Author Archives: Colton Hall

Evelyn Marie Boortz was born Sept. 5, 1929 to William and Mary (Brunsch) Kahler in Tripp County South Dakota. She was the youngest of five children. Evelyn was baptized at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church south of Colome on Dec. 8, 1929 and was confirmed at St. Paul’s on Aug. 31, 1942.

She graduated from the 8th grade of the Progressive School and attended two years at Colome High School.

On Dec. 26, 1949 she married Ivan Boortz at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Gregory, SD. Ivan and Evelyn bought a farm south of Gregory. Jackie Lynne was born Feb. 1953 and Patty Jo was born April 1955. They later moved to Sioux City, IA where Ivan attended barber college.

From there they moved to Rapid City, SD. After a short stay they moved to Winner, SD in 1958. Michael Ivan was born in June of 1959. Evelyn worked 13 years at the Westside Grocery Store and 12 years at the Rexall Drugstore. She then worked as a unit secretary at the Winner Baptist Hospital for a few years.

Evelyn was active at Christ Lutheran Church helping with Sunday School, VBS, and LWML. She was also involved with the VFW of which she was a lifetime member and held different offices in the auxiliary including president and secretary.

In 1981-82 she was the state VFW Auxiliary president and later was the National Council Woman for SD, ND, and WY.

After Ivan passed in 2005, she moved to Edgemont, SD to be closer to Jackie and Mike who also lived there at the time. She loved her children and their spouses and the grandchildren and their spouses and her great grandchildren along with her many nieces and nephews.

Evelyn volunteered for different groups in Winner and after moving to Edgemont she became involved with the American Legion Auxiliary and was the chaplain for the group. She was very patriotic and loved and supported our nation’s veterans.

Evelyn and Ivan loved to travel and most of all to go fishing especially to the Missouri River to fish for walleyes. She made a great pheasant dish and was well known for her homemade ice cream, waffles, whole wheat buns and banana bread.

She was diagnosed shortly after her 80th birthday with a cancerous tumor on her vocal chords. After radiation treatments she was cancer free until Feb. 2013 when she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. After the hysterectomy she was again cancer free until earlier this year.

She was in a lot of pain and was looking forward to the day when the Lord would come and take her by the hand and lead her home. The last thing she said to her daughter Jackie on Friday June 21 was, “If I am not here tomorrow, tell everyone I love them and God bless them.”

Evelyn was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Ivan Boortz, her parents, and Ivan’s parents, her sister and three brothers, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-laws, 5 nephews and 2 nieces.

Grateful for having shared her life are her son Michael and his wife Donna Roebuck of Hermosa; daughters, Jackie and husband Gary Martin of Edgemont; and Patty and husband Dan Henschen of Fremont, NE; and their children Lydia and husband Quinn Tirrel and their children Elijah, Evelyn, and Emelia of Omaha; Jacob and wife Sara Henschen and son Benjamin of Valparaiso, IN; and Joel and wife Jessica of New Orleans, LA; and many wonderful nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Memorial Services were held 11 a.m., Friday, June 28, 2019, at Chamberlain McColley’s Funeral Home in Hot Springs, SD.

Arrangements have been placed in the care of Chamberlain McColley’s Funeral Home of Custer, SD.

Leonard Bettcher, 94, of Winner, SD passed away with family by his side on June 21, 2019 at Avera Majestic Bluffs Care Center in Yankton, SD.

The funeral was held on Friday, June 28, 2019 at 9 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Winner, SD. Burial followed at the Black Hills National Cemetery, located east of Sturgis, SD, at 2:30 p.m. (MT).

Leonard was born on Jan. 20, 1925 to August and Christina Bettcher. He was the 6th born out of 7 children in a wagon on the way to the doctor’s office in Carter, SD. He attended The South Crystal Springs school south of Carter.

At the age of 11, in 1936, the family moved to the Dallas area, where he finished grade school. He ended up receiving his diploma from Gregory High School.

In 1950, moved to a farm with two of his brothers, Richard and Verloyn, and parents, which was located half a mile north of Jordan Corner. His brother Richard and Leonard engaged in farming together at this time.

Around 1955, he attended school in Pueblo, Colo., to learn telegraphy and the morse code. Then, went to Iowa and worked for the railroad as a telegrapher for a short time. He loved to hear train whistles blow.

In 1958-59, he worked for the Winner Police Force as a police officer. Also, in 1960-61, he worked with the Winner Post Office as a mail carrier but due to his military injury was unable to stay with this position. While pursuing these other occupations, he still continued to farm with his brother, Richard, and retired from farming in the early 1980s.

