Loren P. Severson

Loren Phillip Severson, 98, of Clear Lake, SD, passed away on Friday, October 18, 2024, just three weeks before his 99th birthday at Good Samaritan Village in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Funeral services will be held on Friday, October 25 at 10:30 AM at St Paul's Lutheran church in Clear Lake South Dakota. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be at East Highland Cemetery. Houseman Funeral Home in Clear Lake, SD is entrusted with the arrangements.
Memorials preferred to be directed to East Highland Lutheran Cemetery or St. Paul's Lutheran Church.
Loren was born on November 8, 1925, at the home of his parents, Sever and Marie (Solberg) Severson, near Gary, South Dakota. While growing up on their family farm, Loren learned the business of farming and importance of family. Here he acquired the values of caring for God's creation - the land, animals, and all people. Loren was known as a kind and positive person.
He attended eight years of grade school at a rural Deuel County school house about a mile from his home. In first grade he learned to speak English after only speaking Norwegian at home. He attended four years of high school in Gary where he played basketball and graduated in 1943.
Loren was deferred from military service to stay home and help farm. In 1950, he and a friend decided to go to the University of Minnesota to study agribusiness. However, he was drafted into the Army in February 1951.
On June 29, 1952, Loren married LaVonne Severson. They lived together at Fort Warden in Washington until he was discharged in February 1953. Loren and LaVonne came back to South Dakota to take over his parent's farm. They had four children: Verne, Donald, Mary Lou, and Craig. He and his family raised crops, cut and baled hay, and milked cows. Loren had registered Holstein cows. He kept careful records and, by working with the Dairy Herd Improvement Association, he continuously improved his dairy herd.
In 1972, Loren sold his dairy herd due to health problems. He worked for one year as a bookkeeper for TBI trucking in Toronto, and about two years for the FHA in Clear Lake. In April 1976, he was hired by the Deuel County National Bank in Clear Lake. He worked as a loan officer for the bank until he retired in June 1988. Loren and LaVonne continued to live on the family farm until November 1997 when they moved into a house they built in Clear Lake.
Playing board games with his grandchildren and great grandchildren was great fun for Loren. He looked forward to Christmas with family and especially enjoyed lutefisk and lefse. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, and trapping. He was an avid fan of the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Vikings. Loren was a member of East Highland Lutheran Church where he and LaVonne were both baptized, confirmed, and married. In 2004, they transferred to St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Clear Lake.
Loren is preceded in death by his parents, Sever and Marie (Solberg) Severson, sister Wanda (Severson) Holt, brother-in-law Marvin Holt, LaVonne's brother Arnold (Arnie) Severson, Arnie's wife Karin (Gaede) Severson, and LaVonne's sister-in-law Shirley (Iverson) Severson.
Loren leaves behind LaVonne, his wife of 72 years. He also leaves behind his brother Alan and LaVonne's brother Clinton. He will be greatly missed by son Verne, his wife Sue, their two children, Eric and Mary, the two children of Eric and wife Annie - Marie and Michael, Mary's husband Eric Strom, Eric's children Elliot and Emmy; son Don, his wife Mary, their children Nathan, Evan, Noah, Nathan's wife Carolyn, and Evan's fiancé Jaime; daughter Mary Lou and her husband David Kielman; son Craig, his wife Rose, their son Jason, step children Erica Spann and Tiffany Smith, Erica's husband Sean Biddlecome, their daughters Addyson and Pyper, Tiffany's husband Joshua Smith, their children, Caleb, Asher, Elias, Talia, Naomi, and Tobyn.