He was a man who came from the good earth —

born on Left Creek, in the crease of Wyoming hills,

where the wind knows how to keep a secret

and the land asks only that you stay honest.

Pete and Ada Hayworth gave him to the world

on April 12, 1940, at Carlile, Wyoming

and the world got lucky that day.

He grew up moving with the family from Carlile

to the Putman place on Devil's Tower Divide,

out to Nebraska, and home again

always home again, the way good men do.

In 1960 he came to Spearfish and stayed,

the way a river settles into the right valley:

not because it stopped moving,

but because it finally found its place.

He served his country in the South Dakota National Guard,

November 1962 to August 1968, an Engineer Equipment Repairman

a man who understood that broken things

are only things that haven't been fixed yet.

He graduated from Hulett High School in 1958

and spent a long working life as a welder and machinist

shaping steel the way a poet shapes a line:

with patience, with heat, with hands that knew what they were doing.

On November 1, 1974, he married Bonita Kelley Carr,

the love of his life

and those words are not a formality here.

They are a fact as solid as the house he built for them.

His quiet intelligence.

His unfailing fidelity.

His tender heart.

His patience, which was not the patience of resignation

but of a man who understood that good things

take the time they take

these were a precious gift to her.

Fifty-two years she knew what it meant

to be truly, quietly, completely loved.

He died peacefully on May 15, 2026,

at the home he built, holding Bonita’s hand, with his granddaughter Maddy Carr at their side.

He leaves behind

His beloved wife, Bonita Hayworth, of Spearfish

Stepson Micky Carr, of Spearfish

Granddaughters Carrissa Cuesta and Maddison Carr

Nieces Bonnie Tietsort and Brenda Huseby; Great Nephews Pete Huseby, Patrick Wald and Jordon Kari

He was preceded in death by

His parents, Pete and Ada Hayworth

His sister, Betty Hayworth

His niece, Becky Zerbst

His stepson, Michael Carr

Ask anyone who loved him what they remember

and they will tell you about the fishing pole,

the garden rows,

the trap range's bright report as he travelled the country and won many awards trapshooting,

the old pickups humming back to life in his hands.

They will tell you about the worms.

Lord, the hours he spent in good company with the dirt,

digging for worms the way some men dig for meaning

and finding, perhaps, that it amounts to the same thing.

Private Family services will take place and he will be laid to rest at Rose Hill Cemetery in Spearfish.