Floyd Bohn

Floyd Bohn, age 88, of Milbank, SD, passed away on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at Milbank Area Hospital – Avera Health.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. at Central United Methodist Church in Milbank, SD. Visitation will be held on Monday, June 13, 2022, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Mundwiler Funeral Home in Milbank and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Tuesday. Rev. Thom Bowsher will officiate the service and interment will be at Milbank City Cemetery.

The service will be livestreamed and recorded and will be viewable at the bottom of this page.

Floyd Marwood Bohn was born on June 8, 1933, at 913 South 5th Street in Milbank, SD. He was the second son of Paul and Berniece (Hartwig) Bohn. He spent his childhood years on the family farm one mile north of Twin Brooks and attended the Twin Brooks School #1 through eighth grade. Floyd graduated from Milbank High School in 1951. After graduation, he farmed with his father and his brother, Duane, until he began work at the Milbank Creamery as a bookkeeper until October of 1953.

On October 8, 1953, Floyd was drafted into the United States Army. After eight weeks of Basic Training and eight weeks of Army Clerical School, he was sent to Rhein-Main Military Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany. There he spent 18 months duty in the Personnel Department, Headquarters Company, Seventh Engineer Battalion which was an Army unit attached to the Air Force (SCARWAF: Special Category Army with Air Force).

In 1955, after his military service, he returned to work at the Milbank Creamery until July of 1959 when he became employed by Dakota Granite Company. During his 36-year career at Dakota Granite, he held various office and administrative positions. Early in that employment, he had a very active part in what he called “the computerization of the company”. Floyd retired at the end of 1995. During his retirement, he spent 18 or more winters as a snowbird in the Phoenix, AZ, area and summers in Milbank. Before and after retirement, he enjoyed gardening, travelling in the United States and a trip to Europe in 1990.

Church and faith were a very important part of Floyd’s life. He was a member of the Evangelical Church in Twin Brooks which later became the E.U.B. Church. During his military service, Floyd’s membership was transferred to what is now Central United Methodist Church in Milbank. Over the years as a member of Central United Methodist, he was a Sunday School teacher, Sunday School Superintendent, served on various committees, sang in the choir and a men’s quartet, and for more than 25 years, he was Financial Secretary and Church Treasurer. During his time as treasurer, Floyd organized the computerization of the financial and other records of the church. He also served as delegate to the Dakotas United Methodist Annual Conference for several years. Floyd also enjoyed going to various Promise Keepers conferences including, a special gathering of hundreds of thousands of men in Washington, D. C. He was also a member of Kiwanis for several years. Starting in 1975 and continuing until 1984, Floyd enjoyed singing in The Milbank Choralaires, an a cappella choir, made up of people from the Milbank area.

In 1982, Floyd was part of a five-member church group that travelled to West Africa to begin building an eye clinic in Kissy, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. In 1983 and 1987, he led additional work teams to Africa to complete the clinic building, set up equipment, and get it up and running. In 1982, Floyd and other members of the original five-member team formed a non-profit corporation: Central Global Vision Fund, which collected funds to assist in carrying on the medical mission at the “Lowell and Ruth Gess Eye Hospital” in Sierra Leone and other eye care centers in Africa.

Other than church and mission activities, Floyd’s hobbies included gardening, morning breakfast at the Millstone, and frequent trips to “the farm” and elsewhere in the area to see what was going on in the community. A few years prior to his retirement, he became interested in family history and spent many hours gathering his family tree information which now includes many generations back to both his paternal and maternal great-great-grandparents born in Germany.

Floyd is survived by his nephews: Harlan (Mary) Bohn of Twin Brooks, SD; and Donald (Patricia) Bohn of Mankato, MN; nieces: Peggy (Leonard) Jacobs of Byhalia, MS; and Leah (Gene) Pinkert of Big Stone City, SD; sister-in-law, Marjorie Bohn; six great-nephews; two great-nieces; along with many great-great-nieces and nephews.

Preceding him in death are his parents; and brother, Duane Bohn.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Kissy Eye Hospital in care of Central United Methodist Church, Milbank, SD.