Robert Tinklepaugh

Robert Carey Tinklepaugh

December 15, 1972 – October 19, 2025

Robert Carey Tinklepaugh was born on December 15, 1972 in Columbus, Ohio.  Robert died in a fatal car accident on October 19, 2025 as he was going to work for overtime at Adams Thermal in Canton, South Dakota.  He is preceded in death by his father, Robert Eugene Tinklepaugh.  He is survived by his wife Samantha Tinklepaugh, daughter Victoria Tinklepaugh, son Rex Ross, mother Saundra Tinklepaugh, sister Therese (Brian) Lockery (Tinklepaugh), and brother Donald Tinklepaugh with several aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends.

A Celebration of Life will take place from 3:00- 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 8, 2025, at the Alcester Golf Course Club House  located at 307 E 6th Street, Alcester, SD 57001.

Robert was raised in central Wisconsin and spent his formative years in the Portage County area where he was well known to neighbors (and local law enforcement) to be a bit of a hell raiser on his Dad’s Yamaha motorcycle, Ski-Doo snowmobiles and blaze orange 1977 Ford Pinto wagon.

An intelligent man, Robert did not care much for schoolwork.  He could pass tests without studying but hated doing homework, as it cut into his time he could be on his motorcycle or snowmobile.  Robert was one of the last to join the United States Navy prior to graduation from high school.  The law soon changed thereafter, whereupon a person could not join the military unless they had their high school diploma.  Robert’s ability to take that option when it was available was a watershed moment in his life and forever provided a positive influence upon him.  Robert joined the United States Navy in April of 1990 and served as a Petty Officer 3rd Class Signalman until October of 1997 when he was honorably discharged.  During that time, Robert served in the Sixth Fleet on the USS Detroit during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  After a re-enlistment, Robert served as a correctional officer at United States Naval Corrections Brig in New London, Connecticut until his discharge.

After discharge from the United States Navy, Robert moved to South Dakota to be closer to his parents and brother.  He became a jailer at the Union County Sheriff’s Office in 1998 and worked there until he became a full-time police officer for the city of Alcester in 2004.  He served as a police officer in Alcester, South Dakota until 2012.  From there he worked at Adams Thermal in Canton, South Dakota from 2012 until his passing on October 19, 2025.

Robert loved and appreciated simplicity. However, he was not a man that could be described simply.  Never an outgoing man, Robert carried a quiet presence that anyone could feel without him ever having to announce his presence.  He was the rock upon which so many leaned upon whether it was just to be present when times were bad, doing something to help or just being available when needed, like a phone call at 3 a.m., Robert was there.  As a police officer, he was the embodiment of community policing.  Robert knew the people he was paid to protect and serve.  He knew their stories, their circumstances and situations.  Robert acted judiciously in enforcing the law and never embraced an “us versus them” mentality in policing.  As Robert put it, having that type of mentality in policing, “just wouldn’t fly in a small town.”  He prided himself on the fact that several people would later seek him out and thank him for his professionalism and understanding in bad situations where he was a responder.  He carried that mentality to his work at Adams Thermal where he did his best to try to make things easier for those that he worked with to make a better job environment.

Robert’s work ethic was unparalleled.  Shaped by his time in the Navy during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, when he worked days at a time with the only breaks received being quick 10-minute naps on the deck of the ship in a life vest in between re-armaments, Robert knew the meaning of hard work and was not afraid of it.  Indeed, Robert was on his way to work to do overtime at Adams Thermal the Sunday morning he passed away.

Robert was a devoted husband and father.  He was not a man of material wealth.  However, Robert knew he possessed a wealth that money could not buy with a loving wife and beautiful children that he loved and adored.  Having those things that money could not buy meant more to Robert than any materialistic thing that could be purchased.  Especially given his exposure in his well-travelled life of so many people who lacked those important aspects in their own lives.  He was not a strict disciplinarian with his children and often took the approach employed by his father before him which was to talk to his children and make them not only see the error of their ways but gain foresight to avoid making the same mistakes again.  Most of all, he wanted his children to be independent free-thinkers.  As a husband, he would often feel bad that he could not provide his wife with all of the materialistic creature comforts that he wanted to give Samantha.  Luckily for Robert, Samantha is a woman who never cared for the materialistic and loved Robert for the man he was and never about what he could or could not provide to her.  Simply being in his presence watching a movie or having him send Facebook reels to her in Messenger as they were sitting three feet from each other in the living room and waiting for her to see them and then crack up laughing was enough for the two of them.  Again, it was those simple things that made Robert happiest.

