Lyle Monsees, age 94, passed away at home on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
Funeral services will be 11 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 16, at GracePoint Wesleyan Church in Brookings with burial and military rites at the South Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Sioux Falls at 2 p.m. Visitation will be one hour prior to the funeral. Eidsness Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
Lyle Richard Monsees was born Dec. 14, 1930, on the same farm that his mother was born in 1897. He passed away Jan. 7, 2025, in his home. Lyle was the fourth child born to William and Lucile Monsees in the hard times of the 1930’s.
Lyle graduated from the old Washington High School in 1948 and then went on to farm with his father. When the Korean War started, Lyle enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in February, 1952 and was honorably discharged in February, 1956. Upon discharge, Lyle continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve.
Lyle graduated with high honors from the School of Mines in May, 1959, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. Lyle went on to earn his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 1963. He then became a professor at California Polytech University.
In 1966, Lyle moved to Brookings and taught electrical engineering at SDSU for four years. Lyle decided that he needed to go back to his roots and bought a farm outside of Brookings in 1968. In 1971, he became employed with the Veterans Administration Hospital in Minneapolis, MN, where he was a chief of computer services and biomedical engineering. In 1981 he left this position to farm full time and spend more time with his family.
Lyle’s dad gave him his first Collie in March, 1945. Lyle fell in love with the breed and raised and showed registered Collie dogs.
His other hobbies included water skiing, diving, and hunting; highlighted by successfully hunting elk in South Dakota four times in eight years. Above all those, however, he found true enjoyment in collecting and showing Oliver Tractors. Lyle also had a great love for God and his family.
Lyle was preceded in death by his parents Lucile and William Monsees, brother Ernest Monsees, sister Marcene Smith, and former wife Betty Larson. He temporarily bids farewell to his four children; Johnny (Denise) Monsees of Harrisburg, SD; Lynette (Steve) Bacon of Mankato, MN; Ernie (Meghan) Valenzuela of Goodhue, MN; and Lauralee (William) Barnard of Paige, TX. He also leaves behind 10 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, his sister Irene Schryver, as well as many cousins and friends.