Russell E. Neal

Mr. Russell E. Neal age 94, Clark, formerly of the Bradley area, died this morning, December 11, 2005 in the Beverly Healthcare Center at Clark after a long illness. Services will be held on Thursday, December 15, 2005 at 11AM in the St. Michael's Catholic Church with Father Bill Hamak officiating. Burial will follow at the Prairie Hill Cemetery at Bradley. Music will be presented by Eileen Heilman as organist and Brenda LaBrie as song leader. Honorary casketbearers will be friends, family and the staff of Beverly Healthcare Center at Clark. Active casketbearers will be Kevin and Greg Neal, Joey and John Ewalt, Eugene Waege, Joe Bjerke, Gene Bierscheid and Calvin Stuchlik. Visitation will be held from 5-7 PM Wednesday at the Furness Funeral Home at Clark and 1 hour prior to the services Thursday morning at the Church. He was born in Maydell Township, near Bradley on April 8, 1911 the son of Bently Adair and Amelia May (Mills) Neal. He attended country school. After his schooling he helped on the family farm until the spring of 1933 when he went to work at a ranch near Belle Fourche. In 1934 he went to the Conservation Corps Camp at Hill City where he worked until the spring of 1935. On May 14, 1935 he was united in marriage to Clara Hojnacke in the St. Joseph Catholic Church at Lily. The couple lived on different farms near Bradley until purchasing a farm northeast of Bradley in 1946. In 1955 he bought the Bill Johnston trucking company and renamed it to Neal Trucking, which he operated until 1976 when he retired and moved into Bradley. In that year he also became a Clark County Commissioner, a position he held for 16 years. He also served many terms on the Bradley Town Board and was also mayor of Bradley. He helped at the South Dakota Livestock sales barn for many years while he operated the truck lines as well. In October of 2004 he entered the care center at Clark where he has lived since, except for a short stay at the Wookey Assisted Living Center where his wife of 70 years lives. Some of his hobbies included bowling, West River deer and antelope hunting and playing cards, especially poker. Another thing Russell will long be remembered for was his love of ice cream; hardly a day would go by without having a scoop of it. Survivors include his wife Clara of Clark, a daughter Dorothy Wiederhold and husband George of Ridgecrest, CA, s sister Delores Betty OConnor of Spearfish, SD, sister-in-law Carolyn Neal of Webster and 3 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. Preceding him in death were his parents, a son, Billy and 11 siblings, Della Hart, Fern Bayard, Dorothy Bale, Cleo Berke, Chet Neal, Blanche Fryett, Inez Flanders, Virgil Neal, Clifford Neal, Dale Neal and a sister in infancy. Funeral arrangements are announced by the Furness Funeral Home at Clark where email condolences can be sent to www.furnessfuneralhome.com.