James Alley
February 20, 1930 ~ March 23, 2014
Served by: Luce, Luze & Reck Funeral Homes
Jim Alley, 84, of Miller, passed away Sunday, March 23, 2014 at the Good Samaritan Society of Miller.
Funeral service was held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at the First Presbyterian Church, Miller with Rev. Janice Palmer officiating. Burial was held at G.A.R. Cemetery, Miller. Visitation with family present began at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, 2014 followed by a 7:00 p.m. prayer service, all at Reck Funeral Home, Miller.
Jim Alley was born February 20, 1930 to Clifford and Hazel (Fugate) Alley and was raised on farms near Orient, South Dakota. He attended rural elementary schools, was a member of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, and graduated from Miller High School in 1948.
On April 28, 1950 he married Barbara Jean Schroeder at the First Presbyterian Church in Miller. They ranched and farmed in Hand and Hughes Counties for seven years until Jim was diagnosed with dermatomyositis. After his lengthy and determined recuperation, Jim and Barbara moved to Miller where they raised their six children. Jim served as Hand County Auditor for a short time until deciding to finish his Bachelor’s degree at Huron College. Jim then worked as a state bank examiner and later as a loan officer at Hand County State Bank.
Jim considered himself a friend of the First Presbyterian Church in Miller and was a member of the Miller Lion’s Club. He enjoyed reading, western movies and sporting events, but his favorite hobbies were spending time on the Miller golf course and watching the stock market.
He is survived by four daughters, Carolyn (Greg) Rediger of Miller; Julie Burns of Olympia, WA; Jane (Scott) Gardner of Brandon; Susie (Mike) Ellsworth of Lincoln, NE; a son, Todd (Cathy) Alley of Lincoln, NE; 11 grandchildren: Grant Rediger, Amy Burns, Emily and Tom Gardner, Colin and Marcus Alley, Lindsey (Alex) Bahe, Jamie (Demarion) Mapp, Kelly (Brandon) Bushnell, Anne and Carly Alley; five great-grandchildren: Bode, Tripp and Ellsworth Bahe, Miller Mapp, and Cooper Bushnell; a sister, Lois Glover of Burke; a daughter-in-law, Natalie Garrigan of Highmore; a brother-in-law, Bob Schroeder of Sioux Falls, and several nieces and nephews.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Barbara, in 2006, his son, Mike, in 2007, and his brother, Keith.
Reck Funeral Home of Miller has been entrusted with Jim’s arrangements.
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I’m sorry to hear about Jim. My prayers and thoughts are with you all.
Our hearts are with you as you find peace with Jim’s passing.
Tom is remembering all their thousand times of golfing together.
And, our dinners with your Mom and Dad every Friday night for many years. Special memories.
of them!!! Our thoughts are with
you. Tom and Jo Marso, Parker,
SD.
It was with great sadness that I heard another Miller Hi classmate of 1948 passed away. I’ll miss his cheery smile and the reunions we had with him in the nursing home. He is now probably ‘walking’ hand-in-hand with his beloved Barbara in their final home. I miss her too–with such small classes we all knew each other well and were friends. My condolences to Jim and Barb’s children and families. God Bless you all. Bev (Collins) Bergman