Donald "Don" T. Neises

Donald "Don" Neises, 89, of Madison passed away on Monday, April 1, 2024 at Madison Regional Health System.

Funeral Services for Donald Theodore Neises will be held at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Madison, SD on Monday, April 8, at 1:00 pm., with burial at St. Catherine’s Cemetery, Oldham, SD. Visitation at St. Thomas Church, Madison, SD on Sunday, April 7 from 4-6 PM with a Christian Wake Service followed by the rosary to follow beginning at 5:30 p.m..

Donald T. Neises was born on a farm southeast of Howard, SD on September 22, 1934 to Everist and Matilda (Schmitz) Neises.  He went to high school in Howard, SD, graduating in 1953.  After graduation, he worked for one year at the Firestone store in Howard.  He then started his farming career, being in the dairy business for 43 years.  At one point, he went 2.5 years without missing a milking.

He married Donna Mae Spader on November 24, 1955, and celebrated 68 years together. They farmed in Miner County until 1967, when they moved to a farm west of Oldham in Kingsbury County.  They were blessed with seven children. Don served six years with the SD National Guard.  He was a 4-H leader in Miner and Kingsbury County.  He served on the Oldham School Board and the Kingsbury County Pork Council.  He was a member of the KC’s for fifty-eight years. In 1969 he won the Kingsbury County Outstanding Young Farmer award.  Don and Donna were proud to raise their family on the farm and are very proud to announce that to this day they have six family members still in the farming business.

Don and Donna enjoyed going to many dances and especially loved to dance the jitterbug and polka.  In his spare time Don enjoyed going camping and fishing with family and friends. During his camping trips, and even to date, he loved playing his favorite card game “Bump”. After semi-retiring from farming, Don took several trips around the US and he also started doing woodworking.  He has built many doll houses, barns, tractors, and other miscellaneous items for his children, many grandkids, and great grandchildren. Some of Don’s projects are displayed at Prairie Village in Madison, SD and the Miner County Rural Life Museum. He also donated a doll house to Sanford Children’s Hospital.

Donald is survived by his wife of 68 years, Donna Mae;  his children, Denise (Dwight) Melius, Danette (Doug) Sell, Darla (Daryl) Steward, Dori-deceased (Steve) Jones, Dann (Michele) Neises, Deann (Jim) Hildebrandt, Doug Neises and twenty-three grandchildren and forty-nine great grandchildren. His siblings Duane (Mary) Neises, Denny (Pat) Neises, Sister Marlene Neises, Carol (Roger) Schnabel. He was preceded  in death by his parents Everist & Matilda Neises, a daughter, Dori Jones, great-grandson, Luke Melius, sister, Virginia Baseggio, and brother-in-law, Vince Baseggio.

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