The Celebration of Life for C.V. "Cleo" Penfield, age 77, of Lemmon will be held at 2:00pm MT, Thursday, November 10, 2016 at the New Hope Worship Center in Lemmon. Pastor Ed Cloninger and Pastor Arlen Swanson will officiate with burial in Greenhill Cemetery at Lemmon.

Serving as casketbearers are Joshua Olson, Mark LeFebre, Chad Penfield, Richard Splittstoesser, Art Jones, Les Lensegrav, Jack Deland, and Lloyd Ranson. All friends and family are considered honorary bearers.

Special music will be provided by Darrell and Marcia Klitzke and Pastor Arlan Swanson.

C.V. "Cleo" Vern Penfield was born January 2, 1939 to Vern and Violet (Fields) Penfield at the home of his grandparents B L and Gertrude Penfield. He was the first baby born in Lemmon in 1939 and won the first baby of the year contest by 20 minutes. He received many prizes from local businesses, some of which are still in existence.


That summer he moved with his parents to the ranch by East Lemmon Lake, where his parents lived until 1964 at which time they bought an ajoining ranch and moved 2 miles north.


Cleo attended grade school at Dewitt School in Dewitt Township and Lemmon High School. During his high school years he worked at Peterson Implement after school and then at A & H Auto during the next 3 years after school and on Saturdays. During the summer months he returned to the ranch to help his father with the ranch work. At age 17 he joined the National Guard and served in the 727th Transportation Unit and the 211th Engineers Lemmon unit for five years.


When he wasn't helping his father he held jobs with his grandfather B L Penfield at the auction market doing whatever was needed. One time his grandfather sent him to McLaughlin with his truck to haul back Sitting Bulls grandson with his tee pee and various belongings to set up in the Petrified Wood Park so he could visit with tourists and paint pictures for them. Cleo held various other jobs including putting in curb and gutter in Lemmon in 1962 and working on missile sites in Rapid City and Sturgis in 1962 and 1963.


The winter of 1964 found him in Des Moines, Iowa where he met his wife, Carolyn. They returned to the Lemmon area and engaged in ranching with his father and moved back to the home place by East Lemmon Lake. The winter of 68 and 69 he studied for and received his Real Estate license and attended Auction School in Kansas City and spent the next 41 years in that profession along with operating the ranch which consisted of Hereford and Charolais cattle and later with buffalo for 9 years.


1975 found him taking ground school through the winter and training for his private pilot's license and after the first flight lesson he was bitten by the flying bug and owned 3 different airplanes before the diabetes grounded him after getting his private pilot's license.


In 1976 he was elected Vice President of the South Dakota Auctioneers Association by his peers and in 1977 was elected President of the Association serving each of those offices for 1 year. The year of his presidency he held the SD State Auctioneers Association in Lemmon with about 40 auctioneers and their wives in attendance.


He also served two years on the local board of directors of Lutheran Hospital and Homes Society and was appointed to the Board of Directors of Northwest Bible College in Minot serving from 1977 to 1987. He was a member of DeWitt Township board for 35 years and an area representative for Steer Incorporated for 15 years and on the board of directors for 6 years and a member of the local Gideon Chapter of Bison. He was a member of New Hope Worship Center since 1974 and served 9 years on the board. He also served on the Lemmon City Council for 2 years.


Cleo retired from the real estate and auction business in 2010 due to poor health. He and Carolyn celebrated 50 years together in July of 2015. Since his retirement he has been writing a book titled "He Called Me Back" which is scheduled to be published in the near future.


His aspirations of becoming a jet pilot or at least taking a ride in an F16 jet never came but the ride he received to meet up with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ championed all others. Cleo passed away on Sunday evening, November 6, 2016 at his home in Lemmon.


THERE IS ONLY ONE LIFE TWILL SOON BE PAST AND ONLY WHAT'S DONE FOR CHRIST WILL LAST.

He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; a daughter and son-in-law, Kim and Monte Olson, Lemmon, SD; a granddaughter, Becca and her husband Mark LeFebre, Mobridge, SD; a grandson, Josh Olson and his wife, Krista, Lemmon, SD; the lights of his life his great-granddaughters, Lily LeFebre and Addy Olson; his sisters and brother-in-law, Eleanor Turner, Tacna, AZ and Phyllis and Richard Spittstoesser, Rapid City, SD; and his brothers and sisters-in-law, William and Vicki Penfield, Lemmon, SD, Marvin and Jeanette Anderson, Seattle, WA, and Genevive Kuck, Billings, MT.


He was preceded in death by his parents, Vern and Violet Penfield, one brother, Mickey Anderson, and one brother-in-law, Skyler Turner.

Visitation will be on Wednesday from 1:00 to 9:00pm at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon.