Keith J. Dewald

Keith John Dewald was born Thursday, October 26, 1939 to Emanuel and Elsie (Schneider) Dewald on the family farm rural Tripp. He was a graduate of Tripp High School. Keith married Ruby Herman December 12, 1964 at the Presbyterian Church in Tyndall.
Farming was Keith’s love. The Dewald farm was recognized as one of the quasquicentennial farms in the state in 2010, with Keith being the fourth-generation farmer. He operated the farm from 1957 to 1988. You still could never get the farmer out of Keith following retirement as he had a large garden, loved to mow, and took every opportunity to ride in the combine or help farm at Fred & Tricia’s farm.
He opened Tripp New & Used in 1988 where he also had green house and sold fireworks each year during the 4th of July. He retired from the store in 2019, but just couldn’t let any grass grow under his feet and began working at the Kaylor Locker.
In his younger years, Keith played softball for the church league then Roy’s Bar. He played ball until he was 40. Keith was a member of the American Legion and Commercial Club, along with serving on the Rural Fire Department Board and the Tripp Farmer’s Lumber Board. He amassed a large collection of toy tractors with his favorite being Farmall. One of his loves was attending any auction sale in the area and he was well known by the auctioneers. Keith was always on the go, never staying home. He could often be found at the daughters’ homes or attending all the grandchildren’s activities and sporting events. Keith also enjoyed golfing, hunting and watching his favorite teams the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins.
A family favorite was Keith’s homemade potato chips. It was his pride and joy to keep his kids and grandkids fully stocked with these awesome treats. He spent several mornings with the coffee group also known as “The Table of Knowledge”.
Keith J. Dewald, age 80, died Thursday, February 13, 2020 at the family farm in rural Tripp, South Dakota where he was also born.
Keith’s survivors include his wife Ruby; daughters Tricia (Fred) Gall of Lesterville and Tara (Paul) Schafers of Tripp; sister Betty (Maynard) Hieb of Mitchell; brother-in-law Dennis Herman of Rapid City; grandchildren Sydney, Kory, Taylor, Jordan, Payton, Tyler, Noah and Ripley.
Keith was preceded in death by his parents and in-laws Emil and Lillian Herman.