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His funeral service is 11 a.m., Friday, Aug. 23, at Huron Faith Alive Church

HURON — Roger Pownell, age 85, of Huron, passed away Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at his home in Huron, surrounded by his family, under hospice care.

His funeral service is 11 a.m., Friday, Aug. 23, at Huron Faith Alive Church, with burial at Riverside Cemetery. Military honors to be conducted by the Huron Veteran’s Council.

Visitation, with family present, is from 9 to 11 a.m., Friday morning at the church.

Roger Dean Pownell was born May 7, 1939, in Broadland, to parents Harold and Doris (Skarin) Pownell. He attended Huron schools, graduating in 1957. At age 20, he joined the U.S. Army and was in the 7th Army Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, at the height of the Berlin Wall crisis.

After being honorably discharged he returned home to Huron to be with family, enrolled at Huron College and fell in love with Reva, another student at the time. Months later they ran away and eloped at a Methodist church in Redwood Falls, Minn. He and Reva were inseparable in their 61 years together in a marriage that valued love and faith and trust, and to that union two boys were added to their family.

Roger’s family history was important to him. While job opportunities took the family as far away as Amarillo Texas, he’d bring the family back home to Huron eventually. Roger enjoyed working as an accountant, even working part-time doing income taxes into his early 80s.

Nobody was a stranger to Roger. And it made no difference where you met him, the bank, the grocery store, the office, the ice cream shop. He’d greet you with a smile, draw you into a conversation, he’d take interest in your life, and then depart with either encouraging words, a lesson, a compliment, or a simple thank you.

Roger was a giver and not a taker, and he enjoyed volunteering.

For 14 years, he helped at the Salvation Army food pantry. He also sat on the Advisory Board of Dakotaland Federal Credit Union. Roger was a faithful member of Faith Alive Global Methodist Church. Mostly, his enjoyment came from sharing a simple conversation or a chocolate ice cream sundae. He loved that the family ice cream shop downtown allowed him a venue to give back to the community.

Roger is survived by his wife, Reva of Huron; his sons and their spouses; Jeff and Yendy Pownell of Huron and Terry and Marci Pownell of Amarillo, Texas; four grandchildren, Cody and Haylie Pownell of Borger, Texas, Zach Pownell of San Diego, California, Cayden Pownell of Amarillo, Texas, and Jacqueline and Ryan Vargas of Reno, Nev.; and two great-grandchildren, Rowyn Pownell of Borger, Texas and Lewin Vargas of Reno, Nev.; as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Doris; a brother, Duane Pownell; his brother-in-law Kenneth Bloodgood; a sister-in-law, Murle Bloodgood; and his parents-in-law, Charles and Ina Belle Bloodgood.

www.welterfuneralhome.com