Chris Dinkel, age 82, of Brookings, died Tuesday, December 14, 2004, at the Brookings Hospital in Brookings, South Dakota. Memorial services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Friday, December 17, at the First United Methodist Church in Brookings, preceded by interment in Greenwood Cemetery at Brookings. Visitations will be from 6-8 P.M. Thursday at Eidsness Funeral Home. The family requests that in lieu of flowers memorials be directed to the Chris and Claudia Dinkel Scholarship at the SDSU Foundation, or to First United Methodist Church. Christian A. Dinkel was born June 18, 1922, at Springfield, South Dakota, to Christian A.W. and Eva (Moser) Dinkel. He attended grade and high school at Springfield, graduating in 1940. He attended Eagle Grove Junior College for one semester prior to moving to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad until enlisting in the Army Air Corps in August 1942. He graduated from navigation training in December 1943 and was commissioned a second lieutenant. Following further training, his crew was shipped overseas in March 1944. His plane was shot down over the coast of France on his fifth mission, and he was held captive by the Germans until April 1945. He was awarded the Air Medal and P.O.W. Medal, and was discharged from the service in November 1945. He married Claudia Snethen in March 1946. Chris attended Iowa State University, graduating with a B.S. degree in 1948; South Dakota State University, graduating with a M.S. degree in 1949; and Iowa State University from 1949 until 1951. He taught animal science and animal breeding courses at Iowa State while studying for his doctorate degree. In 1951 he joined the SDSU Animal Science faculty, where he continued work on his Ph.D. thesis which was completed in 1953. He was on the faculty at SDSU for 34 years, conducting beef cattle breeding research and teaching graduate courses in animal breeding, population genetics, and experimental design and procedures. He served as major adviser for 26 graduate students, including six Ph.D. candidates. Chris was a member of First United Methodist Church, Sigma XI, Phi Kappa Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta, American Society of Animal Science, American Genetic Association, South Dakota Stockgrowers, SPEBSQA, and Golden K Kiwanis Club. He retired in 1985 as Professor Emeritus. In 1986 he was named Fellow in the American Society of Animal Science, and in 1988 he received the Pioneer Award from the National Beef Improvement Federation. He published over 60 journal articles and many more state research and popular press articles. He traveled widely, presenting results of his research to both scientific and producer type audiences. He particularly enjoyed the contacts with producers and breeders that this activity provided. Survivors include his wife, Claudia Dinkel, of Brookings; two daughters: Beverly (Bradley) King of Sioux City, Iowa, and Sharon (Karl) Uhlig of Bonner, Montana; two grandchildren: Lisa King of Des Moines, Iowa, and Nathan King of Aspen, Colorado; and a sister, Marjorie (Darrel) Daley, of Joplin, Missouri. He was preceded in death by his parents, infant brother, and infant granddaughter.