John Caondon, 67

John Condon, 67, of Millboro, SD passed away on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020 at his home near Millboro.

Memorial service was held on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 at 2 p.m. at the Tripp County 4-H Center in Winner, SD. Burial will be held at a later date.

A visitation will be held one hour prior to service.

John Wallace Condon was born to Howard and Vera (Pratt) Condon in Winner on Dec 17, 1952.

He grew up on ranches in South Dakota where his father worked. He competed in high school rodeo and graduated from Sturgis High School in 1971.

He worked at sale barns and Whitewood Post and Pole in the Black Hills area.

He met Marie Kollmar at the Days of ’76 in Deadwood in 1974 and were married Oct. 23 1976. They lived in the Sturgis area until moving back to Millboro in 1981.

He then started work for SD DOT as a highway maintenance worker until 1996. He later became a field enumerator for NASDA interviewing ag producers for the USDA until the time of his passing.

Their son KayCee was born in 1987. They were active the KBR harness and saddle club for many years enjoying riding and driving teams on trail rides/drives.

When KayCee joined 4H, John and Marie became co-leaders of the local club.

KayCee’s first year of 4H John was asked to chaperone at 4H Camp at Camp Bob Marshall as they needed an adult to chaperone the boys attending.

This led to many years of taking kids to camp and many years of serving on the board of directors for camp.

KayCee started shooting sports andsd John got certified as an instructor eventually becoming certified in most the disciplines offered.

In 2006 and 2007 he was the Chief Range Officer for Muzzleloader at the National 4H Shooting Sports Invitational in Rapid City and was assistant Range Officer at nationals when it was in Grand Island, NE for 8 years.

He worked at South Dakota State Fair 4H division for 15 years overseeing the general assistant crew to set up and tear down all 4H events during the fair (the only time he got paid monetarily for working with 4H).

He loved 4H and especially shooting sports and seeing the kids grow through the program and spent countless hours helping many kids to achieve their goals.

John and Marie both received many rewards for their service to 4H locally and state wide.

They started attending Old West Days Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Valentine, NE in 1992 and never missed a performance through 2019.

The Condon family was honored as Parade Marshalls for the OWD parade in 2006. He loved the horses, then the mules, and all activities with them as well as all the friends made through that and with 4H.

He was still active in 4H until the time of his passing.

John passed away at home Feb. 22 after declining health. He was preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, many aunts and uncles, his half-brother Denzil Rush.

He is survived his wife, Marie, son, KayCee, sister, Nelda Brown, other relatives and many other “family.”

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