Funeral services for Dale Waters, 91, were held Nov. 30 at 10 a.m. at the Carter Gospel Fellowship. Burial will be in the Winner Cemetery. There was a prayer service Friday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. at Mason Funeral Home.
Dale Lavern Waters, 91, of Carter, SD was called home to be with his Lord and Savior on Nov. 22, 2024.
Dale was born on March 3, 1933 to Walter and Rose (Hansen) Waters in rural Winner and was their only child. In 1940, the family moved to the farmstead by Carter, SD. He attended grade school at Carter, high school in Winner and 3 years at Brookings where he was also in ROTC.
On June 28, 1953 he married the love of his life Betty Bice. They were blessed to spend 70 years together and to this union 9 children were born. After he finished his third year of college at Brookings he was needed back on the family farm where he returned to help farm and raise cattle alongside his father. Long after retirement age, Dale would push mow the lawn, hand dig post holes and string barbed wire to repair the fences. Dale and Betty lived on the home place for almost 65 years. In 2018, they moved into assisted living in Winner for health reasons.
Early on in their marriage Dale and Betty attended a church service and came to the realization that they were sinners in need of a savior. They both accepted the free gift of salvation and asked Jesus into their hearts. They were very instrumental in helping to get Carter Gospel Fellowship Church started. Dale was on the church board and was the adult Sunday School teacher along with being the Sunday School Superintendent for many years. He helped start the Gideon camp in Winner and had a lifetime membership. He traveled to area churches many Sunday mornings and shared about the work that the Gideons were doing to spread the word of God. Dale supported the work that Steer Inc. does and was the area director for them.
Dale had a strong work ethic and served his community in many ways. He was on the school boards of Winner, Sunshine Bible Academy and Carter Christian school. He spent many years helping to develop and establish the Tripp County Water User District and was appointed the first chairman in the early 1970’s. He served as secretary and was the district’s state director representative for 18 of the 48 years.
Dale could be quite a tease at times. He loved to remind Betty about the note she left in his car, prior to him leaving on a date with another young woman, stating,” Dale you can do better than that!” On occasion he would pretend to fall asleep at the wheel while headed towards Carter Dam and to the relief of whoever the passenger was, would miraculously wake up just in time to avoid an unplanned swim. He also enjoyed sending his children down the long driveway to retrieve the mail on holidays.
While faith and family were the most important to him, Dale had hobbies and other interests that he enjoyed in his spare time. He was an avid collector of stamps, coins, rocks, arrowheads, rattlesnake rattles and skins, and baseball caps. He enjoyed sports and along with participating in the Winner bowling league and the occasional round of golf, he coached the Carter Coyote grade school basketball team and was a dedicated Vikings and Twins fan.
He was a faithful servant and his was a life well lived!
Blessed to have shared his life are his sons Steve(Marlajean)Waters of Carter, Doug (Kristine)Waters, of Carter, Tim (Judy)Waters of Pierre, Dale (Natasha)Waters Jr. of Park City, KS; daughters Robyn (Tom)Carlson of Biwabik, MN, Kaye (Roland)Gylfe of Beresford, Nicole (Rich)Tims, Shell Lake, WI, daughter-in-law Mary Waters of Idaho Falls,ID; bonus daughter for 8 years Sharon Essert; 29 grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren; sisters-in-law Vesta (Vernie)Frank, Debbie (Lennie)Steffen, Betty Bice and Marilyn Bice; brothers-in-law Don (Ardy)Bice, Jon (Karen)Bice, Greg (Sis)Bice; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Preceding him in death was his wife Betty, sons David and Michael, parents, mother and father-in-law Melvin and Roberta (Hampson)Bice, infant grandson Travis Waters, infant granddaughters Emily and Erin Waters, step granddaughters Julie Jorgenson, Rebecca Barrera, great granddaughter Eden Jacobson, sister-in-law Patty, brothers -in-law Richard and Archie.
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