Gene Lee DeWeese was born in Salix, IA, on December 25, 1930. He was the fifth of seven children born to Charles L. (CL) and Elsie (Plinski) DeWeese. He was not very well received by his elder siblings because he delayed Christmas dinner. Gene attended grade school in Salix but not high school due to the economic hardships of the dirty 30's.'
While following the combine harvesters north, he met the love of his life, Beverly Lange, in Iroquois, SD. They married in 1951. Gene Daniel was born to them in 1952.
Shortly after that, Gene joined the Navy. He was first stationed in Bremerton WA Naval Base before being shipped out on the USS Helena to join the Korean War. Beverly was 6 months pregnant with Buck, so decided to move back to South Dakota to stay with her parents while Gene was overseas. Rodney Alan "Buck" was born in 1954 in Pierre, SD. When Gene came home from Korea, the family was reunited in Long Beach, CA.
In 1956, Gene moved his family back to South Dakota where he worked on ranches near Ft. Pierre and Gettysburg. Road construction was a high paying job, so off to Sioux Falls the family went. Gene worked with Gustafson Construction until he was badly burned in two construction site accidents a year apart. Unwilling to continue that job, Gene moved the family to Nisland, SD. They rented a farm 1-mile North of town while he worked at the sugar beet factory in Belle Fourche for 2 years. In January 1965, he bought a small farm on the west side of Nisland where he lived for 31 years. In 1992, he sold the farm to his youngest son, Buck, and moved out to his bigger ranch 2 miles south that he had bought in 1968 and he lived there until February 2015. A bad fall landed him in the Ft. Meade VA Hospital for several months. In April 2015, he was moved to  Burr's Tender Care Assisted Living in Spearfish, which he called his home away from home.
Gene Lee DeWeese, 87, Nisland, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, in Spearfish surrounded by family.
He is survived by two sons, Gene Daniel, Minneapolis, MN, and his wife, Julie Thorndycraft, and Rodney Alan "Buck" and his wife, Rhonda (Wilson), Spearfish, SD; two grandsons, Travis (Jenn) and Troy (Kelly); three great-grandsons; and one great-granddaughter.
Gene was preceded in death by his father, CL; his mother, Elsie; his wife, Beverly sisters, Marjorie Daniels, Elsie Hubert, Vernice Feldhacker, and Shirley Smith; and, brothers, Glen and Billie.
Visitation will be held, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Sunday, November 18, at Kinkade Funeral Chapel.
Funeral Service will be 1:00 p.m., Monday, November 19, at Nisland Independent Church with Pastor Doug Clark officiating. Burial will follow at Pine Slope Cemetery in Belle Fourche.
A memorial has been established to the Shriner's Hospital for Children.

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