Floyd "Bud" A. Heinemann

Floyd (Bud) Arthur Heinemann passed away Monday, April 8, 2019, at Ava’s House after a brief acute illness. Floyd was born in Garretson, SD, on April 15, 1928, to Arthur and Henrietta Heinemann. He grew up in the Garretson and Dell Rapids area on various farms with the family finally settling on a farm south of Dell Rapids. He attended St. Mary Catholic School in Dell Rapids through the 8th grade he was then needed to work on the family farm. He served in the army as a medical corpsmen at Fitzsimmons Army Medical hospital in Denver, Colorado. He returned home from the service and began his own farming career. He met and married Isabel Bott, started a family and raised five children. Floyd and Isabel were dedicated to a life of service to others and especially to their church. Education was also important to Floyd. He served on the Dell Rapids School Board for 25 years, and he served on many state and national education boards. In 2013, he was granted his diploma from Dell Rapids Public High School through a program aimed at veterans who did not graduate because of their service, to obtain their degree. Because of a health issue, he left farming in 1972 to begin a new career in agribusiness as a salesman for the Mormons Feed Company. The children of his customers knew him as the “Chiclets” man. When he retired, he continued to be active. He delivered mail as a rural mail carrier for a number of years as he and Isabel began their retirement together, which included becoming winter Texans. As time went by, Isabel developed Alzheimer’s dementia. Caring for her became his full time job. She passed away in May of 2010. He missed her very much. Both he and Isabel have donated their body to the Sanford School of Medicine. After her death, he needed to find something else to pass his time. He began his final commitment to service as volunteer, serving both the Alzheimer’s Association and the Sanford USD Medical Center. Some of his proudest moments in the last years of his life were his efforts to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association and being recognized as the 2018 Volunteer of the Year for Sanford Medical Center.

He was preceded in death by Isabel, his wife of 56 years, his parents, two sisters, Mary Schmidt and Dorothy Frantzen, and one brother-in-law Bernard Frantzen, all of Dell Rapids, SD.

His family, who is grateful for sharing his life are his children, Dan (Cathy) Heinemann, Canton SD, Tim (Becky) Heinemann, Sioux Falls SD, Anne (Paul) Holland Rochester MN, Jeff(Laura) Heinemann, Smyrna GA, Pat (Tracey) Heinemann, Egan. SD, three sisters, Joyce (Richard) Lerdal, Sioux Falls SD, Virginia (Dick) Mergen, Dell Rapids SD, Ruby (Dick) Nelson, Overland Park KS, brother-in-law, Merlin Schmidt, Dell Rapids SD, eight grandchildren, and 3 great-grand children, who in his mind, were the “finest” around, and a large extended family, including his amazing Sanford friends.

He was proud of all the people he was close to and his work at the Medical Center gave him a new purpose.

Mass of Christian Burial will be Saturday, May 11, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. in St Mary Catholic Church, Dell Rapids SD. Visitation with family present will be on Friday, May 10, 2019 at Kahler Funeral Home at 5:00 p.m. with the Christian Wake Service beginning at 6:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family and Bud request that all memorials be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association of South Dakota on behalf of “Team Isabel.”

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