Virgil "Speed" Stern

Virgil "Speed" Stern, age 90, of Bristol, died early Thursday morning, October 15, 2015 at the Sun Dial Manor at Bristol. Visitation will be held Tuesday, October 20, 2015 from 5-7PM at the Furness Funeral Home at Clark. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 10:30AM at the Crocker Lutheran Church with the Minister Marion Grimes officiating. Music will be provided by Raymond Stern, Dave & Carol Finstad, Wendy Christman, and Marvine Obermeier. Casketbearers will be Speed's Sons, Norman Sinclair, Kyle Gaikowski, Kaley Madsen. A lunch and time of fellowship will immediately follow services at the Bradley Community Hall including those who are unable to attend the service and interment will follow the lunch at the Bristol Cemetery. Virgil Frank Stern was born on April 27, 1925 at Beebe, South Dakota to Daniel & Emma (Loterbauer) Stern. In his younger years, he acquired the nickname "Speed" from his brother in law because of his slow, easy going attitude. He attended country school in Oak Gulch Township through the eighth grade. Following school, he farmed with his father at their home place for several years. He married Lois Beverly Harms on June 24, 1945 at the Bethesda Lutheran Church in Bristol, SD. To this union, 9 children were born starting in 1946 with Alvin, Rosella, Raymond, Lyle, Ron, Delmer, Allen, Dale and Steve. He and Lois lived in Oak Gulch Township and continued to farm until they purchased land southwest of Bradley. They farmed grain, had dairy cows, pigs and chickens and built a house where they continued to raise their family. In 1967, they sold the farm and moved to Bradley where he was employed by the Bradley School system doing maintenance and driving school bus. He also helped a local carpenter, Maurice Rick, build houses during this time. The family later moved near Garden City in 1967 where he farmed once again, grain and pigs. In 1979, they moved to into Clark for a short time before purchasing their home a mile and a half west of Clark. He was employed by Medallion Homes until he retired in 1987. Following retirement, he kept busy helping his boys with building and remodeling projects on their homes, helping two of his boys and Larry Dunlavy farm, and he also enjoyed helping Bob "Pepper" Neal do carpentry work. In 2009, Speed & Lois entered Fay Wookey Memorial Assisted Living Center for a few years before calling Sun Dial Manor in Bristol home where Speed was currently in the nursing home and Lois just down the hall in the Johnson Assisted Living Center. Speed was an active and faithful member of the Crocker Lutheran Church, where he and Lois loved to attend on Sunday mornings. He enjoyed watching the Minnesota Twins on TV and made it to quite a few games over the years, most recently in 2010 and 2011 with almost the entire Stern clan. He liked passing time doing word puzzles and searches and especially enjoyed reading. He liked to read about local history and people, which kept his memory pretty darn sharp! He always had a love for farming, taking special interest in Allis Chalmers tractors and loved to rake hay and put up alfalfa, wanting to get it done in mornings to make sure it wouldn't "lose it's leaves". He was proud of his grandchildren, enjoyed attending their sporting events and other activities throughout the years. Speed also loved to take his grandkids fishing, especially ice fishing. Speed will be remembered for having such a unique, quick sense of humor. He always had a quick witted story to share and a funny joke to tell, even if a few of them could make you blush! He took great pride in keeping up his lawn and tending to his flowers he planted every year Grateful for sharing his life are his wife of 70 years Lois Stern of Bristol, SD, seven sons: Alvin (Sue) Stern of Litchfield, MN, Raymond (Peggy) Stern of Baxter, MN, Ronald (Linda) Stern of Henry, SD, Delmar (Lynda) Stern of Garden City, SD, Allen (Lisa) Stern of Clark, SD, Dale (Laurie) Stern of Arlington, MN, Steve (Vicki) Stern of Vacaville, CA; 26 grandchildren; several great-grandchildren; one brother-in-law Donald (Rose) Harms of Redfield, SD; a sister-in-law Florence (Lorane) Harms of Bristol, SD and a one son-in-law Norman Sinclair of Middleton, ID. He is preceded in death by his parents, siblings Valma, Roy, Alvin, Ralph, Lucille and Delmer, children Rosella & Lyle , one granddaughter Karen, and one great granddaughter Gretchen. Funeral arrangements are with the Furness Funeral Home at Clark where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com