Richard Husman

Richard Arthur Husman, 68, Madison, passed away Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, ending a valiant fight against esophageal cancer. He was born November 22, 1943, at Sac City, Iowa, to Leonard and Frances (Wingert) Husman. At a young age he moved with his family to Parker, where he graduated from Parker High School in 1962. He lettered in football, basketball, and track, but is most remembered for his record-setting performance on the basketball court under the legendary coach Gayle Hoover. He played in 96 games in four years as a Parker Pheasant, scoring 1,508 points with an average of 18.8 points per game his final three years, when he never missed a game due to illness or injury. He was a Class B All-State player his junior and senior seasons. Family and friends knew Rich as a man of passion, whose passion for basketball and for bonding with brothers established a tradition that began more than 30 years ago, of meeting every March at either the state A or B high school basketball tournament. He is a charter member of the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame, and served as official scorekeeper at Dakota State University for nine seasons. In January, he was awarded the Terry Ryan Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his dedication to the DSU Athletic Department. The greatest passion of his final year has been to tell family and friends how he came to know Jesus Christ as his personal friend and savior, soon after returning home from last year’s state A tournament. Three months later, when diagnosed in June with what his doctor called an incurable cancer, his passion to tell others of Christ and to live his life in service to Christ, was matched only by his passion to be with his Lord in heaven. As a freshman at Yankton College in 1962, he became a starter and helped the team win a berth in District 12 NAIA Playoffs. He then studied Catholic theology at Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, before returning to South Dakota where he picked up the basketball again to play three years as a walk-on for the Trojans at General Beadle State College in Madison, under another legendary coach, Ed Harter. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1969. He married Mary Louise Flemmer on December 27, 1969, at St Thomas Acquinas Catholic Church in Madison. To this union were born three children with whom he created many happy memories, especially at the family cabin he remodeled on Lake Madison. He married Helen Jane (Trumble) Merritt on their mutual birthday, November 22, in 2005, at a private poolside ceremony in Gilbert, AZ, and became a model of spousal love to her two sons. Following his graduation from college, he was hired by Gale Thayer of Madison to work at what was then an itinerant Job Service office in Brookings, where he raised his family and enjoyed the satisfaction of helping match job seekers with employers who could mutually benefit from training programs offered through South Dakota Department of Labor (SDDOL). In 1988, he was promoted to manager of the Job Service office in Madison. After working for 32 years for the State of South Dakota, he retired in 2001. He was an active member of International Association of Workforce Professionals (IAPES) throughout his career, and relished every opportunity to attend state and international conferences where he developed deep and lasting friendships and was recharged by nationally renowned motivational speakers. He remained active with the association during retirement and received the South Dakota IAPES Retiree of the Year Award in 2001. His retirement years provided opportunity to attend numerous Minnesota Twins games in addition to area high school and college basketball games and tournaments. He also assisted friends and family with many remodeling projects, the most recent of which was sheet rocking and taping his son’s basement in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, less than three weeks before his death. One of the first woodworking projects he completed in retirement was an heirloom cradle, which so far has been used by three grandchildren. He fully restored a 1926 REO which is on display at Pioneer Auto Museum at Murdo. He also worked throughout his retirement years to restore a 1954 Ford Customline, which he purchased from its original owner, the late Donald Luke of Parker. He had hoped to complete the restoration prior to Luke’s death, but countless obstacles delayed completion until late last summer, shortly after Rich himself began treatment for cancer in June of 2011. He is survived by his wife; daughter Jennifer “Jennie” (Mark) Fredin of Marion, Iowa; son James of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; daughter Katherine “Katie” (fiancé Lowell Ferguson) of Omaha; three grandchildren, Emily, Ellie and Thomas Fredin of Marion, Iowa; six brothers: Leo (companion Margaret Galland) of Sioux Falls; Jerry of Justin, Texas; Dale; Dennis (Cheryl) of Madison; Russell (Carol) of Omaha; Michael (Leila) of Mission; two step-sons, Marcus (Rachael) Merritt of Detroit; Micah of Chicago; parents-in-law David and Helen Trumble of Onida; and many nieces and nephews. Preceding him in death were his parents; sister Jeanice in 1954; brother-in-law Orland Kappedal in 2006, sister-in-law Lois Husman in 2003, and sister Mary Ann Kappedal in 2008. A graveside service will be held 11:00am Saturday, March 10, 2012 at St.Christina Catholic Cemetery, Parker, SD. Visitation will begin 3:00pm Saturday, March 10 at Living Hope Wesleyan Church, 520 NW 3rd St. Madison, SD with family present 4:00pm-6:00pm. A celebration of life service will be held 2:00pm Sunday, March 11, 2012 at Living Hope Wesleyan Church.