Obituary of Alfred E. Souhrada

SOUHRADA ALFRED Alfred E. Souhrada was born January 27, 1929 to Edward and Mary Kortan Souhrada on the family farm southwest of Tabor. He was baptized at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church. Alfred attended Tabor Public School and graduated from Tabor High School in 1947 where he played basketball. Alfred assisted his parents on the farm until enlisting on January 8, 1951 in the U. S. Air Force where he received training for aircraft maintenance of B-29 planes and later C-121 planes. He was on flying status for two years. While home on leave, Alfred married Gladys Sutera on October 28, 1954 at Tyndall Presbyterian Church. They met through their involvement in 4-H activities. After his leave, they moved to live in Rio Linda, CA near Sacramento and he was discharged from the service on January 7, 1955 as Staff Sergeant at McClellan Air Force Base. The young couple returned to the Tabor area and began farming and living on the Joe Sedlacek farm southwest of town. While living on the rented farm, daughter, Renae Marie was born. Alfred became a member of the Tabor American Legion Post #183 in 1955 and also became a member of Tyndall Presbyterian Church serving as an elder for several terms. He was a member of good standing for 36-37 years in the Bon Homme Lodge 101 in Tyndall until 2013 when it became part of Yankton. Alfred and Gladys enjoyed fruits of their combined efforts as parents, farmers and teacher. When the rental farm came up for sale in 1965, Alfred began working for Bon Homme Yankton Electric and bought a house in Tabor. He was an active member on the fire department and also served on the Tabor Town Board while they lived there. After a decade climbing the tall poles as a lineman became more and more difficult, it led them to purchase Norby’s Service. Alfred became a Phillips Petroleum jobber as Al’s Service till his semi-retirement in 1984. He then enjoyed driving the school bus for the Bon Homme School District and attending their many school activities for many years. Alfred enjoyed working in his shop, repairing and refinishing antiques purchased at auction sales. In 1996 they moved to Yankton to be closer to the grandchildren and to be of help with Holly’s child care and later with Michael’s. Alfred is survived by his wife, Gladys of Yankton, SD; daughter, Renae and son-in-law, Daniel Bouza of Yankton, SD; sister, Doreen Mikolash of Tabor, SD; granddaughter, Holly Bouza of Vermillion, SD; grandson, Michael Bouza of Yankton, SD; great-grandson, Parker Bouza of Vermillion, SD; sister-in-law, Mildred Valach of Miles City, MT and many nieces and nephews. Alfred was preceded in death by his parents, Edward and Mary Souhrada; mother and father in-law, Joseph and Marie Sutera; brothers-in-law, Allen Sutera, Bernard Mikolash and John Valach and sisters-in-law, Evelyn Sutera and Arlene Sutera.