Elwyn "Buck" Birdsall | November 5, 1964 - March 22, 2021
Obituaries-Pierre / Posted Mar 25, 2021 | 7:01 AM / 381 views
Elwyn “Buck” Birdsall, 56, of Onida, SD passed away at his home surrounded by family on Monday, March 22nd following a short battle with cancer. There will be a visitation at the Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Onida on Friday March 26th from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm and followed by a prayer service at 7:30 pm. A funeral service will be held at 2:00 pm Saturday March 27th at the Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Onida with burial at the Onida City Cemetery. The services can be viewed via live-stream at the top of this page the day of the service.
Elwyn was born on November 5, 1964 at the Onida Hospital to Harold and Nada (Schultz) Birdsall.
Elwyn remained in Onida throughout his life where he also grew up and attended school. From the time he was young he had a true love for animals and certainly carried on the Birdsall family tradition. Elwyn played football in high school, along with being on the wrestling team and was a member of the 13 year club at Sully Buttes Elwyn had many pastimes growing up from riding his 3-wheeler, Boy Scouts, loving his first pickup, hunting and finding ways to keep his mom on her toes.
He married Maradee Eliason on July 26, 1986 and from this union two beautiful children were born, Danielle Leigh and Alex Harold Birdsall. Elwyn was very skilled in welding mechanical work, fabricator/engineer and wood working through training and working with his father. He had a love for gardening and always loved cooking for his family & friends especially those delicious rib eye steaks.
Challenges for Elwyn were viewed as opportunities to develop something new or exploring a different approach to the find the fix. A task was never too large and it may have taken some time but it was always completed.
Elwyn loved his family and always had intriguing ways of expressing that love. Sometimes expressing his love was by setting the bar a little higher knowing that you can always achieve goals if you worked hard. Elwyn and Maradee worked side by side for nearly 35 years and always shared their journeys and experiences.
Elwyn’s number one love was farming he also worked at K&K Implement, Sheehan’s, Onida Feeders and Harvest States. More recently he focusing on farming and DTS Spraying/Probing Company that he and Danielle established in 2005.
Remaining to honor his life is his wife, Maradee Birdsall; daughter, Danielle Leigh Birdsall (Rausch); son-in-law, Kyle Rausch. Grandson, Eli Alex Rausch: Granddaughter, Emily Kyleigh Rausch: sister, Pam Birdsall (Monroe); nieces, Marci Monroe and Melody Monroe; great nieces, Mariah, Anastasya and Kyndra Monroe and Aunt, Ramona Syverson; Michael Patrick, who Elwyn mentored for years and in-laws Floyd & Margaret Eliason.
Elwyn is preceded in death by his parents, Harold (Buck) & Nada Birdsall: son, Alex Harold: grandparents, George & Alice Birdsall and Frank & Marie Schultz: brother-in-law, Harold Monroe: Aunt, Clara Puck and Uncle, Elwyn Syverson.
