Services will be held Aug. 2 at First Baptist Church in Churdan for Ron Toliver, 82, of Churdan. Interment will be at the Highland Township Cemetery with full military honors conducted by a Camp Dodge honor guard and the Churdan American Legion post.
Services are arranged by Brown Funeral Home of Jefferson.
Ron Toliver, the son of Lloyd and Yvonne (Briner) Toliver, was born February 18, 1937, at Churdan, and departed this life on July 29, 2019, at the Greene County Medical Center. He lived his life to the age of 82 years, 5 months and 11 days.
Ron graduated from Churdan High School in 1955. He spent three years in the U.S. Army, and then went to Sioux Falls College, where he graduated with a degree in education. On Aug. 8, 1964, Ron was united in marriage to Teena Fenenga in Gregory, SD. Three children were born to this union. In 1969, Ron received his masters of education form South Dakota State University and later received a specialist degree from Iowa State University.
He taught school and coached athletics in Humboldt, SD, Brandon Valley, SD, Cedar Valley school district, Central Lyon school district, Paton-Churdan school district and Elkhorn-Kimballton school district. In the early 1970s, Ron and Teena purchased an acreage north of Churdan where they made their home and raised their family. Ron also engaged in farming.
Ron was a member of the First Baptist Church in Churdan, the Churdan American Legion and the Greene County Historical Society.
Ron marched to his own drummer. He loved kids and teaching and really believed that each student he knew could achieve whatever they were willing to work for. Not particularly interested in being a student himself, he believed in learning and he kept going until he received a masters degree in administration.
He loved buying and selling and while making a profit was a goal, he was not particularly upset when that did not happen. He started auctioneering when at college and continued into his 70s. He loved the sale barn, the auction house, tag sales, machinery sales and any place that the thought something was a good buy or just interesting.
He loved to fish and spent many happy hours with his family doing just that. He loved the Chicago Cubs and watched every game he could find on TV. He would ask Pastor Bobby to pray for the Cubs, and when they won the World Series, he thought that might have been part of it. He and Teena would travel down some trail, Sherman’s March to the Sea, the Chisholm Trail Cattle Drive, and any place that was tied into history. The Churdan Coffee Club, where fiction became fact, was high on his list of “must dos”. He loved his country and with the help of the community, the “Freedom Park” became a reality.
Ron was loved by his wife, respected by his children, and adored by his grandchildren. He, in turn, loved them all and tried to make certain that they knew. Uncle Ronnie and Dad stories will continue through several generations, so perhaps it is not a bad idea to carry your own drum.
Ron is survived by his wife Teena; three children and their families – Ronell Lynne Robinson of Aurora, IL, and her children Paige and Payton, David Toliver and his wife Jennifer of Waukee and their children Jessica and Chase; Jess Toliver and his wife Tiffini of Eagle Grove and their children Kayce, Jack, Gabe and Isom Toliver and stepdaughters Michelle Mericle and Allison Mai; and sisters Joanne Legore, Jeanne Wiederin and Janice (Charles) Paup, all of Churdan. Those who preceded him in death were his parents; mother- and father-in-law, Esther and Don Fenenga; brothers-in-law Darrell Legore and Martin Wiederin; and nephew Brent Lindgren.
