Vernon Voelzke

Vernon Paul Voelzke, 91, of Brookings, entered the presence of the Lord on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, at the Neighborhoods Care Center in Brookings, SD, with his loving wife, Cathy, by his side and his cherished grandson, Greg, on the phone. Vernon, the third of five siblings, was born to Paul and Marie (Janssen) Voelzke on the family farm five miles south of Dallas, SD, on June 23, 1934, during the height of the Dust Bowl in the area then known as the heart of the Dust Bowl—the Gregory/ Tripp County border. His mother, Marie, would moisten tea towels and place them over his bed to protect him from the dust. The Voelzke farm was blessed with an ample supply of safe water, which they shared with their neighbors.

Vernon attended Fairview country school and Gregory High School, where he played basketball. As a youth he was active in Walther League at St. John Lutheran Church. Vern loved all things motorized and fast. He flew friends to out of town meetings in his Piper Cub Cruiser. He also rode a motorcycle as a young man. Later in life, his little brown Toyota Celica practically flew across the state.

After high school graduation in 1952, Vernon attended the University of South Dakota for one semester before enlisting in the Army. After completing training, he was stationed in Thule, Greenland, during the Korean War, where he served as a radar operator and ran the northernmost PX in the world. Upon completion of his military service, he returned home to join the family farming operation.

In 1957, Vernon married Gretchen Frank and welcomed his first three daughters: Tamara, Cheryl, and Holly. Shortly before the birth of their second daughter in 1959, Vernon lost his right hand in an accident with a forage harvester. Remarkably, he recovered and adapted with the use of a special prosthesis so he could continue farming. Vernon could fix and build just about anything and was known as an inventor. Among his projects were a boat with a mahogany top, a tractor cab, a “doozie wheel” (a small Ferris wheel for two), a bicycle built for three, and a harpsichord.

In 1968, seeking to refine his innate skills, he moved his young family to Brookings and enrolled at South Dakota State University to study mechanical engineering. To support the family, he worked weekends as a police dispatcher. When he applied for a summer road construction job on the bypass and I-29, the foreman didn’t think he could tie rebar with only one hand. Vernon replied, “Give me the weekend and I’ll come back and show you.” He went home, designed, and built a device for the purpose. He got the job and was later asked to make more of the devices because they made the work easier for everyone.

Another summer, Vernon worked a road construction job in Juneau, AK, and a surveying job out of Anchorage. Vern’s life changed again in 1977 when he divorced. Later that year, he invested in his extended family by purchasing a cabin at Oakwood Lakes near Brookings. The cabin created thousands of memories for his friends and family—reunions, holidays, waterskiing adventures, and many pig roasts. In 1981, Vernon married Cathrene Drews and gained a fourth daughter, Gina Lynch. The extended Voelzke family welcomed the two new members and have celebrated many family events together since.

While a student at SDSU, Vern began a part-time job with a new start-up company created by two of his esteemed professors, an opportunity that would be life-altering for Vern. After graduating in December 1971, he became Daktronics’ seventh full-time employee. His responsibilities included building their machine shop, making sales calls, and pursuing his passion: engineering. Over the years with the growing company, Vern hired and mentored many “farm kids with a can-do attitude.” Several of those hires continue with Daktronics today. Vern worked on emerging display technologies, earning many patents at the company’s behest. His projects grew from voting systems and wrestling mat-side scoreboards to Olympic scoreboards, PGA scoring systems, and large arena messaging and display systems. Vern loved the variety of work and conquered the challenges set before him. His career with Daktronics also afforded him lifelong friends who were a big part of Vern and Cathy’s busy social life. Many family vacations were spent checking out prospective display venues and bringing Cathy and Gina along on installations.

He traveled internationally and became known for his mastery of hoist systems. One competitor even called Vern to ask how to build a hoist for a display on a bid that Daktronics had not been awarded— that was a *very* short phone call. When he retired in 2003, Daktronics had grown into an international company, was publicly traded on the stock market, employed more than one thousand people worldwide. Reflecting on the company’s growth and success, he said, “We were just a bunch of farm kids who didn’t know what we couldn’t do.”

After Cathy’s retirement in 2004, they enjoyed many RV trips and vacations with special friends. They also wintered in Mesa, Arizona. There were countless visits to spend time with grandkids. Vern especially loved fishing with his grandsons; there was always ice cream at the end of a good (or bad) day of fishing.

Throughout his lifetime Vern volunteered his time and resources for community, education, church and civic organizations. He was a Rotarian; as part of their mission, Vern helped build many solar ovens for people of Haiti. We hope Vern is remembered for his incredible work ethic, his “can-do, no excuses” attitude, his value of education and emerging technology, and his spirit of generosity.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to South Dakota State University, First Lutheran Church of Brookings, or a charity of your choice.

Vernon joins his parents, sister Marjorie Krcil, and brother Harry Voelzke in heaven.

He is survived by his sisters Gladys Harder and Vergie (Al) Asper, his daughters Tamara (Maury) Forsyth of Brookings, SD, Cheryl Aschland of Atlanta, GA, Holly (John) Paulson of Sioux Falls, SD, and Gina Lynch of Lake City, MN, and his grandchildren Riley Forsyth, Zachary Paulson, Nicolas (Hayley) Paulson, Adam Paulson, Angela Paulson, Gregory Banaszynski, and Mitchell Banaszynski.

Funeral Services for Vernon Paul Voelzke, 91, of Brookings, SD, were held at 11 a.m., Monday, November 17, 2025, at First Lutheran Church in Brookings, SD. Rudes Funeral Home of Brookings was in charge of arrangements.