Obituary of Ivan Bialas

Parkston – Ivan Willie Bialas, 88, went to his heavenly home Saturday, December 16 at Avera Bormann Manor. Funeral service will be Wednesday, December 20 at 10:00 am at Immanuel Lutheran Church, rural Dimock. Visitation will be Tuesday, December 19 from 5 to 7 pm with a 7:00 pm prayer service at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Dimock. Arrangements by Koehn Bros. Funeral Home in Parkston

Ivan was born January 5, 1929 to Fritz and Hilda (Gerlach) Bialas in Douglas County, SD. He grew up on the farm and attended school in Washington Township. He was baptized and confirmed into the Christian faith at Immanuel Lutheran Church. He was united in marriage to Lena L. Reimnitz on April 8, 1951 at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Ivan entered the United States Army in 1951 and served his country as an operator of heavy equipment building roads until his honorable discharge in June 1953. He was a lifetime member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, American Legion and VFW and served on the church council, Union Township Board and the Mount Vernon Farmers Elevator for many years. He enjoyed being catcher for the church baseball team, hanging flags for the American Legion and attending his grandchildren's activities. He enjoyed farming, using Case and International machinery, playing cards, hunting and fixing broken items.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Lena of Parkston; 5 children: Delila "Dee" (Ervin) Fink of Armour; Ivan Jr. (Deb) Bialas of Mitchell; Joel (Nancy) Bialas of Marion; Cindy (Dan) Roth of Mitchell; and Julie (Ron) Healy of Hartford; 14 grandchildren: Reggie Fink, Jeremy Fink, Casey Bialas, Danica Proctor, Tyson Bialas, Joslyn Durfee, Jessica Hollingshead, Sam Fernandez, Lanae Larson, Kayla Squier, Natalie Kriese, Megan Roth, Janell Healy, and Ryan Healy; 23 great-grandchildren; 9 siblings: Lorraine Hetland of Belvidere, IL; Lawrence (Bernice) Bialas of Parkston; Floyd (Ileen) Bialas of Parkston; Willard (Sylvia) Bialas of Parkston; Lambert (Lois) Bialas of Dimock; DuWayne (Sandy) Bialas of Parkston; JoAnn (Darrell) Seeman of Sioux Falls; Janet (Gerhardt) Buenning of Conifer, CO; and Jim (Rosie) Bialas of Parkston; and 2 sisters-in-law, Berniece Bialas of Parkston and Zita Bialas of Parkston.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a grandson, Jhett Bialas; 2 brothers: Harvey and Larry Bialas; 2 brothers-in-law: Wilmer Baier and Clair Hetland; and 2 nieces: Nicole Seeman and Janell Bialas.