Raymond Burch Jr., 66, of Winner SD passed away on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019.
Raymond Joseph Burch Jr. was born Feb. 1, 1953 to Raymond and Margaret (Harcher) Burch in upstate New York. Ray graduated from Boulder High School in 1971.
After high school, Ray became a welder which began his journey of being able to fix just about anything. In Boulder, he worked at Complex Tooling for over 20 years before moving to Winner in 1994.
In the Winner area, Ray worked in the fields of maintenance, masonry, landscaping and more.
Ray was an absolute adventure seeker – whether it be hiking over the continental divide, skydiving, snowboarding, target shooting or riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle, he loved the thrill. He was a loving husband, father, brother and grandfather. Ray was a phenomenally hard worker, excellent marksman, and would genuinely do anything to help others.
Ray enjoyed spending time with family, spoiling his grandchildren, telling stories (lots and lots of stories) of his past, catching up with old friends, and sneaking in as much hunting and fishing as time would allow. One of his favorite stories to tell was when he caught a 15 1/2 lb. northern that was 41 inches long out of the Tripp County stock dam.
He loved telling stories about how many times he jumped out of airplanes and his crazy adventures. His wild side left him with many nicknames such as Ripcord, Major, Radar, and Green Beret Ray.
Ray is survived by his wife, Sheila Burch of Winner, daughter Melanie (Laramie) Unzen of Sioux Falls SD, grandchildren Jase and Cierra, and brother William Burch of Frederick CO.
Ray is preceded in death by his parents, Raymond and Margaret Burch and brother Brian Burch.
A private memorial service will be held at a later date. “It is not the length of life, but depth of life.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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