Memorial services for Ronald Elwood Emly, age 55, of Bison, SD and Mott, ND, will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 10, 2013 at the American Lutheran Church in Bison, SD. Pastor Dana Lockhart will officiate. Following the service, Ron's wishes were to have his ashes scattered on the land he worked and loved, near Prairie City, SD.

Ronald Elwood Emly was born December 2, 1957, in Fairview, MT to Moses Peter and Gladys (Enger) Emly. Ron was 35 of 37 children, as his father had been previously married twice. He grew up and attended school in the Fairview area on the North Dakota and Montana border. Following his schooling he began working as a hired hand for an area farmer. In his spare time, Ron would rodeo with his relatives and was an excellent bull rider.

Throughout his adult life, Ron worked on the oil rigs in Alaska and even went overseas as a rig hand. He works as a hired hand in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wyoming, following the seasonal harvest times as a custom combiner. He even spent some time in Washington running a crane on the ship docks. Every fall though, Ron would return to Montana and work the sugar beet harvest as a truck driver.

In the fall of 2006, while driving sugar beet trucks, he met Rosanne Wright. They were married in Bison, SD on February 5, 2007. Ron finished his work as a custom harvester and moved to Prairie City, SD, to work alongside his wife on the Parker Ranch.

Ron and Rosanne began working as hay brokers in the spring of 2010. They would locate hay for ranchers from South Dakota to Texas and arrange transportation. They also began doing custom haying for area ranchers.

In the spring of 2013 they moved to the Ray Kilzer farm near Mott, ND, and spent their time haying and working between Mott and Bison, SD.

Ron was proud to have completed his GED and was a member of the NRA. He was an excellent shot as a young man and you never wanted to try to outshoot him. Ron and Rosanne were awarded the first Certified Weed Free Alfalfa Crop in Perkins County. They worked long and hard to attain that certification.
Ron passed away on Saturday evening, July 27, 2013 southwest of Bison, SD, doing what he loved.

He is survived by his wife, Rosanne Emly, Bison, SD and Mott, ND; one son, Shalako (Hayley) Emly; adopted daughter, Afton Peterson; three grandchildren; five brothers, Warren (Paula) Emly, Winston (Bonnie) Emly, Gene Emly, Roscoe Emly and Norman Emly; and three sisters, Avis (Lonnie) Falcon, Ina Ashcraft Tarnavsky and Ila Paulus..

He was preceded in death by his parents; one sister, Alva; and three brothers, Miles, Myron and Elgene Emly.