Selmer Harold Steen

Selmer. H. Steen, age 83, Clark formerly of the Vienna community, died in the McKennan Hospital at Sioux Falls on Monday, August 22, 2005. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, August 27, 2005 at 10 AM in the Good Hope Lutheran Church, 9 miles south and 4 1/2 miles east of Clark. Burial will be in the Church cemetery. Officiants will be the Reverends Kris and Vickie Brown. Music will be provided by Dorothy Fuller as organist with Dorothy Haug and Melanie Schmidt singing. Casketbearers will his grandchildren. Visitation will be held on Friday from 5-7 PM at the Furness Funeral Home at Clark and 1 hour prior to services at the Church on Saturday morning. He was born on March 21,1922 in Merton Township, Clark County, near Vienna, the son of Oscar and Lillian (Babler) Steen. He attended the Kirkeby School in Merton Township and also school at Vienna. After his schooling he went to work for various farmers in the Vienna area and also on a harvesting crew in Kansas. He was drafted into the US Army in 1942 and served his country until 1945. He served in the Military Police, guarding military reservations in England and France. On September 23, 1946 he was united in marriage to Wanda Phillips at St. Cloud, MN. After their marriage they moved to his Uncles farm in Merton Township and have lived there until moving into Clark 2 months ago. He was a member of the Good Hope Lutheran Church, the Vienna American Legion and the VFW Post at Clark. Some of his hobbies included hunting and fishing in earlier years. In addition to his love of the land, he also enjoyed playing cards, gardening, and telling stories. He will long be remembered for his good laughs and having fun. Grateful for having shared in his life is his wife Wanda of Clark and children, Larry Steen and wife Verjean and Sandy Wells and husband Allen all of Watertown. He also leaves 7 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and a sister, Selma Larson and husband Loyle of Sioux Falls. Preceding him in death were his parents, 2 sons, Randy and Gary, a brother Orvin and a sister in infancy. Email condolences to www.furnessfuneralhome.com A Farmers Creed I believe a mans greatest possession is his dignity and that no calling bestows this more abundantly than farming. I believe hard work and honest sweat are the building blocks of a persons character. I believe that farming, despite its hardships and disappointments is the most honest and honorable way a man can spend his days on earth. I believe farming nurtures the close family ties that make life rich in ways money cant buy. I believe farming provides education for life and that no other occupation teaches so much about birth, growth and maturity in such a variety of ways. I believe many of the best things in life are indeed free: the splendor of a sunrise, the rapture of wide open spaces, the exhilarating sight of your land greening each spring. I believe that by my toil I am giving more to the world that I am taking from it, an honor that does not come to all men. I believe my life will be measured ultimately by what I have done for my fellowman, and by this standard I fear no judgment. I believe when a man grows old and sums up his days, he should be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life hes lived. I believe in farming because it makes all this possible.