Don Veglahn

Rev. Don Veglahn

Don Veglahn, Sioux Falls, SD, died March 10, 2015, in Sioux Falls. He was 81.

Don Veglahn was born in Britton. South Dakota, on December 22, 1933. He moved to Sioux Falls with his family at the age of five, and grew up there, graduating from Washington High School in 1952.

He served in the US Air Force from 1952 to 1956, including service as a gunner engineer during the Korean War. He was awarded the Air Medal. After leaving the Air Force, he attended Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where he met his future wife, Nancy. They were married in 1958, and graduated in 1959.

From 1959 to 1962, Don attended Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Divinity degree, and was ordained as a United Methodist minister at that time. He served churches in Howard, Spearfish, Brookings, and Sioux Falls (Asbury), and also served for six years as a District Superintendent in the church. He received an honorary Doctorate from Dakota Wesleyan University in 1979. While in Brookings, he was one of the founders of the Lakes Area Community Action Program. For eight years he was a member of the Board of Publications of the national United Methodist Church.

When South Dakota Governor George Mickelson was killed in a plane crash in April of 1993, Don officiated at the services in Pierre. Governor Mickelson had been a member of the United Methodist Church in Brookings.

In retirement, Don attended First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls and helped to deliver Communion to shut-ins. He was also employed as a Chaplain at Sioux Valley Hospital.

Don's hobbies were playing boogie-woogie piano, playing golf, gardening, fishing, and travel. He served for several years as a member of the board that oversees the public golf courses in Sioux Fails, and was also a member of the Sister Cities Assoc-iation. He was appointed to the board of the Performing Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion in 2010.

Survivors include his wife, Nancy; son, Dan Veglahn; daughter, Ruth Barrett (Michael); and two grandchildren, Robert and Margaret Veglahn. He was preceded in death by his parents, Arnold and Nada Veglahn; and his two brothers, Lawrence and Keith.

Funeral Services are scheduled for 11:00am Friday, March 20, 2015, at First United Methodist Church. Visitation begins at 2:00 Thursday, March 19, with the family present to greet friends from 5:00 to 7:00 Thursday evening at Miller Funeral Home, 507 S. Main Avenue.

Memorials may be directed to the First United Methodist Church Foundation.

www.millerfh.com