Lawrence Woodward

September 7, 1942 – April 27, 2024

Funeral services for Lawrence E. Woodward, 81, of Dupree were held Friday, May 3, 2024, at Pioneer Hall in Dupree. Burial was in the Dupree Cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge.

Lawrence passed away Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Monument Health in Rapid City. Arrangements were with Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge.

Lawrence Eugene Woodward was born on September 7, 1942, in Dupree to Lawrence and Virginia (Anderson) Woodward.

He was the younger brother to Virginia and Beverly. Though named after his father, his family referred to him as “Brother,” but he was more commonly known as “Woody.” His family lived “Up Home” just north of Dupree. He attended Main School, west of their place, until third grade. In 1951, the family moved just east of Dupree. Woody attended 4th grade high school in Dupree and graduated from Dupree High School in 1960.

While growing up, he participated in Young Citizens League, basketball, band, and 4-H.

Marlene Stambach came from Lantry to Dupree School, and he knew he had met the love of his life. They were married on June 10, 1961. Delbert was born in 1962, Darla in 1963, and Suria in 1969. Lawrence and Marlene shared a loving 38 years of marriage, before Marlene’s passing in December of 1999.

After high school, Woody began farming alongside his father. In 1963, he purchased his first farm, and they continued farming together for 35 years. Throughout his 60 years of farming, he raised wheat, sunflowers, corn, millet, peas, alfalfa, oats, barley, and safflower. He practiced the conservation techniques of “notill” and “crop rotation” and has been acknowledged for setting a precedent in Ziebach County.

In his own words, “I’m a farmer with a hell of a lot of cows,” because Marlene really liked cows. Together, they built a commercial cow-calf operation that focused on black-baldy cows crossed on Lindskov-Thiel Charolais bulls. They eventually branched out to a feeder cattle operation, backgrounding their own calves through the winter. He retired from the cattle business in 2004.

Lawrence served 30 years as the supervisor of the Ziebach County Conservation District and 8 years on the state board, filling the position of president. He served 40 years on the Ziebach County Crop Improvement Association and served on the South Dakota Oilseeds Council. Lawrence was a willing and knowledgeable resource for the Ziebach County Historical Society.

Lawrence always said farming was his hobby, but he also enjoyed many other interests, photography being one. He loved to take scenery pictures on the many trips he took. He enjoyed looking at all his pictures just as much; having well over 27,000 pictures uploaded on his computer. All the kids and grandkids knew that at all family gatherings, especially Christmas, there would be pictures taken.

In 2006, Lawrence purchased a Woodward Family Farm in Callaway, Nebraska. He took great care and pride to preserve/restore the sod house and old barn on the property. The farm was a great getaway for him, and he hosted multiple events, including family reunions and weddings. Lawrence, along with his cousin Cecil, gave many tours of the sod house and the museum in the barn.

A more recent hobby was finding and restoring old cars and trucks. Although he wasn’t much of a mechanic, he enjoyed finding old treasures either on the internet or in some farmer’s yard alongside the road. He then hauled them to local shops to be reconditioned. He was mostly entertained by the time-consuming process of searching for parts and the road trips that were taken to retrieve them. Once the projects were completed, he proudly showed them off in local parades, along with solo trips around the farm— although sometimes, those trips involved a tow back to the house.

Lawrence enjoyed driving down the backroads and highways throughout Ziebach County and surrounding areas. He always opted to take the rural route for the countryside scenery. Although Woody loved driving the roads, he more so loved maintaining them. He spent countless hours on his road grader, shaping up the county roads for farm equipment and harvest trucks. He also appreciated impromptu afternoon crop tours with his sister and brother-in-law, Bev and Russ Birkeland, and many self-invited dinners to his sister Virginia’s house.

Lawrence is survived by his three children Delbert (Nila) Woodward, Darla Vrooman, and Suria Woodward; ten grandchildren Kyla, Jace, Kody, Jess, Chelsey, Cassy, Jadyn, Brent, Marlene, Minda, and six greatgrandchildren; his sisters Virginia Till Beverly (Russell) Birkeland; sister-inlaw Gail Stambach and brother-in-law Glen Haines.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Marlene; his parents Lawrence and Virgina Woodward; father and mother-in-law Harry and Marian Stambach; brother-in-law Jerry Till; sister and brother-in- law Darlene and Bill Marple; brother-in-law Fred Stambach; sister-in-law Micki Haines; and special cousin Buster Amundson.

Memorials will be contributed to the Ziebach County Historical Society Building Fund.

(Delbert and Nila Woodward’s address is Box 81, Dupree, SD 57623.)