Leonard Finck

April 6, 1922 ~ January 5, 2013

Leonard Finck, 90, of Brandon, formerly of Tyndall, SD, died Saturday, January 5, 2013, at the Southridge Health Care Center, in Sioux Falls.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM, Thursday, January 10, 2013, at the Tyndall United Methodist Church in Tyndall, SD. Visitation will begin one hour prior to the service. Public viewing will also take place Wednesday, January 9, 2013, from 3 to 7 PM, at Heartland Funeral Home, in Brandon, SD.

Leonard Finck was born April 6, 1922, to Fred and Lydia (Vilahauer) Finck on the farm near Tyndall, SD. He attended school through the 8th grade when he quit to farm with his father. On June 18, 1944, he married Vivian Britton in Tyndall. They resided on the farm and raised their family. He was a very skilled builder and constructed several of the outbuildings on the farm. In 1978, Leonard retired and the couple moved to town where he went to work for the Cenex driving truck. He also served many years on the Tyndall United Methodist Church board.

Leonard was a very competitive sportsman and he loved to win! One of his favorites pastimes was softball; to the point that the family had their own diamond on the farm. Everyone would come over on Sunday afternoons and they would all play ball. Leonard, a great first baseman, even played on a league, in Avon, for several years.

Baseball was another love for Leonard. The Cardinal’s were his team. Family vacations where spent packed into the car, traveling to Kansas City or St. Louis for ball games. They would drive straight through after leaving home at 4am because “it was cooler.” Leonard spent over twenty years going to Omaha to the College World Series. Another one of his favorite pastimes was bowling. He even became a part owner in the local bowling alley which turned out to be the home of his “all lefties only” bowling team.

Leonard is survived by his children, Sharon (Les) Larson, Duluth, MN, Peggy Patterson, Brandon, Betty (Gary) Schuster, Youngsville, NC, and Penny (Dan) Martz, Omaha, NE.; one son Terry (Brad), Seattle, WA; six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Neil (Jean), Tripp, SD, Edward, Phoenix, AZ, and one sister, Linda (Julius) Schmidt, Mesa, AZ.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Vivian; his parents, Fred and Lydia; four brothers, Leo, Paul, Reuben, and Herb; and one sister, Meta Hisek.

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