Cecil Cassens, 95, Mitchell, died Saturday, June 8, 2013, in Firesteel Healthcare Center, Mitchell.
Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday morning at Bittner Funeral Chapel, Mitchell. Burial will be in Servicemen’s Memorial Cemetery, Mitchell. Visitation will be one hour prior to the services in Bittner Funeral Chapel.
Cecil Sylvan Cassens was born Feb. 23, 1918 in southeastern South Dakota. He lived with his parents, Leonard and Ada Cassens, at Emery until the family moved to Forestburg when he was 18 years old.
He worked on the family farm and served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1946. On July 15, 1946, he married Ethel Krantz at Luverne, Minn. They lived on the Cassens’ farm east of Forestburg for more than 50 years before moving into Mitchell.
Cecil enjoyed farming and was a good steward of the land he loved. He served on the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee in Sanborn County for 20 years (1962-1982). He also served on the Forestburg School Board and the Union Township Board of Sanborn County for many years. He was a lifetime member of the American Legion Jackson-Hall Post 47 at Artesian. He enjoyed traveling with his wife and visiting relatives in Sweden, Norway and Wales, as well as making winter visits to Texas and Arizona.
He is survived by a daughter, Helen (Ben) Zoss of Forestburg; a son, Kenneth Cassens of Edgemont; two sisters, Sharon Griffith and Nancy (George) Scheer; a brother, Jim Goetze; five grandchildren six great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ethel; and infant daughter, Lila Ann; a son,  Carlton; two  brothers, Dean Goetz and Gordon Goetze; and a sister, Yvonne Griffith