LEE BRIDGE

Lee Bridge (1941-2024), 83, passed away on Friday, October 4, 2024 peacefully in his sleep at his home in Wagner, SD. Funeral services will be held 10:30 AM, Thursday, October 10, 2024 at the United Methodist Church in Wagner with a luncheon to follow. A small burial for family and friends will be held that afternoon at the Butterfly Bridge Cemetery at the family farm near rural Dante. The Visitation will be at the church on Wednesday, October 9 from 5-7 PM, with a sharing of memories at 6:30 PM. Peters Funeral Home in Wagner is in charge of arrangements.

Lee Don Carrol Bridge was born on February 7, 1941 to parents James and Phyllis (Mahnke) Bridge in their home in Wagner, SD. Lee was the youngest of eleven children. When he was born, the family lived in a big two-story house with an attic and basement with approximately nine children and five adults. Prior to moving into town, the family had farmed near Lake Andes but left after the drought of the “dirty thirties.”

During his young childhood, Lee recalls climbing a cedar tree in the backyard as his mother wrote letters in the shade and getting pecked while crawling out of the geese pen. In 1945, the family was notified that Lee’s brother, Wayne Aaron Bridge, Seaman second class with the US Navy, was killed in action aboard the USS Indianapolis during WWII. Later that year, Lee, age four, traveled via train with his mother to California, to visit his sisters Ruby and Marjorie for six months to help his mother grieve. Lee would later be a founding member of the Veterans Memorial located at the City Park in Wagner, SD. Lee lost another brother at a young age, Alvin Dean, who was electrocuted while repairing a farm light in 1957.

Other childhood memories included playing in the tree belt, crafting toy trucks out of wood and scrap lumber, walking the street during Dante dances to collect glass bottles for up to half a cent each, fishing and then bringing them back at midnight to clean, swimming in Wagner Lake and Choteau Creek, and building a dirt push go cart race track in town that became quite popular. He also remembers getting in trouble for using eggs for pitching practice at his sister’s farm and sneaking in the gym alone on weekends to play basketball for hours before getting to use the hot water for a shower. Lee’s first jobs were setting pins at the bowling alley and working for a carpenter. During his high school summers, he also ran equipment for farmers and serviced vehicles at the Standard Oil Gas Station. He was able to buy a 1947 Ford Coupe for $80, and one Sunday afternoon, he met a couple girls who were out walking and needed a ride home–Marlys Piroutek and her friend, Gail Duncanson.

On December 23, 1960, Lee and Marlys married. They welcomed three children, James Dean in 1961, Marilee Ann in 1963, Donald Wayne in 1968, and lost an infant daughter at birth, Joan Lynn in 1971. Lee continued to work for Standard Oil delivering petroleum, worked as a carpenter, plumber, mechanic, and substitute rural mail carrier before becoming a full-time mail carrier in 1983. Lee retired in 2005 after more than 40 years with the US Postal Service. In 2004, Lee lost the love of his life as Marlys passed away after a long battle with cancer. Lee found comfort and shared experiences with long-time friend and neighbor Gail (Duncanson) Johannsen, who also lost her husband.

Lee and Gail married on September 2, 2006. Lee was welcomed by Gail’s three children, Julie, Todd and Tim, and their families. The couple became “Grandpa Lee” and “Grandma Gail” to the many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They began to travel together, host family, attend the children’s many sports and extracurricular activities, and spend their winters in Yuma, Arizona.

Throughout his life, Lee shared his childhood love of cars, racing, demolition derbies, hunting, and fishing with his children and grandchildren. Lee loved to spend time at the farm near Dante practicing his “jack-of-all-trades' mechanic, plumber, and contractor skills and also enjoyed time at his son Jim’s cabin on Lake Hanson. Lee served as a Boy Scout leader, member of the city council, fire department, Tomahawk Speedway, Wagner Little League Baseball, Labor Day committee, Lee and Marlys were Labor Day Parade Marshalls in 2005, he also set out flags at the City Park, and assisted with the city pool remodel. In a final letter to his family, Lee wrote “Enjoy your family and love one another always. Give your time to God as much as He wants you to and more than you think you can.”

Lee is remembered by his wife, Gail Johannsen-Bridge; children: Jim (Julie) Bridge, Alexandria, SD, Marilee (Don) Krcil, Dante, SD, Doni (Susan) Bridge of Alexandria, SD; 9 grandchildren: Nicole (Sam) Otto, Jennifer (Kyle Keegan) Bridge, Jillian (Nick) Nedved-Harms, Jamin (Meggie) Bridge, Courtney (Jarod) Deinert, Andrew (Andrea) Krcil, Jordan (Hailey) Marquardt, Hannah (Tanner) Hines, and Claire Bridge; 22 great-grandchildren: Chloe and Callie Otto, Taziah Hawkins, Seeton, Sadie and Sophie Nedved, Blake, Cora, Clay and Berkley Bridge, Oliver, Elliot, Eve Marlys and Eden Deinert, Josiah, Naomi, Uriah and Augustus Krcil, Lincoln and Nora Marquardt, Olivia and Cameron Hines; sister- in-law Beth Mayer and children Malissa (Robby) Diaz and Michael (Amber) Mayer; step-children Julie LeVan, Tea, SD, Todd (Barb) Johannsen, Wagner, SD, Tim (Tammy) Johannsen, Wagner, SD; and numerous step- grandchildren, step-great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Lee was preceded in death by his parents James and Phyllis Bridge; wife, Marlys; infant daughter Joan; siblings Wayne, Alvin Dean, Louise, Ruby, Berniece, Joe, Marjorie, Ray, Clifford “Tip”, Darrold; brother-in-law Arlen Piroutek; sister-in-law Jean Piroutek; and step-sonin- law Eric LeVan.