August Mundhenke Obituary

August Mundhenke, age 93, passed away on Thursday, July 3, 2025, at Touchmark Assisted Living in Sioux Falls, SD.
Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, July 27, 2025, at American Lutheran Church in De Smet, SD. Pastor Nate Bendorf will officiate with music provided by Marie Rusche as organist.
Visitation will be held in the hour prior to the service at the church with burial at De Smet Cemetery following the service.
August was born on the family farm north of De Smet, SD, on February 23, 1932, to Harry and Alice Mundhenke. He was baptized in the German Reformed Church in Willow Lake built by his grandfather and attended country grade school then graduating from De Smet High School in 1950.
In May of 1954, August and Marian "Diddy" (Malone) were married in the Lake Preston Lutheran Church.
After joining the SD National Guard, he entered the Army in August of 1954. In 1956, he was discharged with the rank of Sargent and returned to De Smet to farm with his father- building and modifying much of the farming equipment that he used to farm with.
He was a long-time member of the De Smet American Lutheran Church and elected for many offices and projects including church president. He served on many boards in his lifetime including the County School Board and the De Smet Development Economic Corporation. He was elected to the Kingsbury County Rural Electric Board in 1977, and the SD Rural Electric Association in 1984. After serving a total of 18 years, many as president of both, he retired in 1995. August was also a member of the De Smet American Legion.
In 1995, he and Diddy moved into De Smet and a year later retired from farming as well.
After the death of his brother-in-law, Francis, they took over ownership of the American State Bank of Oldham/Ramona SD and served as the Chairman of the Board of the from 1998 until 2014.
He loved to travel around the country whether by car or motorcycle. They traveled thousands of miles on his Honda Goldwing motorcycle.
God was absolutely the center of his life, everything he did was based on his faith. His love for his family, church and community was evident in his daily life.
He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Marian "Diddy"; sons, David (Monica) Mundhenke of Waterloo IA, Jeff (Sharla) Mundhenke of Sioux Falls, SD, Brent (Maribel) Mundhenke of Yuma, AZ, and De Smet, SD; daughter, Mary (Zan) Kirsch of Sioux Falls, SD; other son, Joe (Char) Ackermann of Bath, SD; grandchildren: Cody Kirsch, Austin (Kalysa) Kirsch, Suzanne (Thomas) Ross, Thomas Mundhenke, Kristen Mundhenke, Joshua Mundhenke, Kevin Calderon, and Irvin Calderon; great-grandchildren, Rebecca Ross and Thomas Ross; as well as sister-in-law, Bernice Mundhenke.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Harry and Alice; two sisters, Marjorie and Grace Smith/Wellman; two brothers, John and Marvin; grandson, Marc; brother-in-law, Francis Malone; as well as parents-in-law, Tom and Mary Malone.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel www.crawfordosthus.com
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