Buzz Donnenwirth

Buzz Donnenwirth, age 89, Rapid City, died Friday, January 05, 2018 at Westhills Healthcare in Rapid City.

 

A visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00pm on Wednesday, January 10, 2018, at Kirk Funeral Home.

 

Funeral services will be held at 1:00pm on Thursday, January 11, 2018, at First Congregational United Church of Christ with Rev. Ted Huffman officiating. A luncheon will follow services with a burial at Pine Lawn Cemetery.

 

Buzz was born on November 8, 1928, in the Milwaukee Railroad Depot in Faith, SD, to Charles Ingram and Selina Christina (Collins) Donnenwirth.

 

He graduated from Faith High School in 1947, and immediately went to Chillicothe, Missouri to study railroad telegraphy. He was employed by the Milwaukee Railroad on the branch lines in North and South Daktoa. On June 5, 1949, he married his high school sweetheart, Carol Graslie and they began their 68 years of successful, happy marriage. They had five children, Cathy, Coreen, William, and Wanda.

 

After 37 years of employment on the Milwaukee Railroad, the decline of business caused Buzz to look for a new career. He was immediately hired by State Farm Insurance and started magnificent record-selling sales. He moved his family to Rapid City and began 37 years of selling insurance. Buzz and Carol spent their time in promoting State Farm. Buzz thoroughly enjoyed working with Harney Little League, Masons, Shriners, swim team, Dinner Club, First Congregational Church, Volksmarching world-wide, and being with his beloved grandchildren. If you met Buzz, you knew his grandchildren.

 

Buzz is survived by his wife, Carol Donnenwirth of Rapid City, SD; daughters, Cathy Donnenwirth of Phoenix, AZ, Coreen Lerwick (Eldon) of Spearfish, SD, and Wanda Kinzeler (Jim) of Orange City, FL; son, Bill Donnenwirth (Sarah) of Mission Viejo, CA; brothers, Bob (Estelita) Donnenwirth of Lillian, AL, and Lloyd Donnenwirth (Christina) of Oregon; grandsons, Dana Donnenwirth of South San Francisco, CA, Daniel Lerwick of Spearfish, SD, and Alen Lerwick of Phoenix, AZ; and granddaughters, Krista (Brady) Blake of Phoenix, AZ, and Lili Donnenwirth of Phoenix, AZ.

 

He is preceded in death by an infant daughter, Carmen Donnenwirth; his parents; three brothers, Vernon, Charles, and Kenneth Donnenwirth; five sisters, Edith Davis, Evelyn Hogue, Elsie Anderson, and Patsy Bell. Memorials may be sent to the Shriner’s Hospital or to Hospice of the Hills.