Harold J Edwards

Funeral services for Harold John (Eddie) Edwards, 89, of Vermillion, SD, will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vermillion, with Pastor James E. Fowler officiating. Harold died Dec.14, 2023, in Vermillion. A visitation with family members present will be held at Hansen Funeral Home in Vermillion from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19. Interment will be in the Winfred Cemetery, Winfred, SD, at 1 p.m. A luncheon will follow at 1:30 p.m. at the VFW Ronald Westby Post 2638 in Madison, SD.

Harold John Edwards, the son of Harold B. and Katherine Lentsch Edwards, was born Dec. 29, 1933, in rural Lake County, South Dakota. He attended rural schools and school in Winfred, and graduated from Winfred High School in 1952. He attended an agriculture short course at what was then South Dakota State College from October of 1952 until March of 1953. He served in the U.S. Army from November 1954 until his honorable discharge in October 1957.

He married Evelyn E. Robson on Feb. 7, 1959. She died on April 12, 1962.

Harold lived in Winfred and Madison, for most of his life and moved to Vermillion in May 2014. He worked for Wayne Wettlaufer, a Winfred area farmer, from May 1951 until 1960, except for the years he was serving in the U.S. Army.

He was employed by the Farmers Lumber Yard in Madison from 1960 to 1964, Clark Construction from 1964 to 1967, Bosshart Construction from 1967 to 1969 and was self-employed from 1969 through 1973.

Harold worked at Seidschlaw Implement in Madison from 1973 to 1980, and Madison Community Hospital from 1980 until his retirement in 1997. He was self-employed once again after retiring and worked part-time for Dovers Well Service and Repair.

He was an avid hunter and fisherman, and was busy every summer keeping lawns and gardens lush, green and beautiful.

Harold was a lifetime a member of the NRA, the NWF, American Legion Post #25, and VFW Post #2638. He served as Commander in 1986 and Quartermaster from 1992 until 2000 at the VFW Post.

He loved his family and took particular delight in doting on his two granddaughters and later, his two great-granddaughters.

Grateful for having shared in his life are his daughter, Cindy and her husband, David, of Vermillion; granddaughters Sarah Olson and her husband, Erik Olson, of Elk Point, SD; and Andrea Kooi and her husband, Nicholas Kooi, of Sioux Falls, SD; great-granddaughters Abigail Kooi and Samantha Kooi of Sioux Falls; two sisters, Lois and her husband, Wilbur Hargreaves, of Mitchell, SD; and Janet and her husband, Fred Holmberg of Centerville, SD; a brother-in-law, Ronald (Jan) Robson, Madison; and sisters-in-law Arlea Lebahn, Fremont, Nebraska, Marie Priestman,

Surprise, Arizona, Nina Dressen, Dell Rapids, South Dakota, Bonnie (Lowell) Miller, Raleigh, North Carolina;  and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his wife and his parents.