Loyd A. Riedesel, age 94, died Tuesday, November 3, 2009, after a brief illness, at his farm home near Brookings. Memorial services will be 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, November 10, 2009, at First Presbyterian Church in Brookings with Rev. Jason Cunningham officiating. Visitations will be from 5-7 P.M. Monday at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. In lieu of flowers, please direct memorials to First Presbyterian Church or Brookings Hospice.

Loyd Alan Riedesel was born November 20, 1914, at Glidden, Iowa, to Ralph and Edyth (Mace) Riedesel. He graduated from Carroll High School and attended Iowa State University. He had a rich and full life centered around his love for the land and his family which were inseparable. He started his farming life in Glidden. He married Bertha Conner in 1939, and they had three children. After her death in 1947 Loyd married Beverly Swering in 1951, and they had two children. Loyd bought a farm north of Brookings in 1956 and actively farmed until age 83. Some of his winters were spent as a mechanic at the Ford Garage.

Loyd was active in his church, served on the Brookings School Board, and was a member of the Brookings Rotary Club. His interests included collecting model tractors, photography, camping, and trains. He also enjoyed writing his boyhood memories and annual Christmas letters.

Survivors include his wife, Beverly; children: Sydna (Herb) Cheever of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Lynn (Diane) Riedesel, Reyna (Jim) Martin, Alan (Donna) Riedesel, and Caryl (Jack) Larson, all of Brookings; 14 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Barbara (Swering) Diesen, of Brookings; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife Bertha and two sisters, Avis and Elizabeth.