Harold Opsahl

Harold Vernon (Harry) Opsahl, age 63, Carpenter, SD died on Monday night, August 12, 2013, at the Sanford/USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD following a sudden illness. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 17, 2013 at the Carpenter United Methodist Church. Pastor Shirley Scotter will officiate. Burial will follow in the Richland Cemetery, rural Carpenter, SD. Visitations will be from 5-7 p.m. on Friday at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark and one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. The organist will be Crystal Grann. Honorary casketbearers will be Derek Opsahl and Chris Gilligan. The active pallbearers will be will Bruce Hofer, Mike Grann, Dennis Fick, Bruce Hofer, Roy Townsend and Mike Madsen. He was born on August 12, 1950 at Huron, SD, the son of Vernon and Mary (Tschetter) Opsahl. He attended grade school in Carpenter and graduated from Willow Lake High School with the class of 1968. He received his degree in Banking and Financing from South Dakota State University in Brookings in 1972. He worked in the banking business for some 30 plus years, with positions in Mobridge, SD and in Iowa and Nebraska before semi-retiring. He then began working part-time for South Dakota Wheat Growers. He was baptized, confirmed and became a member of the Carpenter United Methodist Church in his youth and was a lifelong member of the church. Harry loved to golf, fish and hunt. He would look forward to pheasant hunting each fall with family and friends. He also loved the family farm and would help out with the grain harvest each year. Among survivors grateful for having shared in his life are his mother, Mary Opsahl of Huron; two brothers, James (Charlotte) Opsahl and Ronald Opsahl, all of Carpenter; one niece, Angie (Chris) Gilligan of DeSmet; a nephew, Derek Opsahl of Carpenter; and two grandnephews, Kain and Gannon Gilligan and one grandniece, Jordyn Gilligan, all of DeSmet. Two aunts, Helena Townsend of Willow Lake and Margaret Opsahl of Corona, CA also survive as well as several cousins and a host of friends. He was preceded in death by his father, his grandparents and several uncles and aunts and one grandnephew, Brady Gilligan. The family prefers memorials in Harry's name to the Richland Cemetery or to the Carpenter United Methodist Church.