Funeral services for Leonard LaVern Hay, 71, of Lemmon, SD will be Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. at the St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lemmon. Rev. Frank Gantt will officiate and burial will follow at the Greenhill Cemetery with Full Military Honors afforded by the Brattvet-Green American Legion Post #66. Visitations will be from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31, at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon and one hour prior to the services at the church on Thursday morning.


Leonard LaVern Hay was born on April 26th, 1938 John C. A. and Nora (Leveille) Hay at Lemmon, SD. Leonard was baptized as a child. Leonard attended grade school at Mentz School and grew up on his family's farm north of Thunder Hawk, SD. After grade school Leonard worked for various farmers in the area. In 1956 Leonard moved to Butte, MT where he found work in the copper mines. Late in 1957, he came back to the Lemmon area and began working for E. B. Peterson.


In October of 1961, Leonard was drafted into the US Army. His basic training was completed at Fort Carson, CO. He served in the 92nd Artillery at Giesen, Germany until October 1963. Upon his return to Lemmon he began working at Peterson Implement where he gained a fondness for John Deere farm equipment.


On March 10th, 1965, Leonard married Betty Sperle of Bison, SD at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Lemmon. In 1967 Leonard became a member of St. Luke's after being confirmed in the Lutheran faith by Pastor V. E. Greve. Together Leonard and Betty raised their family in the Lemmon area. In 1978, Leonard began operating his own mechanic business, which he ran until his retirement in 2000.


In his retirement Leonard enjoyed helping friends with farm work, playing cards, and working on his growing collection of antique John Deere tractors. In January of 2010, Leonard was diagnosed with cancer. Because of his rapidly declining health, Leonard chose to stay at the Fort Meade Medical Center where he received excellent care. Looking back on his life Leonard realized, "there are a lot of things I could have done differently and there are some things I should have done differently, but no matter what I've done, I am positive that the Good Lord has always had a lot of grace for me." That grace was fully known to Leonard on the morning March 27th, 2010 when his Savior called him home.


Leonard is survived by his three sons – Monte (Brenda) of Madison, SD; Barry of Randolph, WI; and Jamie of Lemmon, SD; five sisters – Martha Paulson of Lemmon, SD; Marcella Ericsson of Spokane, WA; Clara Engle of Butte, MT; Betty Paulson of Lemmon, SD, Lydia Wrenn of Merced, CA; one brother – John (Connie) Hay of Lemmon, SD; numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Betty, and sisters Margaret Gibbons and Alice Dean.