Ray A. Mueller

Funeral services for Ray A. Mueller, age 82, of Milbank, will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 21, 2009, at the Emanuel Lutheran Church in Milbank. Reverend Keith Bicknase will officiate. The organist will be Tyler Poppen. Ray died on Sunday, Nov. 15, at Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD. Family members are asked to meet in the church fellowship hall by 1:30 p.m. Saturday to attend services. Visitation will be at the Emanuel-Patterson Funeral Home of Milbank on Friday from 5-7 p.m. and will continue in the church on Saturday one hour before services. Pallbearers will be Steve Mueller, Howard Mueller, Tom Mueller, Nathan Mueller, Mark Mueller, Don Mueller, Lyle Mueller, and Brian Mueller. Burial will be in the Emanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Geneseo Township, Roberts County, SD Ray Arthur Mueller was born on May 7, 1927, at Big Stone City, SD, to Gottlieb and Ella (Kamin) Mueller. He was baptized on May 29, 1927, by Rev. E.C.A. Bartling at St. John’s Lutheran Church and confirmed on September 17, 1939, by Rev. Fred Wessler at Zion Lutheran Church in Geneseo Township. He graduated from Big Stone City High School and South Dakota State University with a degree in Agriculture. Ray served his country during the Korean War in the Medical Detachment of the 103rd Engineering Unit from 1950 until his honorable discharge on July 15, 1952. Ray married Ellen Anderson on December 14, 1957, at the Benton Lutheran Church in Crooks, SD. They made their home in Tyndall, SD, before moving to the farm in rural Big Stone City, SD. He received a Master’s Degree from Iowa State University at Ames. Ray was an Agricultural Extension Agent in Spink, Miner, and Bon Homme Counties. He continued his career by farming in Roberts County from 1962 until retiring in 2006. He was an active member of the Emanuel Lutheran Church in Milbank and was active in community affairs. Survivors include his wife Ellen, Milbank; five children: James Mueller and wife Elke, Longmeadow, MA; Carol Flaten and husband Jeff, Sioux Falls, SD; Karen Ford and husband Edward, Minneapolis, MN; Susan Keeler and husband Bill, Pawnee, Okla.; and Jonathan Mueller and wife Sarah, Newburgh, IN; eleven grandchildren: Andreas, Marcus, Sylvia, Paul, Curt, Rachel, Brett, Jared, Justin, Ellen, and Phillip; two brothers, Carl Mueller and wife Harriet, Bella Vista, AR, and Melvin Mueller and wife Camillus, Milbank; two sisters, Shirley Fabozzi and Eloise Van Engen and husband Bert, all of Denver, CO; three sisters-in-law, Dorothy Mueller, Corona, SD; Lois Mueller, Milbank; and Harriet Werenicz, Mitchell, SD; and many nieces and nephews. Ray was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Eldor and Phil Mueller.