Service of Remembrance for Richard Wiesinger, age 64 of Lemmon, SD will be Friday, December 30, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. at the New Hope Worship Center in Lemmon. Rev. Dan Lindeman and Rev. Ed Zimmerman will officiate and burial will follow at the Greenhill Cemetery in Lemmon.

Visitations will be from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 29 at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home and one hour prior to the funeral at the church on Friday, December 30. A gathering of family and friends will be Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home.

Richard Allen Wiesinger was born on March 31, 1947 in Aberdeen, SD to Rudolph and Mavis (Moser) Wiesinger, of Shadehill, SD. He attended grade school near their home and attended Lemmon High School, during this time he stayed with various relatives and went home on the weekends. He was a member of the National Guard. Richard worked for his uncle, Laverne Moser, north of Morristown, SD where he met Arvetta Kling, who he married in 1970. From this union came two sons, Gregory Allen and Shannon Lee, whom he was very proud of.

Richard worked at Dakota Propane for several years and later served on the Board of Directors for over 25 years. He was a farmer at heart and in 1974 they moved their mobile home from Lemmon to Meadow, SD where they worked for Charles and Nellie Purdon.

In 1978 Richard and Arvetta moved to the family farm south of Shadehill when his parents retired and moved to Lemmon. They farmed on shares with Tom and Esther Lyman, of Keldron, SD. In 1985 they had the opportunity to lease a place south of Thunder Hawk, SD. Tom Lyman set them up with cattle on shares which they still have with Esther.

The family weathered many hail storms and many dry years, but Richard never gave up. He said "This is good next year country."

In 1976, Richard and his cousin, Delbert started a little country music band and they called themselves "The Pearly Shells". Other members included Dale Rivinius, Benny Schell and Bart Damjanovich. They have played a lot of music and kept people entertained for many years. Richard was able to play one hour at their last dance October 29, 2011 in New Leipzig, ND.

In 1989 Richard started hauling grain for different people. They cleaned out many grain bins, with augers and shovels. Later they got a grain vac. Shannon was out of High School and Greg moved back from Watertown. Business was too much for one truck, so eventually there were three. Nothing made Richard more proud than to drive down the highway with Greg and Shannon. His last run was to Mandaree, ND on October 22, 2011 with Co-Pilot and special friend, Bill Penfield.

In 2004, Richard was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis or "Farmers Lung" and was placed on oxygen. In July 2008 he got put on the list for a lung transplant and his health was failing fast. On August 28, 2008 he got a call that they had a lung for him. A plane from Sioux Falls, SD came to Lemmon and picked Richard and Arvetta up at the airport and flew them to Minneapolis, MN where he had a left lung transplant. They stayed in Minnesota for two months. Five months later he developed CMV virus in the blood from the new lung. Richard had IV treatments at home twice a day for a year. Richard recovered from the virus only to develop skin cancer.

Richard had begun undergoing radiation and chemo treatments for the last three months. His biggest goal in life was to teach his 12 year old grandson to drive the combine, which he did this past summer.

Richard passed away at his home south of Thunder Hawk on Monday, December 26, 2011.

He is survived by his wife, Arvetta, two sons, Greg Wiesinger and Shannon (Kara) Wiesinger all of Lemmon, four grandchildren, Austin Wiesinger, Lemmon, Amber Wiesinger, Watertown, SD, Melinda Klein and Brittney Wiesinger, Lemmon, one brother, Howard (Diane) Wiesinger, Shadehill, SD, two nieces, Stacy (Monte) Smith, Faith, SD and Barbara (Reid) Grate, Isabel, SD, three nephews, Jeff (Stephanie) Wiesinger, Mobridge, SD, Robert (Jocie) Wiesinger, Bently, ND and Matt Wiesinger, Shadehill, SD, six great nieces and nephews, Dillon, Kaylee and Riley Smith and Kierra, Natalie and Brayden Wiesinger.

Richard was preceded in death by his parents, Mavis and Rudy, one brother, Kenny and his father and mother-in-law, Roy and June Kling.