Marvin Edward Groeneveld

Marvin Groeneveld, 89, of Hartford died Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at Sanford Health.

Funeral services will begin at 1:30 PM Saturday, December 4, 2010 at St. Jacob’s Lutheran Church, rural Colton. Burial will be in the Bethany Lutheran Cemetery, rural Colton. Visitation with the family present will be from 5-7:00 PM Friday, December 3, 2010 at the Minnehaha Funeral Home, Colton.

Marvin was born May 9, 1921 to Ontje and Hilda (Otten) Groeneveld on a farm in northwest Minnehaha County. He was raised with five siblings and had many memories of fun on the farm as well as surviving the “Dirty Thirties”. He graduated from Humboldt High School and became a farmer.

World War II was declared while he was a young man. He joined the Army Air Force and served from 1942 to 1945. His years in the service were divided among the European front and the Pacific. During his years in the Pacific he became a cook. This skill lasted thru his life as he always felt quite comfortable in the kitchen. As a bombardier, gunner, and navigator he flew many missions over Germany. As a result, he was a member of the “Lucky Bastards” Club for completing 25 successful bombing missions.

May 25, 1948 he married Veronica Rothan from Humboldt, SD. They had seven children and lived on farms in the Montrose and Colton areas.
Over the years he held many community and church positions. He was on the board of Bethel Lutheran Home in Madison, township clerk for Buffalo Township, and held positions within his home church of St. Jacob’s Lutheran. He was an active member of the Montrose American Legion and later also a member of the Sioux Falls VFW.

In 1993 he and Veronica left the farm to enjoy their retirement years in Hartford. During this time he was responsible for spraying the weed in the ditches of Minnehaha County. They spent many fun times with the Senior Citizens group and their many friends playing cards.

Marvin is survived by his wife, Veronica; and seven children, Marlene, (Ed) Mellegaard, Baltic; Linda (Bill) Wilkes, Nancy (Darrell) Viet, Jim (late wife Karen), Roxanne (Kirk) Keupp, Paul (Nancy) Groeneveld, and Julie (Gary) Dodd, all of Sioux Falls; 17 grandchildren; 2 step grandchildren; and 8 great grandchildren. He has two sisters, Joanna Elder, Santa Barbara, CA; and Myrna Searl, Humboldt; two sisters in law, Mavis Groeneveld, West Pueblo, CO and Darlene Groeneveld, Celina OH, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, and a sister Daphene Steichen, and brothers, Art and Bill Groeneveld, and a daughter in law, Karen Groeneveld.