Verne Delaine Ellston
January 1, 1933 – July 17, 2020
Graveside funeral services for Verne Delaine Ellston, 87, of Dallas, SD, will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, at the cemetery in Dallas, SD.
Lunch will be provided by the Dallas American Legion.
Visitation will be held at the Kotrba-Smith Funeral Home of Gregory, SD, on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, from 6 to
8 p.m. with a Masonic Lodge service at 7 p.m.
Burial will be at the cemetery in Dallas, SD.
Verne Delaine Ellston died July 17, 2020, after 87 years on this earth.
Verne Delaine Ellston was born Jan. 1, 1933, into a large family at Dallas, SD.
He joined the United States Army directly out of high school and fought in the Korean War. He served as a deck engineer on the USS Zelima, which carried stores, refrigerated items and equipment to ships in the fleet; to remote stations and to Air Force squadrons flying daily sorties from the Islands surrounding the Korean Peninsula.
After the war, he attended college, then married Carol Horton on Dec. 26, 1955, in Gayville, SD. They made homes in Vermillion, SD, Tyndall, SD, Pickstown, SD, Chamberlain, SD, Reliance, SD, and Gregory, SD, and
had six children.
Verne operated an auto body shop for six years in Tyndall, SD, before spending the next 30 years as a plant manager for the Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Randall Dam in Pickstown, SD, and Big Bend Dam near
Chamberlain, SD.
After retiring from the Corps of Engineers, he returned to ranching on the family farm in Dallas, SD. He raised cattle and horses throughout the years, enjoyed rodeo, drawing western art, reading Western novels and playing practical jokes.
He was a husband, father of six children and friend to many.
Grateful for having shared his life are his sister, Doris Fryda; brothers, Dean Ellston and wife, Carol and Chuck Ellston; children, Diane Lederer and husband, Gary, Denise Fuhrman and husband, Sonny, Nancy Hoiseth
and husband, Scott, Michael Ellston and Lisa Ellston; ten grandchildren, Christopher Ellston and wife, Melanie, Ronnie Lederer, Correena McLaughlin, Tony Lederer, Lyda Whitworth, Jessica Whitworth, Samantha
Lockwood, Catie Hoiseth, Alex Hoiseth and Savannah Ellston; 13 great grandchildren and very special family friends, Clark (Mickey) and Anita Mola.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Lyda Ellston; his father, Arthur Ellston; his wife, Carol Ellston; a daughter, Debbie Ellston; a brother, Arthur (Sonny) Ellston ,Jr. and sisters, Gladys Allen, Velma Detterman and husband, Pat and Bethene Schmidt.
Kotrba-Smith Funeral Home of Gregory, SD, will be in charge of arrangements.