Obituary of Arnold Carl Burmeister

Parkston – Arnold Carl Burmeister, 89, went to his heavenly home Saturday, October 6 at Avera Bormann Manor in Parkston. Funeral mass will be Tuesday, October 9 at 10:30 am at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Parkston. Visitation will be Monday, October 8 from 5 to 7 pm with a 7:00 pm prayer service at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Parkston. Arrangements by Koehn Bros. Funeral Home in Parkston.

Arnold, the youngest of 5 children, was born July 17, 1929 to William and Mary (Lorang) Burmeister on the family homestead near Argonne, SD. His mother passed away during childbirth. Arnie attended all 12 years of school at Argonne Country School. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1949 and served his country until being honorably discharged in 1953. He returned to South Dakota where he began farming. He was united in marriage to Kay Ann Moothart on May 15, 1954 in Madison, SD. They began their family and farmed in the Argonne area. During these years, he was a member of the Howard area American Legion Post 145. He was Legion Commander and supported the legion baseball team. Arnie's second career, managing Cenex Cooperatives, began in 1973 and would take him and his family to Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota before retiring back to South Dakota in 1991. During these moves, Arnie’s legacy became planting trees at each home where they lived. Being bored with the retirement life, he began interim managing for Cenex until finally taking retirement seriously in 1999. In retirement, he enjoyed helping Phil on the farm.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife of 64 years, Kay of Parkston; 4 children: Peggy (Audie) Mercado of Brandon, SD; Phil Burmeister of Parker, SD; Perry (Tami) Burmeister of Huron, SD; and Penny (David) Petrik of Madison; 8 grandchildren, Brandon, Chris, Kaylani, Ashley, Austin, Christina, Collette and Connor; 4 great-grandchildren, Christian, Kendra, Preston and Kalea; and a sister, Sylvia (Lyle) Christensen of Columbus, NE.

He was preceded in death by his parents; 2 sisters, Florence and Evelyn; and a brother, Ernest (Bud).