Harlan Stoley

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In lieu of flowers and in honor of Harlan’s legacy, the family requests that any memorials be made to a charitable organization of your choice.

Harlan Jay Stoley, 97, a lifetime resident of Hyde County (Highmore), passed away peacefully Monday, January 23, 2023, at the Prairie View Healthcare Center in Woonsocket.  He entered Heaven while engulfed in the love of his family.

Funeral service will be 1:30 p.m., Saturday, January 28, 2023, at Our Savior Lutheran Church, Highmore, with Rev. Shari Schwedhelm, officiating.  Visitation will be one hour prior to service at the church.   Burial will be at Highmore Cemetery, Highmore, at a later date.

Harlan was the oldest of five children born to Lawrence and Georgina (Haiwick) Stoley on May 5, 1925.  He was baptized in the Lutheran faith and later confirmed at Edwin Lutheran Church, the north Hyde church his grandfather envisioned to serve the Norwegian Lutheran community. 

Harlan’s family lived on their farm in north Hyde, attending school at Eden country school located in the nearby Bohemian community, where Harlan and his siblings were the only English-speaking students in the classroom.  Harlan transferred to Brookings after completing 8th grade, attending the South Dakota State University School of Agriculture, until he was eighteen, when he enlisted in the United States Navy on February 21, 1944.  Harlan financed his SDSU room and board, by returning to the farm during the summer to work with his dad. He also worked for neighbors and spent summer weeks shearing sheep at a three thousand head sheep ranch near Timberlake, SD, averaging 80 sheep each day and earning 8 cents a head. 

Harlan’s Navy service occurred at the time when military training camps were bottlenecking with enlisted and drafted men, resulting in him receiving orders to complete a year of study at Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware, Ohio.  Harlan was recognized on the Dean’s List.  Harlan continued as an Aviation Cadet at training facilities near Brooklyn, NY, Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas and St. Mary’s College, CA.

In 1945, Harlan returned to the family farm.   One evening Harlan was having supper at the old Marshall’s café with his sister, Irene and her husband Don Mason, who introduced him to Dolores Olson,  and she joined them at their table. Before their conversation had ended, Harlan had asked her for a date.  She accepted and the “resulting two-some”, after two years of courtship, married on June 21, 1948 at Sedgwick Lutheran Church and they became a forever couple, celebrating nearly 72 years of marriage.   

Harlan and Dolores farmed and lived lifelong in Hyde County.  They were an energetic couple living on three different farms before taking over the Stoley farm from 1962 – 2011 when they moved into Highmore to retire.  As a farmer/rancher, Harlan always had focused on raising cattle and sheep.  In addition to farming/ranching, Harlan was an insurance agent for twenty-seven years and worked climbing and measuring grain bins and fields for the Hyde County ASC office well into his early 80’s.

During the winter of 1951-1952, like so many others, they were snowbound for five months, unable to go for groceries, church or to visit friends and family.  Airplanes occasionally dropped off mail and supplies.  They worked exhaustively to keep their livestock alive and care for two little girls, fought the effects of social isolation and cabin fever, ate popcorn until it was no longer a treat, played cards, and waited patiently to see their family and friends. This was a challenging time for a young couple, but spring came and normalcy slowly crept back into their lives. They had weathered the storm.

Harlan instilled a strong work ethic, supported his daughter’s individual interests, and always made time for family like pulling his daughters on the sled, swimming, playing cards, a camping vacation in the Black Hills and the adventure of Sunday drives.  Harlan loved hiking and achieved a personal goal of hiking Harney Peak often with his daughters and later, with all of his grandchildren. 

Harlan had an intelligent, creative, inquisitive mind.  He was well-read, traveled, had multiple interests, and was always striving to learn more.  He enjoyed time with friends and neighbors, was kind, humble, gentle, thoughtful, strong, hard-working, sincere, compassionate, caring, and always giving of his time, talent, and resources.  A former neighbor described Harlan as one among few who knew the value of a soft answer turning away wrath. 

Harlan was given the distinct honor of being selected to have his portrait painted and then published in a book titled Elders of the Faith, copyright 1996.  Elders of the Faith is a project committed to showcasing the varying religious convictions, personal lives, and the moral integrity of those who hold high the flags of their faiths.  The common thread of those bestowed with this honor share a love for the land, respect for others, and a deep humility.  Elders of the Faith portraits have been exhibited in galleries across S.D and were featured in the Cannon Rotunda, Washington, DC.

Harlan was an active member of Sedgwick Lutheran Church and Our Saviors Lutheran Church. He taught a bible study program for four years titled Adult Bethel Series.   He held various leadership roles in the church and was President of the Highmore Public School Board.  He also was an active participant in the Gideons, Women’s Prison Ministry, Habitat for Humanity, the South Dakota Peace and Justice Organization promoting racial equality, the Hyde County Food Pantry, and Diamond Willow Ministries on the Crow Creek Reservation, Ft. Thompson, SD.

Harlan is survived by his daughters: Barbara Coulthard of Woonsocket; Peggy Iverson of Sioux Falls; Jean Stoley of Gretna, NE; Laura (Blaine) Bulas of Hastings, NE, Dona (Mike) Deal of Rapid City; grandchildren: Travis Coulthard of Woonsocket; Tara (Ryan) Walz of Hot Springs; Bryan Geier of Highlands Ranch, CO; Nathan Geier of Aurora, CO; Jordan Geier of Watertown; Carey Utterback of Sioux Falls; Bethanie Iverson of Sioux Falls; Ben Iverson of Sioux Falls; Justina (John) Kolbe of Omaha, NE; Brock (Megan) Bulas of Aurora, CO; and Cole (Lisa) Bulas of Hastings, NE; 17 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild.

Harlan was preceded in death by his parents; Lawrence and Georgina Stoley; his wife, Dolores; beloved daughter, Carol Marie and her husband, Chuck Geier; sons-in-law, Harvey Coulthard and Curt Iverson; grandson, Collin Utterback; brothers, Aaron (Karen) and Loren (Evelyn); sisters, Irene Mason (Don) and infant sister, Ardell, nieces, other relatives and friends. 

Luze Funeral Home of Highmore has been entrusted with Harlan’s arrangements.