Our beloved husband, father & grandfather was carried by a choir of angels to heaven on March 30, 2017. Ken Marso, 88, was the eldest of four children born to Charles & Leone (Lien) Marso of Harrold, SD. Dad devoted his entire life to loving and caring for his family. He was a man of great integrity and concern for others. His undaunted work ethic was a silent inspiration to his children.

From the time he was a young boy, Dad worked the fields of his family farm, milked cows and did all of the necessary chores of a small family farm. He graduated from Harrold High School, Harrold, SD in 1946 and soon met the love of his life, Marlys (Cash) Marso. Their plans to marry were expedited when he received his drafts orders in 1951. After the wedding, Dad was sent to Ft.Knox in Kentucky for basic training, then on to Germany during the Korean War from 1951 to 1953. Due to his South Dakota farm experience with tractors and other farm equipment, Dad was quickly drafted into driving a tank (which he later blamed for some of his hearing loss) and thanks to a typing class in high school, he was also employed as a company clerk. Dad said that he promised the Lord while in the army, that if He got Dad home safely, he would never leave it again.

True to his word, our devoted Dad came home from Germany and never left South Dakota again. His loving wife and new son (Mike [Mary] Marso, now of Winner, SD) were very happy to have him back home. Mom and Dad started the next phase of their married life on a very humble farm with few amenities about 20 miles southwest of Harrold, SD. Soon a new baby girl (Kathy [Rob] Ewing, now of Spearfish, SD) joined the family. Though life was very happy for this family of four, living conditions were extremely challenging with no in-door plumbing, so they moved into Harrold and Dad continued his dairy farming on his folks' place near the edge of Harrold. He spent his mornings and evenings milking cows, separating and selling cream, plowing and planting fields, raising pigs and of course one of the joys of his life—breeding and raising horses. Along the way, he also drove school bus and even spent a time working night shifts helping to build the Oahe Dam.

This loving family of four soon had a new pink bundle of love (Marilee [Bruce] Woodard of Spearfish, SD). Dad loved babies and when looking through the family photo albums, we can find this "proud papa" holding each one of us in the traditional "one-arm Marso balance" as soon as we were strong enough to support a good up-right sitting position. Soon after the arrival of Marilee, Mom and Dad bought their own farm 12 miles south of Harrold. Dad worked day and night building up a dairy business, sometimes milking up to 50+ cows each morning and evening. He sold milk to the Lake Nordan Dairy company out of Lake Nordan, SD.

Those wonderful, happy years on the Ken Marso farm included adding two more bundles of joy to the family unit (Patti [Keith} Weber of Windsor, CO and Chuck Marso of Berthoud CO). Though surrounded with other hard-working and caring neighbors, our family led a very self-sufficient and close-knit life. Most of us attended a rural school and we certainly experienced what it meant to pitch in as a family to get work done. Looking back, we can honestly say that we became each other's best friends due to this dependency and time together. Eventually the farm was sold and the folks moved into Harrold where Mom worked at the school and Dad commuted to Pierre to work at Walmart. They eventually made their home out in the beautiful Black Hills of Spearfish, South Dakota. Though retired, Dad continued to raise a few horses over the years and took up a new hobby of carving diamond willow canes and walking sticks. He sold them in various locations around the area and in Colorado. However, his greatest pleasure was when he could simply give one away to someone that needed a cane.

Dad was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Leone Marso and three of his younger brother and sisters—Lien Marso (Watertown, SD), Marjorie Tamburello (Witchita, KS) and Rosemary Tarr (Bakersfield, CA). The loss of his younger siblings within a 6-week period of time last summer was a great heartache for Dad! We know he will be happily reunited with his family in heaven. Our dear father taught us so much about loving and caring for people. He will be so greatly missed!! He leaves behind his wife of 65½ years, Marlys, his five children and 10 grandchildren. We know that he has gone ahead to make a home for all of us to join him one day with our Lord! We love and cherish you, Dad!

Vigil services will be at the 7:30 PM on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Spearfish. Mass of Christian burial will be 11:00 AM on Monday, April 3 at the church. Burial will follow at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis.