Tellef Edwin Carter, 90, of Carthage

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 CARTHAGE — Tellef Edwin Carter, 90, of Carthage, passed away at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home in De Smet, Friday, May 5, 2017.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, May 13, at 11 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Carthage with burial in Pleasant View Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday, May 12, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the church with a prayer service at 6:30 p.m.
Tellef was born on November 9, 1926, the second of six children, to Tellef E. Carter and Judith (Sandven) Carter. He attended country school in Miner County and high school in Carthage. Immediately upon graduation in 1944, he left for training with the U.S. Navy to become a pilot. With the end of the war shortly thereafter and less demand for military pilots, he was honorably discharged and returned to civilian life in Eastern S.D.
Tellef spent a brief period operating the local café in Howard,  then moved to Everett, Wash., where he spent 23 years working as a pipefitter for the Weyerhaeuser Company. It was here where he and his wife, Beth raised their five children. When Weyerhaeuser closed in 1975, he returned with his family to S.D., where he owned a plumbing and backhoe business in Bryant and also owned/operated the buses for the Carthage School District.
Tellef was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed hunting pheasants and deer in S.D., moose in Canada, and fishing for king salmon in the waters of Alaska and Wash. Tellef visited Norway where, while in his 60s, he took a foot tour to explore the land of his family heritage. Always proud to be a veteran, Tellef considered his trip to Washington D.C. as a member of the Honor Flight to be “the trip of a lifetime.”
Tellef is survived by his five children, Terry Carter of Port Orchard, Wash., Mark Carter (Evelyn) of Tacoma, Wash., Julie Carter of Black Hawk, Kathy Haarstad (Tony) of Iroquois, and Michael Carter (Janet) of Rapid City; sister, Mavis Dotzauer of Lake Stevens, Wash.; brothers, Kenneth Carter (Clare) of Sedro Woolley, Wash., and Donald Carter (Marilyn) of Lake Stevens, Wash.; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
He joins in Heaven his parents; sister, Darlene; brother, Jerome; and grandsons, Jared and Ryan.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Kuhler Funeral Home.
 In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Pleasant View Cemetery, PO Box 126, Carthage, SD 57323.
Visit www.kuhlerfuneralhome.com
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