Phillip O. Jung, 89, Isabel, died Friday, January 6, 2012 at the VA Black Hills, Fort Meade Hospital.
Memorial services will be 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at the Kinkade Funeral Chapel in Sturgis with Pastor Chris Saulzie officiating. Inurnment with military honors by the Sturgis Veterans Honor Guard follows at the Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis.
Memorials have been established to the Isabel Senior Citizens Center and the Hospice Program at Fort Meade.
Phillip Osborn Jung was born October 23, 1922, at Lightcap, SD, to Mathias (Matt) and Anna (Chase) Jung. He is the oldest of 14 children. He was raised 23 miles north of Isabel, and attended Pleasant View School in Corson County for 8 ½ years. The school was located one mile east of Matt and Anna's place. After he finished school, he completed a half year high school correspondence course.
Phillip was drafted by the Army in April 1946. He spent four days as a draftee and then enlisted. (At that time, if you were drafted, you didn't know when you'd get out. If you enlisted, you were released after 18 months of service.)
He was first located at Fort Snelling in Minnesota. They were shipped via train to Basic Training in Texas. On the way, their train was involved in an accident somewhere in Kansas or Missouri. A switch was not set correctly, and a freight train ran into the troop train. Some of the soldiers had some bumps and bruises, but no one was seriously injured.
He completed his basic training in Amarillo, Texas, spent a short time in Boca Raton, Florida, and was then moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, to a replacement depot. He was then transferred to Fort Lawden (which was located in Washington, near Seattle) until he was deployed to Japan. He traveled by boat to Yokota Army Air Base in Japan, where he spent about a year. He was assigned as a clerk to a quartermaster that issued clothing and supplied to soldiers. He was discharged from the Army in October, 1947, as a corporal.
Adjusting back to farm life after army life took some effort, even though he'd been a farmer longer. When Phillip returned from the Army, he worked in McIntosh for a while and also did some work at home (at Matt and Anna's). In the spring of 1948, he worked in Lemmon out of a shop. He worked in housing and then graveling and highway construction for about three months using a truck that he owned.
For a while in the early 1950's he owned a Piper J-3 "Cub" airplane. He used it to fly around the country, check cattle, get the mail from town, etc. He sold it after it was damaged when the wind caught the tail of the plane and flipped it over on its top (even though it was tied down).
In about 1948, he moved to his Uncle Frank Jung's farm, about 17 miles north of Isabel. Frank and his family had moved to the Aberdeen area in the 1930s. (Frank changed his last name to Young after they moved.) For a short time, Ed and Alice Witte lived with him, and then they moved North of Timber Lake, SD (Alice is one of Phillip's sisters.)
Phillip farmed, ranched, and hunted on the land, making a living. A memory that stood out in his mind was the time he stepped over a power shaft on a grain elevator, he had two pairs of pants on (it was winter, and it was cold)… he was down to just his underwear in the blink of an eye!
He met Gertrude Volden at Isabel at school functions in 1954 when Gert was in high school. Phillip and Gert were married on June 14, 1955, in Timber Lake, SD at the Our Savior Lutheran church parsonage. They lived on the farm that Phillip had been living on, making it their home and raising their family there. They were blessed with six children.
They farmed and ranched in the area until May 2000, when they moved in to Isabel to live with Agnes Volden. After they moved to Isabel, Gert worked in the Isabel Café, and provided occasional assistance cooking at the Senior Center. Gert is also a seamstress she makes many quilts and performs some clothing alterations and repair.
Over the years, Phillip served the community in many ways:
? He served as the Township Clerk for Liberty Township for 17 of the last 18 years it existed, and then it reverted back to the county (Corson).
? He served on the Board of Directors for the McIntosh Co-op for 25 straight years, starting in the 1960's.
? He served on the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Committee as a member off and on for many years.
? He has been an active member in Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Isabel for over 50 years.
? He was a Church Council member for many years, holding various offices.
He is survived by his wife and his 6 children,his fourteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren and his 9 siblings.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Matt and Anna Jung, and four of his siblings: MaryAnn Trager, Lawrence Jung, Max (Mick) Jung and Myrtle Mann.
1922 - 2012 (89 år)