John P. Ringsaker, Jr.

John P. Ringsaker, Jr., 80, Rosholt, SD, entered into eternal rest surrounded by family on Friday, November 17, 2017, at his home in Rosholt.

Funeral services will be Wednesday, November 22, at 11:00 a.m. at Bethania Lutheran Church in Rosholt with Chaplain John Miles officiating.  Music will be provided by organist Ruby Larsen and vocalists Paul and Diane Bartnick.

Burial will be at a later date in the Bethania Cemetery, Rosholt. Military honors will be provided by the Read Veflin American Legion Post 180 of New Effington. Active urn bearers will be John's grandchildren, Trevor Kadoun, Heather Holland, Britney Mikesh, Josh Fellbaum, Cody Fellbaum, Loren Steffens, Gaven Steffens and April Ceroll. Honorary urn bearers will be all of John's friends.

Visitation will be Wednesday one hour prior to the service at the church.

John Peter Ringsaker, Jr., was born July 9, 1937, in Veblen, SD, to John and Myrtle (Warner) Ringsaker. He was baptized and confirmed at the Claire City, SD, Presbyterian Church. He attended elementary school in Claire City and graduated from Sisseton High School in 1955. After finishing school, John worked in Minneapolis at Sears & Roebuck until he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was stationed in Germany as a medic from 1956 to 1959.

On July 9, 1959, John married Sharon Schultz and they were blessed with five daughters. Always a jokester, he would often call the girls by their number, not their name (#1,#2,#3,#4,#5)! The family lived in different areas of the tri-state region and came back home to New Effington in 1975.

John was employed by Bolte's Sunrise Sanitary Service, Rosholt Equipment, Exhaust Pros, Alex Exhaust, Budget Auto and Rollie's. He also worked for many area farmers.
He was united in marriage to Janice Hanson on August 11, 1984. They resided in the Alexandria, MN area until 2006, when they moved to Rosholt to retire. Upon retirement, John liked to stay busy and would often be found at the Steffens farm helping out wherever he could.

John loved going to flea markets and antique collecting. He was well known for "JR's Cookie Jars," in which he collected over 2000 jars. He took great joy working in his garage, building and creating many projects for family and friends. John was proud of his sobriety of 35 years and will be remembered for his happy-go-lucky attitude.

John is survived by his wife of 33 years, Janice of Rosholt; five daughters, Roxane Ringsaker of Alexandria, MN, Terri (Paul) Kadoun of Lidgerwood, ND, Nadine (James) May of Mountain City, TN, Vicky (Warren) Fellbaum of New Effington, and Jona (Jeffrey) Steffens of New Effington; seven step children, Harry Wurzburger, Jr., of Kimball, MN, Lori (Joe) Formaneck of Wahpeton, ND, Barbara Breden of New Effington, Debra (Pat) Cauchy of Hastings, MN, Cheryl (Jim) Kaufenberg of Golden Valley, MN, Karen (Paul) Schwing of Brownton, MN, and Mark Wurzburger of Annandale, MN; a brother, Larry Ringsaker of Rosholt; three sisters, Pam (Richard) Bohn of Lake Traverse, SD, Georgine Davidson of Uvalde, TX, and Dawn Ringsaker of Kansas City, MO; 25 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister-in-law, LaVonne Ringsaker; a brother-in-law, Jim Davidson; and a stepson-in-law, Steven Breden.