Donald Wayne Zimbelman, 87

zimbelman obit

Donald Wayne Zimbelman, 87, passed away on Saturday, Dec. 5, at Rapid City Regional Hospital.

Donald was born on Nov. 5, 1928 to Paul and Alice (Stoltenberg) Zimbelman in Millboro, SD. He was the oldest brother of Robert and Allen “Fritz”.

Don joined the Army in June of 1951 and was honorably discharged on Feb. 29, 1952. He married Delores Steinke on Sept. 27, 1952 in Winner. To their union, they were blessed with six children.

Don sold Fuller brush, and would leave the house in the early mornings to make house calls and would often leave a Bible tract wherever he visited. Don then worked for many local construction companies before retiring in 1983. He loved spending time in the beautiful outdoors, with hobbies such as camping, fishing, hunting, and trapping.

Don never met a stranger; a friend to everyone he met. His home was home to many dear people who needed a place to lay their head down. Don’s devotion was God, family, and friends. He taught Sunday school for boys and was active in Royal Rangers. His love for his grand and great grandchildren included babysitting and teaching them to hunt, fish, chop wood, and many other things the kids would keep a secret.

Rose Diez, 92

rose diez obit

Rose M. (Kunde) Diez, daughter of Rose (Manley) and William Kunde, was born Jan. 14, 1923 in Dixon, Nebraska along with her twin, Rita Kunde Jares. Rose grew up on a farm near Clearfield, South Dakota and graduated from Winner High School. After graduation she attended Notre Dame College in Mitchell, South Dakota receiving her teaching certificate. Rose then returned to the Winner area where she taught for her entire teaching career in both country schools and in the town of Winner. There are many stories of the differences Rose made in the young lives of the students she taught. She was chosen teacher of the year in 1991, an honor which was well deserved and of which she was very proud. Rose was passionate about education, both teaching others and educating herself. While raising children, being a farmer’s wife and a teacher, she continued her education and completed a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota.

Rose met the love of her life, Carl Diez Jr., whom she married on June 24th, 1947. They were married for 47 years until Carl’s passing in 1994.

During their marriage they lived on their farm near Clearfield until 1979 when they moved into Winner. During that time they raised six children.

Rose’s Catholic faith was a cornerstone of her life. She taught catechism in Clearfield and in Winner. In addition she was an active member of Catholic daughters in Winner for many years.

Maurice Kramer, 89

kramer obit

Maurice Francis Kramer was born March 1, 1926 to William and Alice (Higgins) Kramer in Stuart, NE. He was the seventh of nine children. He grew up on the family ranch where he enjoyed riding horses and hunting. Maurice graduated from Stuart High School.

Maurice joined the Army in 1946 and served in Japan during World War II. He was honorably discharged in 1947.

Maurice met Fern Chambers at a dance in Stuart. They were married at The Catholic Church in Stuart, NE on November 15, 1948. Maurice worked on a ranch near Stuart until they purchased a ranch in Tripp County in 1954. Maurice and Fern had six children—Karen, Anne, Lee, Gary, Janice, and Tommy.

Maurice loved breaking and riding horses. He was an avid Nebraska Cornhusker fan. Maurice enjoyed deer hunting—hunting for meat not antlers! Maurice was a hard working rancher taking pride in the quality of cattle and hogs that he raised. When the work was done Maurice and Fern enjoyed going to the dances at Carlock.

“Charitable Sisterhood” Entertains Audience

play cast

By Dan Bechtold, Editor

A stormy night, washed out roads, and a group of five women working in the basement of a church to help with a relief effort.

The play with the long title, “The Charitable Sisterhood of the Second Trinity Victory Church” opened this weekend at the Winner Community Playhouse. The cast of five women do a wonderful job.

The play will be presented again this weekend Dec. 11-12 starting each night at 8 p.m. Call 842-1958 for reservations. This might be a nice gift to give that person that is hard to shop for at Christmas. Give them the gift of theater and let them see the magic that is created on the Winner stage.

English Wins Superior at State Oral Interp

duncan and shannon state oral interp

This year students from 81 South Dakota high schools competed in the 106th Annual SDHSAA State Oral Interpretation Festival on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4 and 5, in Sturgis at Sturgis Brown High School.

The State Oral Interpretation Festival, sponsored by the South Dakota High School Activities Association, brings together South Dakota’s best high school oral interpretation speakers in a “festival” setting.  During the State Festival the students will compete to achieve a “Superior” rating which is the equivalent of a state championship in their contest event.  State Oral Interpretation Festival competition is divided into seven contest events: Non-Original Oratory, Interpretation of Serious Reading, Storytelling, Poetry Reading, Humorous Reading, Duet Interpretation, and Readers Theatre. Schools are divided into three different classes based on student enrollment grades 9-11. Winner participates in Class A. Class A had 104 entries from 30 different schools.

Winner was represented by Duncan English and Shannon Duffy. Duncan presented in Non-Original Oratory and Serious. Duncan had to present each of his pieces before three judges, in each category, and not exceed a 10 minute thirty second time limit. For his pieces he also had to have a copy of the piece and refer to it when presenting. Shannon presented in Storytelling and also presented her piece before three judges but had a five minute thirty second time limit and the piece had to be totally memorized. For his outstanding performances, Duncan was awarded a Superior rating and a medal in both of his categories. This was Duncan’s fourth year participating at State Oral Interpretation Festival and his third year of bringing home a Superior medal. When a Class A and Class B school have two superior ratings at the State level, they are awarded a Team Excellence Award. Winner received a Team Excellence Award

Warriors Open Season at Home on Dec. 11

winner boys basketball lettermen

The Winner High School boys basketball team will open the season on Dec. 11 when they host Wagner. This will be a boys and girls double header.

The Warriors return 10 lettermen including Luke Engel, Lattrell Terkildsen, Trevor Bertram, Drew DeMers, Krockett Krolikowski, Isaac Naasz, Devon Leiferman, Wyatt Ewing, Cameron Kuil and Chase Kingsbury.

Last year the Warriors finished third in the State A tournament as they defeated Little Wound 60-54.

Fritz Signs at DWU

volleyball dacey kocer

Dakota Wesleyan University volleyball coach Lindsay Wilber has signed nine athletes for the 2016 season. Among those signing is Sydney Fritz of Winner.

Fritz wrapped up a successful volleyball career for the Lady Warriors. She finished with 871 kills, 646 digs, and 106 serve aces. She had a career high 44 kills in a 2015 match. Named to the Big Dakota Conference team twice and to the all-state second team as a junior. In addition to participating in volleyball for the Lady Warriors, she also played club volleyball for CPAC.

Fritz also participates in basketball and track and field for the Lady Warriors.

The daughter of Jim and Pam Fritz plans to major in elementary education at DWU.

“Sydney has a quick arm swing with power that is hard to defend,” said DWU coach Wilber. “She reads the block well and has a great court sense defensively.”