Richard Crater
Dates
January 17, 1951 - November 24, 2022Obituary
Richard Crater, 71, of Stickney, SD, died Thursday, November 24, 2022, at his home surrounded by his loving wife Sheila and other dear family members. Funeral services will be 10:30 AM Saturday, December 3, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Stickney. Burial will be at Silver Ridge Cemetery in Stickney. Visitation will be Friday from 5-7:00 PM at St. Paul Lutheran with a 6:30 PM prayer service. Arrangements by Bittner Funeral Chapel.
Richard Franklin Crater was born on January 17, 1951, to Harold and Bertha (Prien) Crater in Mitchell, SD. He grew up near Stickney, Plankinton, and Winner before his family returned to Stickney. He attended school at Hopper, Winner, Plankinton, and graduated from Stickney High School in 1970. Rich was a jack-of-all trades, working at the Plankinton Locker during and after high school. After graduating high school, he also worked as a farm hand for Ray Prien and Rudy Bartelt. In 1977 he started working at the Aurora Co-Op, later McGillvrey Oil, and then CHS. While there he worked in the station, fixed farm tires and furnaces, then drove the bulk fuel and LP truck until his retirement in 2015. His passion in life was farming and he raised pigs, sheep, and cattle in addition to gardening on his small farm west of Stickney.
In 1972 he attended the wedding of a classmate and met the love of his life, Sheila Herbst. They married on August 14, 1974 at St. John’s Lutheran Church (Hillside), Dimock, and enjoyed 48 happy years together. Rich believed in investing in the next generation and loved encouraging and interacting with all the children in his life. He was a lifelong member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Stickney where he served on the council for many years. He and Sheila enjoyed traveling, community life in Stickney, and time with their family and friends.
He will be greatly missed by his wife, Sheila; brother, John Crater, Mitchell; sister, Connie (Russell) Graves, Ethan; brothers-in-law, Dean and Mark Herbst, Dimock, Leland (Andrea) Herbst, Mitchell; sisters-in-law, Rebecca (Mark) Klumb, Mt. Vernon, Teresa (Dave) Bruinsma, Stickney; numerous nieces and nephews, and special family Joel (Sammie) Prien and daughters Kyla, Maddie, and River, Stickney.
He was preceded in death by his parents Harold and Bertha Crater, and his parents-in-law Clifford and Dorothy Herbst.
Visitation(s)
Friday, December 2, 2022
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
6:30 PM Prayer Service
St. Paul Lutheran Church
103 N 6th St
Stickney, SD 57375
Service
Saturday, December 3, 2022
10:30 AM
St. Paul Lutheran Church
103 N 6th St
Stickney, SD 57375
Cemetery
Silver Ridge CemeteryStickney, SD