George P. Schanck

Mr. George P. Schanck, age 95, former long time Clark County Extension Agent, died this morning, Friday, May 16, 2008 in the Golden Living Center at Clark where he had resided for nearly a year. Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 10:30 AM in the St. Paul Lutheran Church at Clark with burial at 1:30 PM in the Woodlawn Cemetery at Bryant. The Reverend Robin Schaunaman will officiate. Visitation will be held on Friday, May 30, from 5-7 PM at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark and 1 hour preceding services at the Church on Saturday. He was born at Bryant on March 28, 1913, the son of Henry P and Hattie P (Johanneson) Schanck. He attended school at Bryant and was a graduate of Bryant High School. He then attended and graduated from SDSU in Brookings with a degree in Animal Husbandry. George and Alida(Thue) married on June 23,1940. She died October 30, 1999. After his college education he worked 8 1/2 years as Farm Manager for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Madison and Iowa, 3 years for Superior Separator Company, and 6 years as co-owner of Midwestern Steel Company in Sioux Falls. He then joined the S.D. State Extension Service in Brookings and after almost 4 years transferred to Clark on July 31, 1956 as County Agent serving for 21 1/2 years before retiring on January 31, 1978. He was well known for his work with 4H, Crop Test Plots, and for establishing a performance testing program for beef cattle. George was involved in sports for most of his life. He played baseball, basketball and ran track in high school winning 2nd place in the State Meet in the 100 yard dash. For nearly twenty years he played catcher for many local baseball teams including the Brookings Cubs. He tried out for the Chicago Cubs but was declared too small to survive the position for very long. He then took up golf and will be remembered in Clark for designing and installing the first grass greens at the local golf course. He was also well known as a golfer and avid fisherman. He had been in Rotary and agricultural groups in SD. He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church. George was preceded in death by his parents Henry P. and Hattie P. (Johanneson) Schanck; wife Alida P.(Thue) Schanck; three brothers - Robert, Fred and Charles, and one sister Helen (Schanck) Slagle. He is survived By two daughters - Kathleen (Kay) and Darwin Wika of West Chester, Pennsylvania and Mary Ann and David Shaw of Orofino, Idaho; 5 grandchildren, Anthony, Kristinn, Eric, William and Michael; and eleven great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are with the Furness Funeral Home at Clark where you can send an on-line condolence at www.furnessfuneralhome.com