Funeral Services for Bill will be on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at the Bowman Lutheran Church.  Pastor Renee Johnson will officiate with burial to be held at a later date in the Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, S.D.  There will be a Family and Friends Service on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 at the Krebsbach and Kulseth Funeral Home Chapel beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Bill Sarsland was born June 1, 1947 to William and Georgene (Thompson) Sarsland.  Bill was the 5 th of seven children , Ronnie, Rene', Donna Rae, Larry, Sandy, and Randy, and attended school through the 8 th grade at Lanesboro & Newell schools.  He grew up on the family farm six miles east of Ludlow, SD and worked for area ranchers.

In 1965, Bill joined the United States Army and was stationed in Greece where he was granted top secret clearance.  He enjoyed sharing his army stories with everyone but especially his grandkids.  Grandpa taught the boys many words in Greek, some not so nice 😉 Bill was discharged in 1967. He was very , very proud of the time he served and continued to honor that by being a member of the Scranton & Beach Legion for 54 continuous years serving as both Commander and Sgt At Arms. In 2018, Bill was able to go on the Veteran's Honor Flight with Brenda to Washington D.C. Dad considered it quite a privilege.

After returning home from the service, Bill worked for Scranton Grain where it sounds like they had quite the time!  He was then united in marriage to his special love, Barbara Smith, of Ludlow, SD on September 7, 1968.  Brenda and Brian joined them , and they moved to Culbertson in 1972.  Bill worked for the Culbertson Elevator and then moved the family to the Three Butte Ranch south of Culbertson.  He really enjoyed riding the rugged terrain there and the abundance of snakes with bull & rattlesnakes being his favorite.  If you knew Bill, you knew he had a love for snakes!  He even shot quite a few with ether & put them in pails in Barb's freezer to see if they would thaw out later.  This really made Barb mad, and she made him take them out!  Unfortunately, he shot them with too much ether, and they all died. Bill also worked for the Montana State Highway Department and took great pride in plowing the roads in the winter.  Many close friends were made while they were from Culbertson.

Bill and Barb moved back to Ludlow, SD after Brian graduated.  There he worked for family and friends on their ranches taking great pride in a straight , tight fence.  He also worked for Scranton Equity filling anhydrous tanks.

Bill's pride and joy were his five grandsons – Cayden, Kyle, & Carter Sarsland and Riley & Bailey Frieze.  He loved those boys with all his heart and loved to brag about them every chance he got. Bill and Barb moved to Beach in 2002 to be closer to those grandkids.  He was a wonderful caretaker to his wife, Barb, who was later handicapped with MS and Diabetes. They dearly loved family gatherings.  Later, Bill was especially fond of attending the Thompson reunions.

Bill's last years were tough ones.  He fought bladder cancer and dementia and was in and out of the hospital many times.  He went to live with Brenda and Dale on October 23, 2020 on hospice care.  He would light up when his grandsons came to visit, and they shared many laughs and jokes.

Bill is survived by Brenda and Dale, Riley and Bailey, and Brian and Susan, Cayden, Kyle, and Carter, sister Sandy (Mike) Ness and brother Randy (Kay) Sarsland, Brother-In-Laws Fred Burk and Jerry Hendrickson, Sister-In-Laws Linda Sarsland, Marian Giannonatti, June Smith, and Dixie Smith and numerous nieces and nephews and special "daughter" Melinda " Scheutze Bill" Portra.  He was preceded in death by his wife, parents, 2 sisters, 2 brothers and 2 grandsons.