Lee Loren Gatzke, of Tulare, SD, passed away peacefully, to be with his Lord, on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
Visitation will be from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 20, at Hyke Funeral Home in Redfield. Family will be present to accept condolences. A prayer service and time of sharing will follow at 4:00 p.m.
Lee’s funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, October 21, at Tulare United Church in Tulare. Pastor Rey Colón will officiate. A private family burial with military honors will take place at Graceland Cemetery in rural Tulare after the service. Lunch will then be served in the church hall.
Both the prayer service and funeral service will be live streamed on the funeral home’s website below Lee’s obituary. Arrangements have been entrusted to Hyke Funeral Home (www.hykefuneralhome.com).
Lee Loren Gatzke was born on August 29, 1938, in Beadle County, Huron, SD, to Mabel Irene (Heinemann) Gatzke and Alvin Earl Gatzke. He spent his childhood and youth on a farm northeast of Hitchcock, SD. He attended a country school through the eighth grade and graduated from Hitchcock High School. He graduated from the Hanson Memorial Trade School in Fargo/Moorhead, ND, for welding in February of 1958.
He was a National Guard sharpshooter and marksman from 1956 to 1959. He was honorably discharged from being enlisted in the United States Army Reserve as SSGT E6-PMOS on November 30, 1964.
Lee married Ulla Joanne Christensen on October 18, 1959, in Bonilla, SD. To this union, three children were born. He farmed all his life and loved learning and implementing new farming and livestock innovations including conservation tillage practices.
Lee was a member of the Tulare United Church. He was a solid Christian man with loyalty to God, church, and community.
Lee is survived by his loving wife, Ulla of Tulare; and children: Brian (Carla) Gatzke of Brookings, SD; Julie (Michael) Childers of Sioux Falls, SD; and Brenda (Lawrence) Ling of Sioux Falls, SD. He is also survived by his siblings: Don (Anita) Gatzke of Cherokee Village, AK; Allen (Bobbie) Gatzke of Hitchcock, SD; and Mareldine (John) Boomsma of Wessington Springs, SD. He is also survived by 5 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
Lee was preceded in death by his parents, Mabel and Alvin Gatzke, and granddaughter, Diedra K. Gatzke.
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