Delvin Curtis Ellis, 82, of Redfield, SD, passed away Thursday, October 4, 2018 at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD.  His funeral service will be Friday October 12th, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at Hyke Funeral Home in Redfield. Reverend Brian Wasmoen will officiate.  Burial, with military honors, will follow at Greenlawn Cemetery in Redfield.

Visitation will be Thursday, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., at Hyke Funeral Home with family present from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Arrangements have been entrusted to Hyke Funeral Home (www.hykefuneralhome.com).

Delvin Curtis Ellis was born in Redfield on December 21, 1935 to Virgil and Frances (Schutte) Ellis.  He graduated from Redfield High School in 1953.  He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after high school.  He was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base and worked as a bomber mechanic, primarily working on the Boeing B-52.  He was honorably discharged in 1958.

After leaving the Air Force, Delvin worked jobs that allowed him to spend his summers in South Dakota and winters in Florida.  In 1960, he began his lifelong career in sales by being an account manager for Edward Don and Company.  It was while doing sales calls at the Plainsman Hotel in Williston, ND, where he met his wife, Marlys Overbo.  They were married on January 29, 1966.  They moved to Redfield and had two children, Craig and Debra.

During his career, Delvin was a salesman for a wide variety of products and services.  He sold such things as restaurant supplies, a promotional program of Farm Journal Magazine, aluminum recycling furnaces, and convertible trailer hitches, just to name a few.  He also assisted his wife in the management and maintenance of the Lakeview Apartments.  They managed the Lakeview Apartments from 1974 through 2015.

Delvin was very patriotic, loved his country and was a strong conservative.  He spent several years with the South Dakota National Guard in the 1970's, and later was an active member of the American Legion Color Guard.

Delvin is survived by his children:  Craig (Heather Robertson) Ellis of Forestville, CA and Debra Harrison of Omaha, NE.  He is also survived by two grandchildren:  Reagan Harrison and Natalie Harrison; step-granddaughter Rachel Robertson and his brothers: Verlyn (Mavis) Ellis of Redfield, and Elton (Betty) Ellis of Rochester, MN.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Marlys in 2015, and his brothers: Duane Ellis and Ronald Ellis, and his sister Dorothy Schutte.