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Funeral services for Richard Wales, 72, of Mobridge will be at 10:30 AM, Saturday, December 28, 2019, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Mobridge. Inurnment will be at Black Hills National Cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge. Visitation will start at 6 PM with a prayer service at 7 PM Friday at the funeral home. Richard passed away Tuesday, December 24, 2019, at Mobridge Regional Hospital.

Richard "Rick" Wales was born on April 3, 1947 in Estelline, South Dakota to Robert and Lois (Johnson) Wales. He grew up with his two sisters, Betty and Susan, and enjoyed hanging with his cousins, Mike and Dave. He graduated from Estelline High School in 1965. Rick met Janice (Riedel) while attending Dakota State University in Madison, SD, and they were married on May 31, 1969. He entered the US Army on October 20, 1969. He was stationed at Fort Sheridan in Chicago, Illinois, and later served as a military bugler for the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, where they gave birth to their oldest daughter, Lynn.

Rick and Jan moved to Mobridge after he graduated from Northern State University and was employed by South Dakota Job Service. After seven years, he took a job with the Mobridge Postal Service and retired from the Java Post Office as Postmaster after 30 years of service. During those working years, he and Jan went on to have three more daughters, Jennifer, Michele, and Jessica, who kept their lives busy. The girls were raised as Rick's greatest fans, following him in support of his special hobbies of playing Amateur basketball, softball and baseball; they were often seen in the family jeep heading to the fields or court where he enjoyed playing with his teammates who became his forever friends. He returned the favor by raising four active children and rarely missing a musical, academic, or athletic performance and being the loudest in the crowd. After his family began to expand with grandchildren, Rick delighted in hearing his favorite words, "Grandpa, are you making popcorn?"

Rick spent his retirement doing the things he loved. He was often seen with a rifle in hand proudly taking his 4 sons-in-law to his favorite hunting spots or with fishing rod in tow to bait the fish on Lake Oahe. He took pride in playing "Taps" for fallen Veterans. He was always compelled to make the effort to shake the hands of veterans who he encountered in public. Rick had a high regard for his military involvement.

Rick is survived by his wife of 50 years, Jan, daughters Lynn (Richard) Geary of Carmel, Indiana, Jennifer (Tory) Schwartz of Gering, Nebraska, Michele (Justin) Wessel of Denver, North Carolina, Jessica (Garron) Maloney of Dickinson, North Dakota, and fourteen grandchildren: Trey, Michael, and Maddy Geary, Victoria, Trevor, and Ashtyn Schwartz, Carson, Spencer, Elizabeth, and Kate Wessel, and Josey, Pippi, Willie, and Ginny Maloney, as well as his mother, Lois, of Aberdeen, South Dakota, and sisters, Betty (Pat) Halseth of Post Falls, Idaho and Susan (Dick) Weigel of Aberdeen, South Dakota.

He is preceded in death by his father, Robert and grandson, Grant Stephen Schwartz.