Ross West

Ross West, age 97, of Yankton, South Dakota and formerly of Wahpeton, North Dakota, passed away on Saturday, January 8, 2022, at Avera Sister James Care Center in Yankton with his daughter, Pauline, by his side.

A Zoom Memorial Service handled by Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Breckenridge, MN will be held at a later date.   Private family burial will be in Fairview Memorial Gardens in Wahpeton with Vertin-Munson Funeral Home handling the arrangements.  Local arrangements in Yankton are under the direction of the Wintz & Ray Funeral Home and Cremation Service.

Ross “Blacky” Lloyd West was born on November 22, 1924, to August and Bertha “Julianna” (Menge) West in Sheldon, North Dakota.  Ross grew up and attended school through the eighth grade in rural Clay County, MN.  He later obtained his GED on May 17, 1979.  He was united in marriage to Marjorie Lavonne Beckett on October 25, 1949, in Hawley, MN.  The couple moved near Breckenridge, MN and farmed there until 1951.  Then they moved southwest of Wahpeton where they farmed for over 60 years and raised their family of seven children.  Ross and Marjorie farmed together until her death on February 28, 2010.  Ross retired in the spring of 2012 and moved to Yankton to be close to his daughter.  Ross was a faithful servant of their church, Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Breckenridge, MN.  Ross was always there to help a neighbor or friends.  You could find Ross on the farm always tinkering and inventing something.  His famous invention was “the Widowmaker” and those that know him will know what that was.

Ross is survived by his children: Rodney (June) West of Mt. Vernon, WA, Reggie West of Tucson, AZ, Wade (Jana) West of Sedona, AZ, Pauline (Ordell) Akland of Yankton, Jeremy (Crystal) West of Tucson; son-in-law, Arden Hanson of Tucson; daughter-in-law, Nancy West of Wahpeton; 15 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren and one expected in June; brother, Kenneth West of Glyndon, ND; brother-in-law, Charlie (Nancy) Beckett of Palm Bay, FL; sister-in-law, Arvilla West of Athens, OH; and many nieces and nephews.

Ross was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Marjorie; son, Darwin “Gus”; daughter, Joy Hanson; grandson, Louis; daughter-in-law, Sherry West; and brothers and sisters: Frank, Doris, Alice, Florence, Lyle, Tom, and his twin brother, Rusty “Whitey”.

The family is thankful for the care at Walnut Village for three years and the Dakota Unit at Avera Sister James Care Center the past six years.  The staffs at both facilities are truly our heroes.

Cards may be mailed to his daughter, Pauline Akland at 2607 Abbott Dr. in Yankton, SD  57078.