Bruce Durheim

Bruce D. Durheim, 68, of

Elm Lake, SD will be

10:00 am, Saturday, No-

vember 2, 2019 at St.

Paul’s Lutheran Church in

Frederick, SD. Rev. Justin

Brotzel will officiate.

Burial will be in Aurdal

Lutheran Cemetery,

Forbes, ND.

There will be a prayer

service at 7:00 pm Friday

with visitation from

5:00-7:00 pm at the fun-

eral home in Aberdeen,

SD.

Bruce died October 29,

2019 at his home.

Bruce was born in

Aberdeen, SD to Clifford

and Sylvia (Ofstedal) Du-

rheim, the fourth of seven

children. He was raised

on farms in N. Brown

County and attended

school at Willow Country

School, Leola and Freder-

ick, graduating in 1969.

He graduated from NSU

with a mathematics de-

gree and a deep faith in

God. He attended Bethel

Seminary in Minnesota

for one year and became

the youth pastor at 1st

Baptist Church in Coon

Rapids. At the same time

to pay the bills, he also

worked at Dain Bosworth

Investments as an auditor.

His passion was cows,

so even during the city

years he was an AI techni-

cian, and spent a portion

of each summer horse-

back in SD, rounding up,

sorting and breeding

cows. In 1980 he gave up

regular working hours and

returned to SD to ranch,

initially working for

Cutler Ranch near Freder-

ick and later starting his

own herd.

Bruce met Lynette

Gates Wheelihan on a cat-

tle drive in 1980, they

were married in 1982 and

started ranching together.

He had a passion for rais-

ing quality cattle, cattle

handling and grassland

management. They were

recognized by the Red

Angus Association of

America with 7 GRID-

MASTER Awards for ex-

ceptional carcass quality

of their steers, 2009 Com-

mercial Producer of the

Year, BIF 2011 Commer-

cial Roll of Excellence,

and Angus America 2005

Outstanding Cow/Calf

producer.

Bruce served on boards

with the 1st National

Bank of Frederick, Osceo-

la Township, and Freder-

ick Farmer’s Elevator, and

volunteered with the

Frederick Ambulance.

In 2012, Bruce and

Lynette semi-retired from

ranching, selling the ma-

jority of their herd to

Bieber Red Angus. They

continued to custom graze

cattle and spray weeds

during the summer but

spent the winters in Ar-

izona. Retired life brought

new activities and many

new friends. Pickleball,

motorcycle riding and en-

joying sunshine became

his focus.

Bruce has always en-

joyed sports, especially

Twins baseball, NSU,

SDSU and NDSU athletics

and local high school

teams. He played softball

for many years in Freder-

ick, and was on Solera

Pickleball Leagues in AZ.

He brought those Pickle-

ball skills North and won

Gold at SD Senior Games.

In his life, Bruce had

his wife at his side, faith-

ful dogs, and good horses.

He also had a lifetime of

good friends, who con-

tinually supported him

during his 11-month bat-

tle with pancreatic cancer.

Bruce is survived by his

wife, Lynette; siblings,

Karen Daly of Columbia,

SD, Linda (Leroy) Krage of

Aberdeen, Dennis (Susan)

Durheim of Ellendale,

Twyla (Dick) Young of El-

lendale, Joel (Cay) Du-

rheim of Elm Lake, Brent

(Lisa) Durheim of Hope-

dale, IL; mother-in-law,

Jenny Gates of Minot, ND;

in-laws, Don (Bonnie)

Gates of Fargo, Ann (Ter-

ry) Zeltinger of Minot,

James (Susan) Gates of

Mohall, ND and Jerry

(Tamie) Gates of

Bismarck; and numerous

nieces and nephews and

their children.

He is preceded in death

by his parents,

father-in-law, Donald (Ir-

ish) Gates and

brother-in-law, Kenneth

Daly.

In lieu of flowers the

family prefers memorials

to a charity of your

choice.

Carlsen Funeral Home

and Crematory of Aber-

deen has been entrusted

with arrangements.

www.carlsenfh.com