Henry Theodore Isdal, age 94 of Shadehill, SD passed away of natural causes at 94 years of age at the Western Horizon Care Center in Hettinger, North Dakota, on September 11, 2017.

The Funeral Service will be held at 11:00am Monday, September 25, 2017 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lemmon. Pastor Tera Kossow from Rosebud Lutheran Church will officiate with burial in Greenhill Cemetery.

Serving as casketbearers are Duane Harris, Larry Archibald, Jim Anderson, Jim Peterson, Lester Longwood, and Erik Peterson.

Henry was born on February 16, 1923, in Barrett Township, at the original home site on the Isdal homestead, about a mile north of the future permanent Isdal home site to Karl and Magli (Langeland) Isdal. He was a longtime member of Rosebud Lutheran Church. He served on the Barrett Township board and as board secretary for many years. He was staunch political conservative. His formal education included grades 1 – 8 at the King School in rural Perkins County and grades 9 – 12 at Lemmon High School, culminating in his graduation with the Lemmon High School class of 1941.

Henry was a lively and enthusiastic person who loved to talk. He had an infectious laugh and a big welcoming smile that animated and characterized many of his conversations. He had a sharp wit and enjoyed a joke, especially when it was at someone else's expense. He was a very independent thinker (some might say this was characteristic of a stubborn Norwegian?) and had a way of showing that he was serious about something when expressing his opinion, without being overbearing, by often using words like: "Well, no, I believe it was like . . .". Henry also liked to vigorously debate issues of the day at length with others.

Henry's passing marks the end of a great American adventure and success story. The tale of the Isdal homestead/ranch in Perkins County, South Dakota, was a story of great determination, pride, inventiveness, courage, teamwork with neighbors, and the will to succeed in spite of great challenges. The story began when Henry's parents, Carl Isdal and Magli Langeland, emigrated independently from different places in Norway to America, met soon thereafter in South Dakota, and homesteaded in Barrett Township in ca. 1910. Carl's childhood home in Isdalsto, Norway, is still in use and in excellent condition. The story then continued through the lean years of the great depression and drought of the 1930s, and through some more bountiful years in the succeeding decades. The Isdal story was a story of success under very difficult and challenging conditions that led many other original homesteaders in the area to give up and move away. Over the years the size of the Isdal ranch increased through the purchase of multiple adjacent tracts of land. Henry grew up on, resided at, and worked as a successful cattle rancher on the Isdal ranch for most of his life; until moving to Western Horizon Nursing Home in Hettinger 4 – 5 years ago. The Isdals, especially the boys, were very unique and inventive with their approach to things like fencing, buildings, machinery usage and repaid, etc. Henry carried on the tradition and work of the Isdal Ranch pretty much by himself after the mid-1980s. At age 62, Henry started feeding his cattle by hand with square bails and bagged cow cakes. He truly loved his life and his work on the Isdal ranch, was very proud of his Hereford cattle, and enjoyed and benefitted greatly from his relationships with his neighbors in the surrounding rural community.

Henry was preceded in death by his parents: Carl Isdal & Magli Isdal (Langeland) and by his siblings: Arnold Isdal, Alfred Isdal, Lars Isdal, and Ida Peterson (Isdal).

He is survived by his nephews: James Peterson of Rochester, Minnesota; Richard Peterson of Frazee, Minnesota; Robert Peterson of Henning, Minnesota; and Arnold Carl Isdal of Prescott, Arizona.

Henry will be greatly missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him. He maintained his wit and independent thinking until the end of his life, but in the end he succumbed to a worn out body. Henry should be remembered as he was during his younger, more vibrant and more active years, instead of the way he was, when imprisoned in a failing body, near the end of his life.

Visitation will be on Sunday from 1:00 to 9:00pm at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon and on Monday one hour prior to services at the church.