A memorial service for Roger Myers is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. at the Winner 4-H Center in Winner, SD. Mason Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Roger Keith Myers was born on February 18, 1953, in Gregory, SD - the third son of six children born to Keith and Lois (Smith). He was baptized on April 5, 1953, by Pastor Kenneth C. Farr in Dallas, SD. Roger grew up on the family place north of Dixon, SD. He enjoyed his childhood in rural South Dakota, walking to Dixon Dam to spend the evening catching fish, or playing baseball as a Dixon Dodger.
Roger attended District 57 Dixon Elementary, and graduated from Gregory High School in 1971, before attending South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD, to pursue a degree in animal science. Not only did Roger become a lifelong Jackrabbits fan, but he met Marlene Geigle at Hobo Days in October 1973, and they were married on June 26, 1976, at the First Lutheran Church, in Wall, SD.
Soon after the wedding, the couple moved to Frazee, MN, where he was employed with Daggett Trucking. A few months later, the couple relocated to Dickinson, ND. Though Roger enjoyed driving truck, he didn’t want that lifestyle to raise a family. In 1978, Roger and Marlene made their home northeast of Clearfield, SD.
Two weeks later, after a long drive behind a snowplow, daughter Sherri joined the family. That next spring, while the family loaded out their first crop of calves to sell, Melanie chose to make her entrance. Roger and Marlene were getting used to their two brown-haired/brown- eyed daughters and didn’t realize how much the arrival of a special blonde they named Michelle would change the family dynamic for the better. Roger embraced being a “girl” dad for eight years, teaching his daughters the importance of hard work and responsibility. While Roger and two other families were out moving cows, the end cap to the family, Jay, decided to arrive eight years later.
Roger’s parents instilled the love of 4-H into their children’s lives. It wasn’t a hobby you tried out as an 8-year-old, but a lifelong commitment to Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. He participated in showing all types of livestock and developed a passion that later would become the center of all family vacations. His biggest 4-H accomplishment was showing a market steer at the International Livestock Show in Chicago, IL.
Roger was a leader of the Clovervale 4-H Club, where his children were members. His proudest memories were the kids showing his registered Polled Herefords and a variety of market steers. Showing livestock soon expanded from the Mid Dakota Fair to feeder calf shows held in Gregory, Valentine, and Stuart. They also took the family on the road to the Central States Fair, the South Dakota State Fair, and the Western Junior Livestock Show in Rapid City each fall, the family’s annual vacation destination. Roger took this opportunity to renew old friendships, from when he showed livestock during his youth. WJLS was not just a Myers family vacation destination but a Tripp County 4-H family vacation.
Roger took pride in his small herd of registered Polled Hereford cattle. He fed out calves each fall through spring and sold his yearling bulls all over the Midwest. His family hosted the SD Junior Hereford Field Days in Winner as well as participated in two different SD Hereford Association Hereford Tours.
Roger was a Tripp County 4-H leader of the Clovervale 4-H Club, Tripp County Fair Board leader and member, a board member of the Rosebud Hereford Association and South Dakota Hereford Association, and served as an advisor to the South Dakota Junior Hereford Association and at the Western Junior Livestock Show. He also served as a clerk and supervisor for Dog Ear Township.
In his short retirement, he spent evenings playing cards with his children and their spouses, talking to other cattleman across the area on his tablet or at Ampride Lil’ Feller (now the Gus Stop).
Roger Myers, 69, of Winner, SD, passed away on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, in Winner, SD as a result of a one vehicle accident south of Winner, SD.
Roger is survived by his wife of 46 years, Marlene (Geigle) Myers of Winner, SD; daughters Sherri and Doug Mayes, and grandchildren Setiva, Billy, Milo, Miley, and Lovey, of Winner, SD; Melanie and Lane Bartels, and grandson Hank, of Tea, SD; Michelle (Shelly) and Lynn Junck, and grandson Dean, of Carroll, NE; son Jay and Sarah Myers, and grandson Christopher of Winner, SD. Siblings Vil Roy and Doris Myers of Frazee, MN; Larry and Donna Myers of Tyler, MN; Linda Myers of Hudson, FL; Lela and Dan Platt of Wadena, MN; Lois Ann Quail of Worland, WY; Rebecca Zimmerman of Gregory, SD; Alvina Federwitz of Waxhwa, NC; August and Mary Geigle of Parkston, SD; and Patti and Ray Greenseth of Murdo, SD; many nephews, nieces, grandnephews and grandnieces; and many more friends and family.
He was preceded in death by his parents Keith and Lois Myers; in-laws Otto and Brigitta (Denke) Geigle; brothers-in-law: Carl Geigle, Jerry Axemaker, Dale Federwitz, Bill Goodwin, Richard “Dick” Zimmerman, and Irwin “Butch” Quail; sister-in-law Zenda Geigle; and young niece Amy Quail.
