Reverend Kenneth Bain

Reverend Kenneth L. Bain died while receiving hospice care at Avera Prince of Peace on August 25, 2022. He was 69 years old.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be prayed on Thursday, September 1, 2022 at St. Mary Church in Sioux Falls beginning at 10:30 AM. The Most Reverend Donald E. DeGrood will be the main celebrant.  Burial will follow at St. Rose of Lima Cemetery in Garretson.  A liturgical wake service will be prayed at St. Mary Church in Sioux Falls beginning at 7 PM Wednesday, August 31, 2022 with the Reverend Mark Lichter presiding.

Kenneth Bain was born on March 28, 1953 in Fredrick, SD, a fraternal twin, he is one of six children born to Leslie C. and Marie E. ( nee ' Daly) Bain. Kenneth attended elementary and high school in Fredrick, graduating in 1971.

Upon graduation from high school, Kenneth served in the United States Marine Corps, earning an honorable discharge in May 1974. Both in high school and while in the Corps, he took an interest in law enforcement. He enrolled at the University of South Dakota and studied criminal justice while also serving the Vermillion Ambulance Service and Police Department.  Shortly after graduation from college, he was serving in the Moody County Sheriff's Department when the Sheriff's Office came open due to a sudden death. When appointed sheriff, he was the youngest sheriff in South Dakota and the youngest on the department's staff. He also served on the State Crime Commission after having been appointed by Gov. Janklow. A tragic automobile accident that he was responding to as sheriff in 1982 would later be credited as the moment that he began to reconsider his professional career in law enforcement and to discern a calling to priesthood.

In 1985, Kenneth attended Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, MN for pretheology studies. Kenneth then enrolled at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD where he would receive priestly formation. As part of his formation at Mount St. Mary's, he was assigned to serve with the Missionaries of Charity in their outreach to AIDS patients in Washington, DC. During that time, he encountered Mother Teresa.  While in seminary, a viral infection triggered an onset of Type I diabetes, an autoimmune condition that was affect him for the rest of his days on earth. On May 31, 1990, the Most Reverend Paul V. Dudley ordained him a priest of the Diocese of Sioux Falls at the Cathedral of St. Joseph.

Father Bain served as an associate or sacramental minister at St. Mary, Christ the King, and St. Lambert parishes early in his priesthood. He also served as a chaplain at McKennan hospital.  He would go on to serve as pastor at the parishes in Ramona, Oldham, and Arlington, then at Clark and Willow Lake. While serving in Clark, he was stricken with "Father Damien Syndrome" which led to the loss of both of his legs through amputation. Father Bain would go on to serve at St. Benedict Parish in Yankton and at St. Rose of Lima, Garretson and St. Joseph the Workman, Huntimer. Beginning in 2015, Father Bain offered substitute chaplaincy ministry in Sioux Falls.

In addition to parish work, Father Bain was involved with the Boy Scouts of America, serving as the Diocesan Chaplain. He was also served as a medical ethicist and as a member of the Clergy Review Board for the Diocese. He was perhaps best known by his witness of accepting the suffering that his body demanded of him without complaint and with a focus the needs of others.

Father Bain is survived by one sister Gerry (Harlan) Krier and brothers Dr. Jim (Claudia) Bain, and Mike Bain as well as multiple nieces or nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, an infant brother Ronald, and his twin sister Karen Cooper.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be directed to Sacred Heart School or the Bishop O'Gorman Catholic Schools or any other Catholic school. The Catholic schools brought Father Bain great delight and were always a ministry of the Church he wished he could have attended in his own youth.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Miller Funeral Home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where there is an on-line registry at www.millerfh.com