Harley Edward Furrey, 90

Harley Edward Furrey, 90, of Quinn, South Dakota, formerly of Todd County, South Dakota, passed away on May 2, 2021.

A Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021 at 10 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Winner, South Dakota, followed by a luncheon at St. Mary’s Hall. A private family burial was held on May 7, 2021 at the Winner City Cemetery.

Born on Aug. 15, 1930 at Ashurst Hospital in Rosebud, South Dakota, Harley was the first child of Harrison and Louise (Whiting) Furrey of Okreek, South Dakota. He was baptized on Aug. 25, 1930 in St. Francis, South Dakota, and remained a devoted member of the Catholic Church.

Harley grew up on farms in Todd County, South Dakota, where the family eventually settled at what became known as The Furrey Place, five and one-half miles south of US Highway 18. He graduated from Winner High School and kept in touch with his classmates throughout his lifetime.

A Korean War veteran, Harley was an active duty Marine from 1952 until 1954, being meritoriously promoted to Corporal in 1953 and receiving an honorable discharge. After his military service, Harley returned to the farm and in 1963 married Alice Neuharth. They had three children: Lisa, Vincent, and Paul. Alice passed away in 1998 from multiple myeloma, and in 2003 Harley married Kathy (Sieler) Clark of Quinn, South Dakota.

When their father died in 1971, Harley and his brother, Bill, formed Furrey Bros. partnership, which they operated until Bill’s death in 2018. The two brothers were known both for their daily morning farm meetings over coffee and for their prodigious memories of the history of the people and places of Todd County and the Rosebud Reservation. They welcomed visitors both familiar and new, whether family, neighbors, or hunters, and always had time for conversation, coffee, and cake.

In recent years, Harley and Kathy lived near Quinn, South Dakota, where he enjoyed his role of stepfather, step-grandparent and step-great-grandparent, as well as his chats with neighbors and tourists at Wall Drug. He was diagnosed with a back fracture after entering the Philip Hospital in February 2021 and was transferred to the Philip Nursing Home a few weeks later.

Harley is survived by his wife Kathryn Clark Furrey of Quinn; children, Lisa Rivero (Al) of Wisconsin, Vincent Furrey (Loretta) of Arizona, and Paul Furrey (Christine) of Colorado; sisters, Dorothy Schultz (Charles) of Wyoming and Mary Cournoyer of Florida; grandchildren, Albert Rivero (Jamie), Gavin Furrey, Anna Furrey, Charley Furrey, and Corbin Furrey; stepchildren, Jeffrey Clark, Randall Clark, and Laurie Hindman, and their children and grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbors, and friends.Harley was preceded in death by his parents, Harry and Louise Furrey, his wife Alice (Neuharth) Furrey, his brother, William “Bill” Furrey (Laurine), and his half-brothers, Gerald Furrey and Del Furrey.