Finn Gustav Dahlquist

Lebanon, SD

1941, 2754, Wall (Badlands), NP-2,

Finn G. Dahlquist, 87, of Gettysburg, passed away Monday, October 12, 2009 at his home.

Memorial Services were held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, October 16, 2009 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Gettysburg with Pastor Peter Utecht officiating. Burial followed in the Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, SD.

Finn Gustav Dahlquist was born April 17, 1922 at the farm north of Lebanon to Hjalmar and Esther (Anderson) Dahlquist. He grew up there, attending rural Carr School and graduating from Lebanon High School in 1939. He was baptized and confirmed into the Lutheran Faith at Christ Lutheran Church in Lebanon, SD.

Finn joined the CCC at Interior, SD. He left there and moved to Bremerton, WA where he worked as a "Rigger's Helper" in the Navy Yard. He also worked as a butcher in Blythe, CA. On December 7, 1942 Finn joined the Marine Corps and received his training at the San Diego Navel Base. He was in the South Pacific at Guadalcanal, Bougonville and in the Salomon Islands as a mess S/Sgt. He was then stationed at Emirau, 90 miles south of the Equator. Finn was sent back stateside 14 months before the end of the war and was stationed at Cherry Point, NC till the war ended. He was honorable discharged on November 7, 1945.

In 1946 he began farming on the home place north of Lebanon. He married Sophia Albers July 2, 1952 at Christ Lutheran in Lebanon. On March 6, 1961 they became parents of a son, Ron who lives on the family farm with his wife Valerie and son Rick.

In 1986 Finn retired and they spent the winters in Mesa, AZ and the summers in South Dakota until 2002 when they became very proud grandparents.

Finn was a member of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, the Medicine Rock Senior Center, and a lifetime member of the Ralph Leui Legion and Winston M Toomey VFW. In his spare time he enjoyed hunting, playing bridge, watching basketball and baseball and spending winters in Arizona.

Finn was grateful for having shared his life with his wife, Sophia of Gettysburg; son, Ron (Valerie) Dahlquist of Lebanon; grandson, Rick (the love of his life); sister-in-laws: Corinne Dahlquist of Lebanon and Louise Vail of Sioux Falls and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Elsie; and four brothers: Roy, Henry, Harry and Carl.

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