As a sibling, Robert was the middle child with his sister being older than him by 22 months and his brother being almost 5 years younger than him.  As a small child, Robert and his sister were two peas in a pod, and often would go on their own adventures together that would leave their mother with heart palpitations.  Whether it was climbing a giant tree to nearly the top to look as far as they could see or exploring the hay loft of an abandoned barn, they did it together.  As his sister matured and went on to do her own things, Robert turned to recruiting his younger brother into his “black ops” adventures.  Always thinking, Robert knew that if he recruited his younger brother to do things with him, his little brother could not tell on him without getting himself into trouble, too.  Although Robert and his siblings would bicker and fight with one another as children do, there was never a question of Robert’s love and loyalty to his siblings.  That love and loyalty carried on into adulthood and is forever engrained in his siblings.  Similarly, his ability to recruit others for his “black ops” included his wife, the family dog and his son.

As a son, Robert caused his parents more than a few gray hairs.  To this day, they do not know ALL of the antics Robert was involved in.  It is probably best that they did not know.  Nonetheless, Robert’s antics as an adolescent and teenager served as an instruction manual for his younger brother.  Often, on Saturday mornings, as Robert’s father would drive at 15 m.p.h. three miles to the dump with Robert’s younger brother, his father would let out a long sigh and say, “Your brother…”  Robert’s father would then go into a rant about some antic Robert had tried and had not quite worked out the way Robert wanted it to work.  In other words, his younger brother learned what not to do and how to do things better.

Despite Robert’s antics, his parents were always supremely proud of him.  From his service to his country, to serving the town he lived in to being a devoted family man.  Robert’s parents always looked upon him with pride.

Robert’s love for muscle cars was everlasting.  His most prized possession was his 1968 burnt orange Pontiac Firebird.  He built the car nearly from the ground up.  Robert was always a believer in “built, not bought.”  By building the car the way he wanted it, it was unique to him.  Sadly, Robert was unable to keep his most prized possession during a rough financial patch he went through.  To give an idea of how much he loved that car, he actually traced the car down years after it had been sold at auction to a place in Nebraska.  He would later go on to say that he would check Google Earth from time to time and could still see the orange Firebird parked near someone’s barn.  He often lamented how he needed to win the lottery so he could go get it back.  When he had that Firebird, he told many that he wanted to be buried in that car.

Robert loved science fiction.  He knew the Star Wars Canon inside and out and had read nearly every Star Wars novel that had ever been published.  He similarly loved all manner of science fiction stories whether it was by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Hienlien, Stephen R. Donaldson or Issac Asimov.  He read them all and read others as well.  His love of science fiction carried over into video games with the Halo Franchise being his favorite.  Some of his most favorite memories were of Halo parties with pizza, Mt. Dew, snacks and playing for hours against Jake Hayes and Jacob Joffer.    

Robert prided himself on being a “jack of all trades but master of none.”  Like his father before him, Robert was not a mechanic, welder, plumber, mason, electrician, roofer or wood worker.  However, just because he was not a master of any of those trades, it did not stop him from doing his level best to learn those things so that he could fix, repair or build whatever he wanted on his beloved property.  Indeed, while some of his work had end results like Frankenstein, it worked and worked well.  And that was good enough for Robert because it was done by him.

There is much more to the man that we all knew and loved.  Volumes could be written about him, his life and how he touched so many throughout the years.  These are but just some of the highlights that help define who he was but do not give full justice to the undeniable mark he left upon our lives.  We are lesser now without him.  However, what he would want, more than anything, is for those that knew him to take a moment, remember something about him that makes you laugh or smile and tell a Robert story to get someone else to laugh.

Robert wanted both his children to attend college and graduate so that they could go on to do better than him.  In lieu of flowers or other types of memorials, if you would like to make a contribution towards a fund to Rex and Victoria for them to further their education, we know that is what Robert would want.

The Tinklepaugh family would also like to extend a sincere thank you for the amazing support from the residents of Alcester, the Alcester-Hudson School District, the Canton and Alcester first responders and volunteer firefighters, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, the Union County Sheriff’s Office, local churches as well as the many friends and family who have reached out to offer support during this truly difficult time.  Your efforts have been a true blessing to us all and a hallmark of how much Robert was loved and respected in this community.  Thank you so much.