Richard "Dick" Raetz

Richard “Dick” Raetz age 77 of Belle Fourche, died Monday September 1st, 2008 surrounded by his loving family at the Hermann Memorial City Medical Center in Houston, Texas. The funeral service will be 10:30 Saturday at the Christian Life Center in Belle Fourche with Rev. Paul Howard officiating. Visitation will be held 5 to 7 pm Friday, with the family present, at Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche. Interment will be held at the Black Hills National Cemetery on Monday at 9:30am with military honors provided by the Belle Fourche Veterans Honor Guard. Richard Henry Raetz was born July 14, 1931 in Rapid City South Dakota. He was the son of Arthur Edwin and Anna Lee (Fenner) Raetz. He was the sixth child of Arthur and Anna with two older brothers (Encel and Arthur) and three sisters (Lorene, Lillian, Eva, and his younger sister, Vesta). Dick’s family raised him in the Rapid City and Black Hills area and he graduated from Lead High School in May 1949. Dick served his country in the U.S. Army from August 1950 to August 1953 at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina and in Germany as a combat engineer. While in the Army, Dick married Charlotte Darlene Mae Forde of Belle Fourche on March 3, 1951 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Upon completing his Army commitment, Dick began a career with Halliburton Company in Wyoming. While living there Dick and Charlotte had two children, Curtis and Kimberly. Dick’s career then took him from Wyoming to international assignments in Libya, Iran, England, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Scotland. Dick’s final assignment with Halliburton was in Houston, Texas as the Division Manager; he retired from that position in July 1988 after 35 years of service. Dick and Charlotte then moved to South Dakota, making their retirement home in Spearfish and then Belle Fourche. During retirement, Dick pursued his lobbies of gunsmithing, hunting, fishing, and golf. He was active in the Masonic Lodge, served as a leader at the Belle Fourche Senior Citizens Center, and served the Christian Life Center of Belle Fourche in various roles. Together Dick and Char enjoyed almost 56 years of marriage, before her death in 2007. Dick is survived by his son, Curtis (Lou Ann) of McKinney Texas; daughter, Kimberly Barton of Houston Texas; 5 grandchildren, Brandy and Richard Barton, Stephen, Katherine, and William Raetz; 4 great grandchildren, Mikayla, Jackson, Emma, and Ella. He is also survived by his sisters, Lorene Miglia of Marshalltown, Iowa, Lillian (Bob) Pengra of Brookings SD, and Eva (Sam) Stetter of Belle Fourche. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife; brothers, Encel and Arthur; and sister, Vesta Davies.