Donald E. "Buck" Deters

Donald E. "Buck" Deters, age 87 of Tonopah, AZ and formerly of Olivet, SD passed away Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at his residence. Memorial graveside services will be 2:00 PM, Thursday, June 13, 2013 at the Menno Cemetery, Menno, SD with Rev. Michael Hecht officiating. The Aisenbrey-Opsahl-Kostel Memorial Chapel has been trusted with the service details.

Donald "Buck" Deters died at his residence in Tonopah, AZ on May 22, 2013. Donald was born January 17, 1926 in Hutchinson County, SD to George and Katherine (Bray) Deters. Sometime in his early years he moved with his parents to California. In the mid-1930's, Buck returned to SD to live with his grandparents, Ned and Sophia Bray.

He attended Olivet Public School and graduated from Menno Public School in 1944. After School he began farming with his grandfather. On March 4, 1947, he married Myra Haar at the Olivet Evangelical Church in Olivet, SD. They continued to farm with Ned.

In January of 1951, he was drafted into the army and took his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and was later deployed to Germany. When he returned home from the service he resumed farming.

Buck was a self-made innovator, always designing gadgets that would work to make anything run more efficiently. You could always find him in his workshop tinkering with something and being inspired by the many "inventions" he came up with. In 1976 he started a construction and gravel business, which took him to various jobs all over South Dakota. His final move before retiring was to Gillette, WY. Myra passed away there in 1984.

Soon after Myra's death he left Gillette and moved to Sun City, AZ to care for his mother. He remained in Sun City where he met his second wife, Polly. They were married in 1992. He and Polly were involved in a pickup accident that took Polly's life, and Buck was faced with many years of pain and recovery.