Ronald Rathe

Ronald Rathe, age 69, of Clark died Wednesday morning, November 1, 2017 with family by his side at Prairie Lakes Hospital of Watertown following a brief illness.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 11:00 AM in the United Methodist Church at Clark with Pastor Mark Tracy officiating. The organist will be Dorothy Fuller with Kelsey Coovert providing special music. The flag bearer will be Major Ryan Brekke with Commander Jason Williamson as urn bearer. Burial will be on May 18th at 10AM in the Black Hills National Cemetery at Sturgis, SD.

There will be no visitation.

He was born Ronald Edward Rathe on July 22, 1948 at San Francisco, CA, the son of Le Moine and Lorraine (Plant) Rathe. He was raised in the East Bay area of northern California, graduating from Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda. Ron then attended Merritt College in Oakland, CA and the University of California at Berkley, CA.

Ron was very proud to have served his country in the United States Navy during the Vietnam Era. His ship, the USS Apache was involved in the USS Scorpion Search Operations in 1969 along with the USS Whitesands, which carried the bathyscaphe, Trieste. He fondly recalled two trips through the Panama Canal related to this service.

Ron was united in marriage to Jill Brekke at St. Paul Lutheran Church at Clark on July 18, 1981. The couple resided in Orange, CA where their two daughters, Bryn and Brielle were born. The family was transferred to the Sacramento, CA area in 1989 and in 1996 were relocated to Atlanta, GA. Ron had a career with Bank of America for 38 years, retiring in 2011. In 2014 the couple moved to Clark, fulfilling one of Ron's dreams.

In his free moments, he enjoyed watching baseball, in person, having season tickets to the California Angels in Anaheim, and also being a huge fan of the San Francisco Giants. Ron had very fond moments spent with his daughters too over the years. In years past Ron also enjoyed golfing and bowling.

Preceding him in death were his parents and father-in-law, James Brekke.

Survivors include his wife Jill of Clark, daughters, Bryn (Christopher) Hart of Buena Park, CA, and Brielle Rathe of Redfield, SD; mother-in-law, Lavonne Brekke of Clark, sister, Cheryl Rathe of Folsom, CA, brother, Richard (Susan) Rathe of Union City, CA; the Coovert Family of Southern California who are very close family friends; a brother-in-law, Bruce (Peggy) Brekke of Clark, and a sister-in-law, Jolene (Wayne) Williamson of Yankton. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.

Arrangements are with the Furness Funeral Home of Clark where there is an online registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com .