Dale Hanna

Funeral services for Dale Hanna were held on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. at the Kotrba-Smith Funeral Home in Gregory, SD.

Christina Dagbovie, Casey Cokens, and Jessica Parshall were in charge of registration. Erin Peterson was card carrier.

Urn bearers were Michael Thompson, Bill Marshall, Dewey Foote, Jack Brandis, Aaron Songer, Jim Sinclair, and Joey Meyer. Honorary urn bearers were (Dave Parshall - deceased), Jerry Jeming, Mitch Hanly, Jim Foss, Ralph Hoover, Kevin Caldwell, and honored guests were Steve Silver and the Nagel Family.

Military honors were conferred by Gregory American Legion and the National Honors Team.

Burial was in the Black Hills National Cemetery on June 24, 2024. Flag salute given by the Patriot Guard and the Legion Riders. Kotrba-Smith Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Dale Roger Hanna, age 74, of Gregory, South Dakota, died on June 18, 2024, in Burwell, NE, where he had been residing recently in the Community Memorial Health Center.

Dale was born in Deadwood, SD, on May 6, 1950, to Alvin and Opal (Samdal) Hanna, joining older brothers Jim and Lynn. Tragedy struck early in Dale’s life as his father passed away when he was only one. In his youth, he spent considerable time with his family in the Hettinger, ND, area, and was very close with his Samdal aunts, uncles, and cousins.

During junior high, his family relocated to Denver, CO, where he attended East High School and made lifelong friends before joining the Army. He served honorably in Vietnam, earning a bronze star. Upon leaving the army, he returned to Denver, where he met and married Pamela McManus. They relocated a few times before eventually settling in Spearfish, SD, where their daughter Sarah was born. Although Pamela and Dale both remarried, they remained in contact for the remainder of his life.

He used the time spent driving his daughter to various activities to ensure that she was exposed to good music, playing Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, and Credence Clearwater Revival in the car. Most of all, Dale always encouraged Sarah to enjoy life, have fun, and not take things so seriously, a lesson she will try to carry on in his absence.

Dale met Marie (Brozik) Palmer and relocated to Gregory, SD, where they made their home. While working for the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Community SWA, where he met three of the best coworkers he ever had, Dale also encountered many stray animals. What began as his effort to rescue and find homes for these animals eventually became his life’s calling. Along with Marie, he spent the last 20+ years of his life rescuing many thousands of animals. After about a decade of rescuing animals, Rescues Unlimited became an official 501(c)(3) in 2012. After many years together, Dale and Marie were married in Deadwood, SD, on July 19, 2023.

Dale will always be remembered for making everyone around him laugh, and his way with animals. His memory will live on in the hearts of all those who loved him, as well as the animals he saved, and the people who adopted those animals to complete their families.

Dale is survived by wife Marie Hanna; daughter Sarah (Jason) Hanna- Addams; step-son Vince Palmer; many cousins; brother-in-law Bud Brozik; sisters-in-law Phyllis (Scott) Bolie and Linda (Terry) Bertelsen; and nieces and nephews.

Dale was preceded in death by his father Alvin Hanna; mother Opal (Samdal) Bohnhoff; brothers, James and Lynn Hanna; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.