Walter M. Audus

Walter M. Audus, age 79, of Watertown, SD and formerly of Clark, died suddenly on Wednesday morning, September 3, 2008, at Prairie Lakes Hospital in Watertown. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 6th, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Clark. The Rev. Doug Binsfeld will officiate and burial will follow in the St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery at Clark. The organist will be Eileen Heilman and the song leader will be Brenda LaBrie. The honorary casketbearers will be his grandchildren. The active casketbearers will be Lynn Hartley, Randy Hartley, Mike Audus, Nick Lien, Keith Krier, Chris Lynch, Al Resmen, Jason Rogers and Ryan Audus. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark with a Scriptural Wake service at 7 p.m. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Walt was born on June 28, 1929 in Clark County, South Dakota, on a farm near Lily, SD, the son of Herbert and Elizabeth (Miller) Audus. He attended high school at the Thorp Consolidated School. Following high school, he attended Telegraphy School in Minneapolis, MN from 1949-1950. Following his schooling, he went to work as a telegrapher for the summer at Yellowstone National Park. He then went to work for Velie Electric in Minneapolis. He then was drafted into the United States Marines and was stationed in Hawaii for two years. Upon returning from the service, he was united in marriage to Arlene Marie Smith on November 21, 1953 at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Clark. He then went to work for True Electric in Watertown for a short time. He began his employment with Northwestern Bell Telephone in 1954 at DeSmet, later transferring to the central office in Gettysburg. He transferred to the Clark office in 1962. He retired in 1990 and continued living in Clark until moving to Watertown in 2000 where he lived until the time of his death. Walt served as a Boy Scout Leader for ten years, was a lifetime member of the Cagley-Smith American Legion Post #60 of Clark, a member of the Gem and Mineral Club in Watertown for several years, and was a Lifetime Member of the Telephone Pioneers. He was a member of St. Michael's Catholic Church in Clark until 2000 when he became a member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Watertown. His hobbies included hunting, fishing, woodworking, stained glass, clock making and jewelry. Among survivors grateful for having shared in his life are his wife of 54 years, Arlene of Watertown; three sons, Dr. Kenneth (Cheryl) Audus of Lawrence, KS, Robert (Jodi) Audus of White, SD, and Jeffrey (Sharon) Audus of LeSeur, MN; one daughter, Patricia (Bruce) Lien of Watertown; 11 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren; four brothers, John Audus of Clark, Ethan (Darlene) Audus of Clark, Wesley (Mary Ann) Audus of Brookings and Donald (Betty) Audus of Sherman, TX; and three sisters, Clara Belle Hector of Lake Havasu, AZ, Anna Hartley of Garden City and Mary (Virgil) Eckhoff of Sioux Falls. He was preceded in death by a grandson, his parents, a brother James and two infant sisters.