Funeral services for Marion Vernon Blade, 90, of Tucson, AZ, life-long Perkins County, SD farmer and rancher, will be Saturday, March, 18, 2006 at 10:30 a.m. at the Hettinger Lutheran Church in Hettinger, ND. Rev. Kathleen Dettmann will officiate and burial will follow at the Hettinger Cemetery. Visitations will be from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Hettinger on Friday, March 17th and one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday morning. A family gathering will be at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening at the Funeral Home in Hettinger.


MARION VERNON BLADE was born to Charles and Natalie (Held) Blade in a sod house at their homestead in rural Perkins County, SD on May 18, 1915. He grew up on there and attended Sidney Grade School, Bison High School and later graduated from Lemmon High School. Marion went to Electrician School in Chicago, Illinois before entering into the Army shortly after WWII and was stationed in Korea. After serving his country, Marion returned home to farm and ranch with his family. Marion met Lula Ford and shortly thereafter, they were married on December 13, 1947. To this union eleven children were born. He truly enjoyed raising all types of livestock and the ranching way of life. Marion especially loved his many dogs he kept throughout the years.


Marion served as Township Clerk for 40 years in Perkins County, was a devoted husband and father and will be remembered as a hard working man. He often helped neighbors with their farming and ranching, expecting nothing in return. When the snow would get too deep, Marion would take his children to school on the tractor. As a family they all helped with the chores around the ranch, putting up hay and growing a garden.


Marion and Lula continued to farm and ranch until 2003, when a short visit to Tucson, Arizona to visit family, turned into "retirement". Marion Blade passed away at the Life Care Center in Tucson on Monday morning March 13, 2006.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Lula, of Tucson, AZ; children, Victor, of Bath, SD, Leonard and wife Debbie, of Tucson, AZ, Neil and wife Diane, of Missoula, MT, Dave and wife Janelle, of Hudsonville, MI, Terry and wife Debbie, of St. John's, MI, Linda and husband Dick Cross, of Clancy, MT, Randy and wife Beth, of Cheyenne, WY and Cindy Blade and good friend Tom, of Bismarck, ND; 21 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. Preceding Marion in death were his parents, twin brothers, and another brother in infancy, a daughter, Scherry and two sons, Val and Willie.