Richard Kvale
Wed, 10/01/2025 - 11:35am
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Richard Norman Kvale was born on August 7th, 1951 to Belle (Walter) and Norman Kvale in Lemmon, South Dakota. He was the oldest of his siblings: Richard, Dale, Tim and Beverly. They grew up on the family ranch south of Thunderhawk, South Dakota.
Growing up on a ranch/farm in Western South Dakota gave him a love and respect for the land that he carried with him all the rest of his life.
Rich liked to joke that he went to school in Paris, as the rural one-room schoolhouse he attended (sometimes by horseback) was called the "Paris School". He graduated from high school in Lemmon in 1969.
After high school, he attended college at South Dakota State University. There he met and married Madona Jacobs in 1970. He graduated from college in 1973 with a double Bachelor of Science in Range Management and Botany. Rich and Madona had four children (Daniel, Anne, Rebecca and John) whom they loved very much.
He worked for the US Forest Service for his entire career of 36 years. He traveled all over the United States on fires and duty stations. He was stationed in: Sierra Vista, AZ; Young, AZ; Bly, OR; Cave Creek, AZ; Safford, AZ, Tucson, AZ and Washington, DC. He began his career as a Range Conservationist and eventually became the District Ranger in Safford, AZ. He fought many wildland fires over the years. This led him to be promoted to be the Forest Aviation and Fire Officer for the Coronado National Forest in Tucson. He had a true gift for fighting forest fires and was eventually promoted to be the Deputy Director of Fire and Aviation management for the USDA in Washington, DC directly under the Secretary of Agriculture.
Rich was remarried to Jonetta Trued in 2009. He retired in Tucson with Jonetta and her daughter Lilliana.
He enjoyed drawing, painting with watercolors, gardening and became an avid reader. He had an eye for beauty.
He is survived by: His wife Jonetta Trued; his siblings Dale and Mary Kvale, Tim and Charlotte Kvale, Beverly and Tim Holdahl; children: Daniel and Stacy Kvale, Anne and Matt Young, Rebecca and Donald Case, John Richard Kvale, Lilliana and Jacob Turpin; grandchildren: Joseph and Clara Kvale, Kimberly Kvale, Katherine Kvale, Emily Young, Meredith Young, Claire Young, Zachary Young, Jake Young, Julia Young, Faith and Lane Borders, Dante Case, Hope Case; great-grandchildren: Joan Kvale, Theodore Kvale and Sadie Borders; and ex-wife Madona (Jacobs) Kvale.
