Funeral services for Willard Oswald Redemske, age 80, of Watertown, SD, will be at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 21, 2009, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Watertown.  Rev. Keith Petersen will officiate.  Music will be provided by Ellen Heisner as organist and Amy Weseloh as soloist.  Willard passed away on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, at a local care center.

     Burial will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Watertown, SD.  Military graveside honors will be provided by Frank H. Adams Post #750 of Veterans of Foreign Wars of Watertown and the Military Funeral Honors Team of the SD National Guard.  Honorary pallbearers will be Willard’s grandchildren: Brittany Kranz, Brennan Kranz, McKenzie Redemske, Landen Geerdes, and Breyanna Geerdes.  Active pallbearers will be: Jason Redemske, Don Kranz, Brennan Kranz, David Korth, Robert Korth, and Brian Kannas. 

     Visitation will be at Crawford Funeral Chapel in Watertown on Friday from 4-7 p.m. and in the church on Saturday prior to the services.  The family is requested to meet at the church on Saturday by 1:30 p.m. to attend a prayer service. 

     Willard was born on October 18, 1929, at Luther Hospital in Watertown, SD, to Otto and Doris (Neuendorf) Redemske.  He attended country school in Germantown Township through the eighth grade and then attended Martin Luther High School.  Following his schooling, he worked for several farmers in the area.  Willard enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1951, during the Korean Conflict, and served until 1953.  He attended cook school and was later transferred to the engineering division. Willard was honorably discharged, returned home, and went to work for Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company, in 1954, where he was a route driver.

     On February 13, 1965, Willard married Judy Langenfeld at I. C. Church in Watertown, SD.  He continued to work for Pepsi until 1976.  In 1982, Willard went to work as a custodian at the Watertown Senior High School and retired in 2000.  He entered Jenkins Living Center in August of 2003.

     He was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Rauville for 74 years until it’s closing in 2003.  Willard held various positions in the church and sang in the choir. He was also a very proud member of Alcoholics Anonymous, the American Legion, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Willard loved watching the ‘Minnesota Twins’ and ‘Vikings’, coaching his kids’ baseball teams, reading history books, Hershey chocolate bars, and following the ‘Watertown Arrows’ basketball teams.

     Willard is survived by his wife, Judy, one daughter, Leslie (Don) Kranz, and one son, Jason (Bridget) Redemske, all of Watertown, SD; five grandchildren; one sister-in-law, Lonnie (Jim) Soyer, of Pierre, SD; and two brothers-in-law: Richard Langenfeld of Sioux Falls, SD, and Rollo Korth, of Watertown, SD.

      He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters.