Funeral services for Ralph Pederson age 97 of Firesteel will be 10:30 am Thursday, July 14, 2016 at United Parish Church in Timber Lake. Burial will be in the Timber Lake Cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge. Visitation will be Wednesday, July 13, 2016 starting at 5:00PM with a prayer service at 7:00 PM at the church. Ralph passed away Friday, July 8, 2016 at Good Samaritan Center in Selby.
Ralph Gerald Pederson was born May 29, 1919, at the family homestead north of Firesteel, South Dakota (the current Terry Johnson ranch) to Reinhart and Mary (Thorstenson) Pederson. When he was only a year and half old his father passed away. His mother decided to have an auction sale and then moved back to his grandparents place west of Selby, South Dakota. There his Grandparents, P.J. and Sophie Thorstenson, and two single uncles, Adolph and Melvin Thorstenson, helped raise him on a large farm. He attended country school for two years before attending school in Selby through his sophomore year. Mary was a hard worker and an excellent seamstress. She took in extra sewing jobs to pay the taxes on the Firesteel homestead.

Ralph said, "I considered myself lucky because it was like I had three fathers: his Grandpa P.J., Uncle Adolph, and Uncle Melvin. I ran a lot of errands for my grandfather and uncles and learned how to drive horses using a two row cultivator and other horse drawn equipment."

When Ralph was 16, he, his sister Stella and his mother returned to the homestead north of Firesteel. The year was 1936 and in it was in the midst of the dirty thirties. "There was nothing but grasshoppers and thistles" as Ralph remembered. He obtained a job with the WPA building roads using horses. Ralph quipped, "I'm sure that I'm the last of the WPA workers." Ralph also worked at the Firesteel coal mine as a grease monkey on the drag line receiving 35 cents an hour working 12 hour shifts, two weeks during the day and two weeks at nights. "Those were rough times when I worked nights at the coal mine." Ralph recalled. "I would also break horses for the use of them and do a little farming". His Uncle Melvin gave him 20 cows to have on shares and that was the start of Broken Heart Ranch. In 1941 he traded horses in to purchase his first tractor a Farmall A for $750.

Ralph met Helen Brammer and they were married on Oct. 16, 1943. In 1947 they purchased the Fischer ranch and moved about eleven miles northeast of Firesteel. Here is where they raised their sons Gary and Ron. Ralph and Helen and their sons gradually grew the sheep and cow operation into one running Registered and Commercial Red Angus and Registered Quarter Horses. One day Ralph surprised Helen by showing up with a mare with a ribbon tied around her neck. The mare was in the back of a pickup with stock racks. Ralph had purchased the Sutton-bred mare from Merle Proctor for $400. This mare was the start of the BHR mare band. Ralph actively bred and raced Quarter Horses from the 1960's until his passing.

Ralph was honored with a Pioneer Red Angus Breeder Award by the Red Angus Association of America in 1999. Ralph, Helen and their family also received the Quarter Horse Legacy Award from the American Quarter Horse Association. Ralph's Broken Heart Ranch has maintained registrations in both associations for more than 50 years. He was also honored with the Black Hills Stock Show Pioneer Award in 2006. Broken Heart Ranch was named to the national Beef Improvement Federation's Commercial Producer Honor Roll of Excellence in 1983 for Ralph's dedication to production testing of commercial cattle.

Ralph was very community driven and volunteered his time to many community associations including the Timber Lake Saddle Club, Timber Lake and Area Historical Society, the Timber Lake Rodeo Association, and the Dewey County 4-H. Ralph purchased the old Timber Lake Movie Theatre and donated it to the Rodeo Association so they could build the Rodeo building on Main Street. He was also acting President of Our Saviours Lutheran Church when the new church in Timber Lake was built.

In Ralph's final hours, he asked his sons Gary and Stub (Ron) to bring him a pail. They were concerned he was sick. He firmly told them "No! I need feed the horses and calves!" Ralph's life ended as he had always lived it—working hard and with the utmost concern and husbandry for his stock.

At the young age of 97, Ralph passed away on Friday, July 8th, 2016. He was greeted in heaven by his beloved Helen, friends, family, neighbors, and many great horses and cattle he had raised.

Ralph is survived by his sons Gary (Suzet) and Ron (a.k.a. Stub), his Grandchildren and their families: Bart and Carol Pederson, Bret and Cindy Pederson, Kim and Cliff Olson, and Chad and Lisa Pederson, Great Grandchildren: Logan, Blake, Jessica, and Kylie Pederson, G.P., J.B., C.L., J.W. and J.C. Pederson, Austin and Wyatt Olson, and Bricelyn Pederson, many Thorstenson relatives, and friends and neighbors.

Ralph was preceded in death by his cherished wife Helen, his parents Reinhart and Mary Pederson, sister and brother in law Stella and Peter Remillong, and many Thorstenson relatives. "We didn't get much done today, but we'll give 'er hell tomorrow." Ralph Pederson
(In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials be given to the Timber Lake and Area Historical Society, the United Prairie Parish, or an organization of the donors choice.