HURON –– Wayne Horsley, age 96, of Huron, passed away peacefully Sunday, May 17, 2026, at Huron Regional Medical Center.
His memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, June 6, at the First Presbyterian Church, Wessington. Burial will follow in the Wessington Cemetery. Military Honors will be conducted by the Watson-Krauter Legion Post 110.
Visitation with family present will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, June 5, at the Kuhler Funeral Home, with a prayer service at 6:30 p.m.
Wayne Horsley was born November 16, 1929, to Guy and Etta Eldora (Manor) Horsley near Virgil. At the age of 4 1/2 the family moved to the farm/ranch South of Wessington in Rose Hill township. He attended grade school at McNeil rural school. After one year of high school in Wessington he went on to graduate from South Dakota School of Agriculture in Brookings in 1948.
On September 21, 1952, he married Joan Hemmingson at the Presbyterian Church in Miller. In October of 1952, he was inducted into the Army, serving proudly in the Korean War maintaining roads with the 74th Combat Engineers Headquarters Company Kumwha Valley, Korea, from May 1953 to September 1954. After the cease fire he helped lay the groundwork for a new village. He was a squad leader for heavy equipment operators. Honorably discharged with the rank of Staff Seargent, having turned down Seargent First Class stripes to be able to remain with heavy equipment and the Korean soldiers he was training. Wayne was awarded numerous medals for his service.
In 1954, he returned home to the farm/ranch where he spent the next 70 years. He truly loved his life as a rancher and was proud of the Hereford cattle with the box cross brand on their hips. Wayne and Joan did a lot of traveling over the years, visiting almost every state in the U.S., including Alaska, the East and West coasts, Gulf of Mexico, Germany, including a 5-country tour and cruise down the Rhine River, Costa Rica, Panama Canal, and Colombia. Wayne was a long-time member of the Watson-Krauter Legion Post 110, served many years in the Rose Hill Township, and a member of the Presbyterian Church.
He was survived by his wife, Joan, of 73 years; his son, Curtis Horsley of Huron; his daughter, Rhonda (Craig) Reed of Newcastle, Wyo.; his grandchildren, Jodean (Stephen) Brannan, Kaylynn (Rusty) Taper, Jeanien (Blaine) Burruss and Ross (Sarah) Reed; his great-grandchildren, Miles and Ezekiel Brannan, Jamie, Ethan, Sadie, Elliott and Bruce Taper, and Brock, Willow and Wyatt Burruss; and one sister, Sharon Menning of Texas.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his sisters, Lula (Leslie) Wedge, Alma (Richard) Plate, Ruth (Merlin Thomas) (Chuck Single), Tressie (Melvin) Beck, Bertha (Rennald) Stiner, Myrtle (Henry) VanAsperen, Mary, twin sisters in infancy; his brothers, Melvin and Keith in youth; and one great-granddaughter, Hope Brannan. www.kuhlerfuneralhome.com
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