Donald S. Bauman

Donald S. Bauman was born April 30, 1927, the youngest child of Sherman and Jennie (Johanson) Bauman in Huron, South Dakota. He passed away on July 2, 2012, at Clarkson Mountain View Nursing Home.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Edna E. (Stubbe) Bauman, their son, Larry, his parents, brothers, Fred, Vern, Glen, James, and Lloyd, and his sisters, Betty and Evelyn.

A few weeks after his 17th birthday in 1944, with his parents' permission, he joined the U.S. Navy and served aboard the USS Cecil seeing action at Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Philippines. The Cecil was the first U.S. war ship to enter Tokyo Harbor at the end of the war. He served his remaining tour at Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Upon his discharge he returned to Huron where he met and married his wife, Edna.

Don was an entrepreneur having many businesses and jobs over his lifetime. As a young man, he was a regional manager for the Singer Sewing Machine Company in South Dakota and Wyoming where he opened many new stores. When his children began school and when moving from town to town was no longer an option, he started Don's Janitorial Service, one of the largest cleaning services in Laramie, WY.

The family moved to Sturgis in 1965. He received his GED and began trade school to learn to be a draftsman. He worked for the Dept. of Engineers in Sturgis until that office was closed. He then purchased Rapid RediFry, supplying processed potatoes to various restaurants and hospitals in the Rapid City area. After selling that business, he became the Meade County veterans service officer and the emergency disaster manager for Meade County.

Don was always involved in athletics. In school he ran track and still holds a middle school track record in Huron. Basketball was his passion having played in high school and for the U.S. Navy. At an exhibition game against the Harlem Globetrotters, he was invited by a scout for the Minnesota Lakers to try out for the team after the war. He never did.

Don believed in giving back to the community. He was a youth baseball and basketball coach for many years in Laramie and Sturgis. He served on the Sturgis City Council and is responsible to a large extent for the Sturgis Community Center, which he felt was his legacy to the community.

He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Sturgis, the VFW, and was an active and enthusiastic member of the Kiwanis Club in Sturgis and the Westside Kiwanis Club in Rapid City. He held many offices in Kiwanis locally and regionally and represented the district at many national conventions.

He taught his sons to work and play hard. He taught them to hunt, fish, play baseball, football, basketball, golf, camp, and enjoy just being with family. When grandchildren arrived, he joined in their pursuits as well. He and Edna were a loving couple who enjoyed traveling in their retirement years and saw much of the United States and Canada together.

He especially enjoyed watching Edna laugh herself to tears.

Don is survived by his sons, Ken (Mary) of Rapid City and Steve (fiance, Janice) of Antioch, CA; grandchildren, David Bauman of Chicago, Matthew Bauman of Spearfish, Katie Bauman of Chicago, Jennilee Parkinson of Antioch, Brittany (Phillip) Buster of Tucson, AZ, and Kalli (Gabriel) Beltran of Mill Valley, CA, and great-grandchildren, Kaiden, Eli, Orlando, Joaquin, and Jared.

Memorials may be directed to the Sturgis Community Center and the First United Methodist Church of Sturgis. Our family is very grateful for the kind and generous care from Clarkson Mountain View.

Visitation with family present will be from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, July 5, at Kinkade Funereal Home.

Funeral services will be held Friday, July 6, at 1:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Sturgis. Committal services will be at Bear Butte Cemetery in Sturgis with military honors.