Howard Easthouse

Howard Merle Easthouse, age 78, of Henry, SD, passed away on January 1, 2024. A visitation will be held at the Furness Funeral Home of Clark, SD on Monday, January 8, 2024 from 4:00PM - 6:00PM and one hour prior to the service. A funeral service will be held at the United Methodist Church of Clark, SD on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 11:00AM with a lunch to follow. Burial will be in Lorinda Cemetery near Henry at 1:30PM.

Howard's funeral service was recorded and may be viewed in the video below.

Howard was born on December 14, 1945, in Watertown, SD, to Merle and Alice Easthouse. Howard and his family lived on a farm south on Hwy 25. He attended all eight years of elementary schooling at Elrod Country school and started high school in Clark, SD; however, their family moved to Willcox, AZ in 1960 where he attended and completed his High School in 1964, and then moved back to his "beloved" South Dakota.

Howard married Dianne Sharp on February 1, 1969, and to this union two children were born: Ryan and Robbie.

Howard proudly served in the South Dakota Army National Guard for 10 years (Jan. 1965 – Jan. 1975) and among the awards that Howard earned during his service was a citation of service during the 1972 Rapid City flood. Howard worked for Cave Supply, Chickasha Mobile Homes, Montgomery Wards, and Sharp Chevrolet (from 1974 to 2002) where he gained many friends while selling cars as an exceptional car sales consultant. Over his 30 year career he received multiple awards from Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC including the "Legion of Leaders" which he was the most proud of. Howard was a true salesman most of his life by meeting and greeting all sorts of people no matter where he was. He also worked his later years at Wookey Farms and enjoyed the farming "way of life." Howard was an avid sportsman and loved hunting, fishing and golf, along with telling friends all of his "fish" stories. Howard was also most happy watching his boys compete in their various sporting events throughout the years. He was also quite good at telling the refs how to do their jobs, much to his wife and boys' embarrassment. His biggest success story was to see his grandchildren shoot their first pheasant in South Dakota and catch their first fish aboard his "beloved boat" in the Missouri River.

Howard is survived by his wife Dianne of 54 years; his children, Ryan of Clark, SD and Rob of Byron, MN; four grandchildren, Logan, Landon, Bennett, and Jayla Easthouse; his brother Mick (Sandy) Easthouse, and sisters Myrna Wookey and Anita Watts.

He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother Donald, and five sisters Nadine Wookey, Marlene Wicks, Sharon Dempster, Lucille Johnson, Louellen Teeters, and several in-laws.

Furness Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements and have an online registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com .