of you are, what a gift of love and support we have been given, we really have no words that can express our care, which we have for all of you. He has left an empty spot, not only at the table, but in the hearts of the hundreds of people he touched in some way. The family of Gene Furness Joan, Greg, Geof-Misty and family, Brad-Marsha and family. Eugene D. "Gene" Furness, age 81, Clark, died in the Golden Living Center at Clark early Thursday, June 18, 2015 after a long illness with lung and kidney failure. He had entered the care center on Tuesday afternoon under Hospice care. Visitation will be held on Monday, June 22, 2015 from 4-7 PM at the Furness Funeral Home at Clark and will continue at the Church after 9AM on Tuesday morning. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 at 10:30AM in the St. Paul Lutheran Church at Clark with burial following in the Mt. Hope Cemetery at Watertown. The Reverend Kathy Hibbert and Pastor Pam Seefeldt will officiate. Dorothy Fuller will be the organist with Wendy Christman and Robbyn Givens as soloists. The honorary casketbearers are many, Gene considered all friends very dear to him, especially the Clark Rotary Club, The South Dakota Umpires Assn., Former Clark Jaycees, Lake Norden Lakers and their coach Burt Tulson, Clark County Courthouse Staff and Commissioners, The Staffs at the Clark and Waubay School Districts that he had been associated with over the years, his refereeing partners including Jim Bjerke post-humus, those he had coffee with, all former basketball players he coached over the years, South Dakota Principals Assn., the step-grandchildren, Chad, Chris, Danielle, Josh and Micah Thomas, including Greg's 18 exchange sons, Hannes, Dimitri, Martin, Machiel, Woo, Hauke, Maik, Lars, Manuel, Lukas, Viktor, Ilkka, Lars, Philipp, Robin, Rafael, Richard and John, step great-grandchildren and the staff of the Sanford Clinic Clark, especially LouAnn Streff. The active casketbearers will be Christopher and Kenlie Furness, Cierra and Kelcie Hauf and Nick Thomas. He was born Eugene Donald Furness on April 16, 1934 at Watertown, the first born son of Elmer and Stella (Johnson) Furness. Gene attended Watertown schools, graduating from Watertown High School in 1952. While in high school he was very active in sports, especially basketball. He also was active in baseball at Watertown playing for the Watertown Teeners and the Watertown Post 60 American Legion team. Following high school, he attended SDSU at Brookings on an athletic scholarship. During the summers he would play amateur baseball with the Langenfeld and Dick's Sports Shop teams and also worked for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad on the signal crew. He met and later married Joan Bierscheid on March 23, 1956 at Watertown. The couple lived in Watertown while he continued his education graduating with a B.A. in secondary education in 1958. He worked for a year for the City of Watertown in the electric division as a draftsman and then a brief time worked at the Watertown Coop Elevator. In the fall of 1959, he was hired by the Clark School District as a teacher and coach. The couple moved to Clark that fall. He continued with the Clark School District serving as teacher, coach, elementary principal and athletic director and in 1975 became the High School principal. During this time he furthered his education by obtaining a B.A. in elementary education from Huron College in 1970 and a master's degree in school administration in 1973 from Northern State University. In 1984 he took a job with the Waubay School District, still living in Clark, and served as High School principal, later as CEO and athletic director until retiring in 2000. In his free moments he refereed basketball with partner Jim Bjerke from 1969-1987, umpired baseball for 32 years including the State Amateur Tournament for 25 years, the SDIC, Basin League Pro-Teams, Legion and College ball. He also had the privilege to umpire the American Legion World Series in 1975. In 1991, he was inducted into the South Dakota Baseball Umpires Hall of Fame. Gene also coached pee wee, midget and teener baseball in Clark and served as the Commissioner of Teener VFW baseball for over 30 years. He enjoyed coaching basketball over the years as well, not only on a high school level, taking teams to the state tournament in 1961, 1964 and 1967 but also a local Jaycee team and after retirement, coached fourth, fifth and sixth grade teams. In the community he was a member of the Clark Rotary Club- a Paul Harris Fellow and in the late 1980's was involved with others in the complete restoration of the ball diamond and football field at Dickinson Park, a project he began when he was serving as the President of the Clark Rotary Club, Clark Area Chamber of Commerce, Clark County Historical Society, served as a Clark County Commissioner for two terms, former member of the Clark Jaycees where he served as President, State Vice-President and also a National Director. He was a member of the Letterman's Club at SDSU, The South Dakota Umpires Assn. - an organization he began in 1959, the South Dakota Principals Assn, the National Principal's Assn and the organizing committee of the recently formed South Dakota Basketball Hall of Fame. He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church since 1959 where he had served as President and a Trustee as well as a member of numerous committees over the years. He enjoyed gardening - especially roses, going to concerts- especially Dixieland Jazz, watching sports and being with the grandchildren. Gene will long be remembered as a supporter of local sports and following many of the players over the years. Preceding him in death were his parents Elmer and Stella Furness, in-laws, Cecil and Bernice (Dalton) Bierscheid, and Mark and Merle Bierscheid. Grateful for having shared in his life is his wife Joan of Clark, sons, Greg of Clark, Geof (Misty) of Dell Rapids and Brad (Marsha) of Clark; grandchildren, Christopher and Kenlie Furness, brothers, Kenn Furness and Curt (Kathy)Furness all of Denver, CO, step-grandchildren, Cierra and Kelcie Hauf, Chad (Tara) Thomas, Chris Thomas, Danielle (Ed) Maack, Josh Thomas, Nick (Laura) Thomas and Micah Thomas and 14 step great-grandchildren. He also leaves in-laws, Janice Bierscheid of Watertown, Bob (Joan) Bierscheid of Roseville, MN and LaDonna Bierscheid of Watertown along with nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, Gene preferred memorials to the Clark Rotary Club- baseball improvement fund % Robert Schlueter 110 5th Avenue NE, Clark, SD, 57225 or the Clark Area Community Foundation scholarship fund PO Box 298 Clark, SD 57225 or the South Dakota School for the Deaf Foundation 2001 E. 8th Street Sioux Falls, SD 57103 Do not cry; I am not suffering any more. And for the faithfulness with which you accompanied Me in My sufferings and death, your own death will be a solemn one, and I will accompany you in that last hour. Beloved pearl of My Heart, I see your love so pure, purer than that of the angels, and all the more so because you keep fighting. For your sake I bless the world. I see your efforts to please Me, and they delight My Heart. Funeral arrangements are announced by the Furness Funeral Home at Clark where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com