Alton Dale Rogen was born on April 15, 1928 to Orton and Esther (Johnson) Rogen in Minnehaha County, rural Sherman. He attended grade school at Sunny Crest and graduated from Jasper High school in 1945, from there he attended and graduated from South Dakota State College in 1950.
Alton married Beverly Gulbranson on November 26, 1950 at the Methodist Church in Garretson. He was drafted into the United States Army. In January of 1951 and took basic training at Fort Riley in North Central Kansas. He was then put in to training war dogs. Following his training, Alton was sent to Camp Carson in Colorado and from there he was stationed in Korea in the 7th Division 31st Infantry. Alton was honorably discharged from the United States Army in 1953.
Alton and Beverly moved to the farm where they lived together for 69 years. Alton was a farmer first and a Pioneer Seed Dealer for 25 years until his retirement. He was an involved part of his community. He was a 4-H leader of the Norseman for 20 years and served on many boards and committees to improve the 4-H experience for others. He certainly touched the lives of many young men in his neighborhood.
Alton was committed to his church and served many roles throughout his life. Most importantly he stressed the need to love your neighbor and forgive, even when it did not feel like the right thing to do.
As a veteran, he was member of the Garretson American Legion, VFW of Sioux Falls and the Korean War Veterans Associations. He was honored by the Korean government for his service with a trip to Seoul South Korea.
Alton was surrounded by a large group of friends his entire life. They laughed, cried and supported each other. We know that he’s in heaven playing pool and telling stories with his buddies.
He was a lucky man to farm with his son, and live such a long life to see his family grow and succeed.
Survivors include his wife, Beverly, Brandon; sons: Ron (Mona) Rogen of Canyon, AZ; Bob (Diana) Rogen of Jasper, MN; and Dick (Shally) Rogen of Brandon, SD; four grandsons, Ryan (Rachel) of West Fargo, ND, Tony (Stacy) of West Fargo, ND, Andrew of Milwaukee, WI, and Alex of Brandon, SD; great-grandchildren; Emma, Blake, Luke, Jayden, Colton, Easton & Ellie; six step grandchildren, and 10 step great grandchildren; two sisters, Eloise Hallahan, Woodland Hills, CA. and Doris Johnson, Forest City, IA.
He was preceded by his brother, Ordell.
Private family funeral services will be held at 10:30, Saturday June 13 at the First Lutheran Church in Sherman. There will be no public visitation held. The public is invited to graveside services with military honors at approximately 11:15 AM, at Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Garretson.
You are requested to wear a mask to the graveside service.