He married Ruby (Van Matre) Heinzman July 3, 1965. To this union, two children were born, Leon and Michelle, three step-children Roger, Michael, and Denise. They lived on a farm ½ mile north of Jordan Corner and later two miles west of Winner. Divorced in June 1977.

Leonard was a proud member of WWII and was part of Co B 72 Military Police Co. At the age of 17, he was drafted and entered into the service at Fort Snelling, MN on July 27, 1944.

To start his journey, Allen, his brother, drove him to the railroad depot in Gregory, SD where they said their goodbyes. He was well on his way to the service at Fort Snelling, MN where he picked up his military belongings.

Later, boarded a train and headed to Campwalders, TX where he completed seventeen weeks of basic training. Then, shipped overseas to EIO Eastern Theater Marse France. From there, right straight to the frontline.

While fighting up at the frontline, motor shells were coming in and upon these exploding, shrapnel hit his left foot, which caused him to fall down. As he was being taken away on a stretcher, more shells came in, blowing the stretcher and him off the jeep and knocking him out, later waking up at the Aide Station.

After being treated at the Aide Station, he was put on an ambulance and taken to the 403rd hospital, where quite a bit of time was spent, later returning home.

He was honorably discharged June 22, 1946 at Camp McCoy, Wis. and is a recipient of the Purple Heart, Army of Occupation Ribbon (Germany), Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Theatre Service Medal, and Bronze Star Medal.

He often told his family about his time fighting in WWII. This particular memory was very meaningful to him. When fighting at the frontline, he opened up a small Bible that was given to the soldiers. When this Bible was opened, it was opened to Psalm 23.

As he described as the darkest of nights, a light shined down upon this Bible, making it possible for him to read this Psalm and giving him comfort.
God was a very important part of his life.

Leonard was a big influence on his children and grand-children, as he always encouraged them to be in God’s word and go to church.

He was a lifetime member of the American Legion and VFW and also enjoyed helping serve lunch at the American Legion on Labor Day in Winner.

He had a love for gardening and had a garden every year, until age 91. Local farmers would stop by and enjoy fruits and vegetables out of his garden.

Every year, Leonard would put up many jars of canned pickles using his own recipe. His family and Leonard always enjoyed this time of the year as they got to enjoy buttered bread with a pickle inside, so good! He was proud of his pickles and shared many with friends and family.

Some of the things Leonard loved were: attending church on Sunday, taking drives, vacationing (favorite spot being Mount Rushmore and seeing the faces), the state of Arizona and always wanting to reside there, coloring Easter eggs and never felt too old for this, eat out, go for coffee, sit outside under the shade tree and eat muskmelon and watermelon, flying the American flag on the farm, picnicking at the Valentine City Park, parades, camping, fishing and lending a helping hand.

Leonard enjoyed spending time with his children, grand-daughters (he was always so proud of all their accomplishments) and a very special companion, Princess (his dog).

Leonard is preceded in death by his parents August and Christina Bettcher; 2 sisters Ida (Frank) Vedral and Martha (Sam) Hauff; 3 brothers Allen (Ruth), Alfred (Frieda) and Richard (Teresa).

He is survived by his son Leon and daughter Michelle (David) Smith; 3 step-children Roger (Roxann) Heinzman, Michael (Anja) Heinzman, Denise (Jerry) Olson; brother Verolyn (Linda); 4 grandchildren MaCallie, Melissa, Shambraea, and Ally; 8 step-grandchildren Raelen, Randa Cheryl, Scott, Steven, Anna, Joshua and Justin; many nieces and nephews and lots of friends.

Cheryl Jean Crawford, 71, of Tucson, AZ died peacefully on May 30, 2019, after a lengthy illness.

Cheryl was born to Walter and Irene (Fuhrer) Burke on April 10, 1948, in Gregory, SD. She was raised in Winner, SD and graduated from Winner High School in 1966.

She was married to Lawrence Crawford for 17 years and three children were born to this union. She felt blessed to be able to stay home with her children when they were young and was always active in their activities.

In 1989, Cheryl graduated from Black Hills State University with a degree in elementary education. She lived in South Dakota until 1994 when she moved to Arizona with her family. She was a beloved 3rd grade teacher at Curiel Primary School in Eloy, AZ for 18 years. Cheryl felt that teaching was a way of life for her, not just a job. She was disappointed when health problems forced her to retire in 2012.

In addition to teaching, Cheryl loved traveling and spending time with her family. She is survived by her daughter, Lori (Dana) Adams; her son, Robert Crawford and her granddaughter, Amanda Adams. She will also be missed by many friends and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents and an infant son, Corey Crawford.

A service of committal and burial will take place at Winner Cemetery in Winner, SD on July 1, 2019 at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Catalina Lutheran Church, 15855 N. Twin Lakes Drive, Catalina, AZ 85739, or to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.