Gerald Reade

Gerald Reade, age 85 of Yankton passed away on Sunday, December 7, 2014 at the Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Yankton. Funeral services will be 10:30 AM, Saturday, December 13, 2014 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Yankton, 403 Broadway, Yankton, SD with Rev. Dave Wildermuth officiating. Burial will be in the Garden of Memories with military graveside rites by the Ernest-Bowyer VFW Post #791, Yankton and the South Dakota Army National Guard Honor Guard, Sioux Falls. Jerry's family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church. The Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory, Yankton, is assisting with service details. Jerry was born in Sioux Falls, SD on October 3, 1929. He resided in Canton until he left for the military. After three years of service in the United States Army, he returned to South Dakota and attended South Dakota State College and later the University of South Dakota, graduating from the Business College with honors in 1957. He graduated at the top of his class from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1959, having served as Editor-in-Chief of the South Dakota Law Review. Following graduation, Jerry served a one-year judicial clerkship with the Honorable Axel J. Beck, United States District Court Judge for the District of South Dakota. In 1960, Jerry was hired by Attorney General A.C. Miller of South Dakota to serve as an Assistant Attorney General in charge of civil and criminal litigation and named to the three-member Board of Pardons and Paroles. Following his public service, he entered the private practice of law in 1963, practicing in the areas of personal injury, product liability and fire insurance defense in trial and appellate courts. At the time of his death, he was Of Counsel for the firm of Johnson, Miner, Marlow, Woodward & Huff in Yankton and continued to rely on Joanne Jonas to assist him with his personal and professional responsibilities. Throughout his career, he was active in a number of professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, The State Bar of South Dakota and the Yankton County Bar Association. He was President of the South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association 1975-76 and President of the South Dakota Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates 1993-95. On September 8, 1984, Jerry was united in marriage to Roxine (Sundstrom) Bown in Yankton. Jerry was a pilot and aircraft owner for decades. He is survived by his sister-in-law, Lois Reade of Yankton; nephews, Doug (Karen) Reade of Sioux Falls and Grant (Carol) Reade of Yankton; his niece, Jill (Marty) Wermers of Yankton as well as his cousins, Honorable Linda R. Reade of Cedar Rapids, IA and Renee Gibson of Minneapolis, MN. Jerry was preceded in death by his mother, Susan Reade, his twin brother, Max Reade, M.D., as well as his wife, Roxine. In lieu of flowers, donations are to be made to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 90545, Sioux Falls, SD 57109, Attn: Loren Forsch or the American Cancer Society of South Dakota, 4904 S. Technopolis Drive, Sioux Falls, SD 57106.