Bjarne Rolf Tonneson

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Bjarne (Slip) Tonneson, 88, of Dell Rapids, SD, died July 31, 2020 from complications suffered from a stroke in 2017.

Slip was born on a farm in Iowa on June 27, 1932 to Birger and Ragna Tonneson. He attended a country school for eight years and graduated from Harrisburg High School in 1950.

In 1952, he married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Oppold, also of Harrisburg, SD. They had 67 blessed years together. Slip served in the Air Force for four years with an 18-month tour of duty in Japan during the Korean War. After he was discharged in 1956, they lived in Sioux Falls for 9 years. Slip decided that the country would be a better place to raise four boys and a girl than the city, so he moved his family to an acreage near Baltic, SD, where they lived for 22 years.

Slip worked for John Morrell & Co. for 36 years, serving as fleet maintenance and garage division supervisor. Upon retiring from the company in 1987, he and Patricia moved to Dell Rapids where he worked for the Dell Rapids School district as transportation manager for 15 years.

He is preceded in death by his parents Birger and Ragna Tonneson; his sisters Sylvia Helgeson, Gerd Olson, and Violet Brewer; and his brother Carl.

He is survived by his wife, Patricia, and five children: Lon (Kathy), Glyndon, MN; James (Pam), Sioux Falls, SD; Larry (Virginia) Williamsburg, VA; Todd (Julie), Eagan, MN; and Ann Sittig (Bob), Baltic, SD; and 14 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren with another great grandchild due soon.

Visitation is Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 5-7 p.m. at Minnehaha Funeral Home, Dell Rapids, S.D.

A private funeral service will be held Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary Catholic Church, Dell Rapids. Service will be livestreamed beginning at 10:30 AM at the Minnehaha Funeral Home & Cremation Services Facebook Page .

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made to a charity of one’s choice.