Raymond Bartels

Funeral services for Raymond Bartels are scheduled for Wednesday, November 24, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at the Winner United Methodist Church. Burial is scheduled to follow in the Winner City Cemetery. Mason Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Raymond Bartels was born September 14, 1943, to John and Cecelia Esther Bartels in the Winner Baptist Hospital in Winner, SD. Ray grew up northwest of Winner at the original homestead and attended East and West Banner schools. A 1961 Winner High School graduate, Ray celebrated his 60th class reunion at WHS this homecoming.

In addition to working on the farm throughout his teen years, Ray worked for many neighbors, including George Mills, Wayne Lapsley, and Red and Jerry Shoemaker, and worked at the South Dakota Experiment Station north of Presho.

On a whim, he traveled to California where he worked at a lampshade factory before returning home to start his adult life here in Tripp County.

He married Judy Day on February 14, 1970. The couple had four children: Troy, Jason, Amanda, and Lane.

Ray spent the next few decades raising his family, crops, and livestock. He was an old-school farmer who took great pride in his large, bountiful garden and his chickens. Additionally, he served on many boards and associations. He and Judy worked in the concession stand for the Elk’s Rodeo with Ray as an Elk, Judy as a Doe. Ray was a member of the Tripp County Wheat Producers Association, and was a lifelong member of the Episcopalian Church, working every Shrove Tuesday at the annual pancake dinner.

The Tripp County Water User District was established in 1977, and Ray was named one of its inaugural directors, a post he manned for 44 years as director and past president. The TCWUD is comprised of 2200 miles of pipeline with 2400 service connections. Ray and Judy enjoyed their annual water district meeting trips around the country, and made many memories with the TCWUD board and staff.

Responsibilities loomed at the farm and in town; however, the relationships Ray took seriously were that of a “family man”. He was known for a quick smile and a quicker wit.

Raymond Bartels, age 78, of Winner, SD, passed away on Saturday, November 20, 2021, at the Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD.

He is survived by his wife of fifty-one years, Judy, and their children: Troy (Josh) Bartels, Jason (Tovi) Bartels, Amanda (Dylan) Hostetler ,and Lane (Melanie) Bartels; grandchildren Chloe, Finnegan, August, Hayden, and Hank; and siblings Lloyd Bartels and Judy Novotny.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Esther, in-laws Bill and Pearl Day, sister Frances (Gerald) Bachman, and in-laws Butch Novotny and Bill and Donna Day.