Terry Ray Van Sickel, 61, Boise, ID, died Monday, December 17, 2012, at the Boise VA Medical Center.

A memorial service will be held Friday, December 21, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. at Kinkade Funeral Chapel with Pastor Harold Delbridge officiating. Private family inurnment will be at a later date.

Terry Ray Van Sickel was born August 21, 1951, to Jack and Jean (Palmer) Van Sickel in Sturgis, SD. Terry attended school and graduated from Brown High School in 1970. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church.

Immediately following graduation, he enlisted into the United States Army. He was first sent to Fort Jackson, SC, for boot camp, and then was sent to Fort Monmouth, NJ, where he took 23 weeks of training for Strategic Microwave System Repairman and Radio Signal Corp. During his time in service, he obtained a Defense Medal, Marksman Award, and a Good Conduct Medal. He served most of his service time during the Vietnam War era in Berchtesgaden, Germany, where he was selected to work with the Ski Patrol for the German Army Officers Corp. After 23 months, he was transferred from Regular Army to Reserve status, from which he was honorably discharged in 1975. Upon returning to civilian life, he worked at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, SD, until he obtained a position with the Sun Valley Ski Patrol in Sun Valley, ID, which was the joy of his life. He was stationed on Mt. Baldy, which was the largest ski mountain in Idaho. After nine years, he stepped down from the Patrol and started working as a carpenter in Hailey, ID. He remained in the area until 2006 when he suffered a stroke and was transferred to Fort Meade VA Hospital. After being dismissed from the hospital, he lived in the Black Hills until returning to Boise where he was a resident in a nursing home until his death.

Terry was an outdoor man who loved hunting and fishing. He also loved training hunting dogs and socializing with friends. After his stroke, he was unable to care for his animals, which was his greatest disappointment in life. He is remembered as a person who always told jokes and had people laughing all the time.

Terry is survived by his parents, Jack and Jean Van Sickel, Spearfish, SD; his sisters, Aletha (Paul) Adcock, Bison, SD, and Velta (Richard) Grosch, Whitewood, SD; his brothers, Galen Van Sickel, St. George, UT, and Jerry Van Sickel, Bullhead, AZ; and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial has been established to the Sturgis Senior Center.

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