Mark Wendell Tisland

March 12, 1939 ~ April 26, 2026

Mark W. Tisland, 87, of Volga, SD, passed away on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at Madison Regional Health in Madison, SD.  

A Visitation will be held on Friday, May 1, 2026, at 11:30 a.m. at Sinai Lutheran Church in Sinai, SD. A Funeral Service will begin at 1:00 p.m. with burial following at East Sinai Cemetery with Full Military Honors. To watch the service live, click HERE. The link will direct you to the church Facebook page. The service will be broadcast via Facebook live.

Mark Wendell Tisland was born on Sunday, March 12, 1939, to Carl and Hazel June Marie (Nelson) Tisland at the Kruse Maternity Home in Arlington, SD.

Mark was raised on the Tisland family farm south of Sinai, SD, where they had no running water or electricity. Electricity was installed in 1977, and water and sewer in June of 1999.

Mark attended grade school at District #23, Lake Sinai Township, walking 3/4 miles uphill both ways, graduating in May 1953. He attended Rutland High School, Rutland, SD, graduating in May 1957. He moved to Sioux Falls, SD, in August 1957 to attend Nettleton Career College and worked part-time at Sunshine Food Market as a shelf stocker and carryout boy. Mark graduated in July 1958 as a junior accountant.

Due to the conditions in Laos and Vietnam, Mark joined the US Army on September 16, 1958. He flew to Ft. Carson, CO, for eight weeks of basic training and then to Ft Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX, for three months of medical training. Mark then flew to Augusta, GA, where he was sent to the Savannah River Defense Post near Aiken, SC, on the Dupont reservation, a 75 mm gun post, which was deactivated in December 1959. He transferred to a Nike Missile Site at Westview, PA, near Pittsburgh. He was honorably discharged on September 15, 1960, with the rank of PFC.

Mark returned home, moved to Sioux Falls, and started a lifetime of many jobs. He often jokingly said he was a jack of all trades and a master of none. He worked at Brown Drug, Wholesale House, a hatchery in Redfield, a veterinary clinic, and Purina Foods. Mark was then a business manager for a Chevrolet and John Deere dealership in Redfield. In September of 1976, he became a Lutheran Brotherhood insurance representative for twelve years. He also worked for other insurance agencies, County Atlas, Aerial Photos of farms, and was a building contractor from 1991 to June 7, 1999. Mark then went to work for the South Dakota Department of Corrections as a roofing supervisor until August 22, 2002. He was self-employed until October 1999, then worked for Rainbow Play Systems in Brookings, SD, and Daktronics, also in Brookings. Mark then worked for Scenic Concept of Lacrosse, WI, until he retired in 2016.

Mark married Mildred Nickisch from Redfield, SD, in April 1962. They had three sons, Mark Alan, Michael Steven, and Monte Gregg. They moved to Redfield in 1964 and then to Wolsey, SD, in 1977. They divorced in December 1987. In September 1990, he married Leona (Lee) Baysinger in Redfield, SD. She has two daughters and one son.

Mark loved telling jokes and stories. His grandfather, Art Nelson, was a good storyteller, and Mark said that with his own humor, he took jokes and storytelling to a new level.

Mark is survived by his wife, Lee; three sons, Mark (Amy) Tisland, Pheonix, AZ, Mike (Angie) Tisland, Huron, SD, and Monte Tisland, Tea, SD; three grandsons; two granddaughters; two great-grandsons with a third on the way; his sister-in-law, Dorothy Tisland, Kalamazoo, MI; three step-children, Dawn Kopplin, Redfield, SD, Kelly (Dean) Knippling, Mitchell, SD, and Jason (Daniella) Aslesen, El Paso, TX; three step-grandsons; five step-granddaughters; many nieces and nephews; and friends.

Mark was preceded in death by his daughter-in-law, Mishele; parents, Carl and June; and two siblings, Dawn and Conrad.

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