Harvey Johnston, age 85, of Mitchell died Wednesday Dec. 21, 2005 at Avera Queen of Peace Hospital. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, Dec. 27 at the First United Methodist Church in Mitchell,SD. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 PM Monday at the First United Methodist Church with a prayer service beginning at 7:00 PM Monday. Burial will be in the Graceland Cemetery with full military rites. Arrangements are under the direction of the Will Funeral Chapel. Harvey was born August 31, 1920 at Bradley, SD to Ernest and Irma (Grover) Johnston. He graduated from Bradley High School in 1938 and Mitchell Business College in 1940. Harvey worked at Automotive Supply in Mitchell until July of 1942, when he entered the US Army Air Corp and was stationed at Hickam Air Base in Hawaii as a cryptographer at the rank of tech sergeant . He married Igena Schamber March 21, 1942, at Mitchell. After his honorary discharge on November 5, 1945, he continued to work at Automotive Supply until August of 1954. In 1954 he then started Harves Sport Shop which would become a landmark business in Mitchell and the surrounding areas. Its always been a place for kids and coaches to hang out. In November of 2004, Harves Sport Shop celebrated its 50th anniversary in business. Harve is best known for his officiating, he began officiating basketball and umpiring baseball in 1946. Harve eventually added football and track and field to his officiating duties. Its a career that extended for more than 50 years and six different decades. He officiated football games until he was 76 and started track and cross country events until he was 81. Harve has never missed a Corn Palace Relays where he worked as clerk of the start and starter. The last two years, he attended the Corn Palace Relays as a fan. His varsity officiating career ended in the mid 1990s, but he still was an official for MHS Junior Varsity games up until the late 1990s. Harve had a passion for officiating and a love of kids and wanted to be involved as long as he could. Harve was inducted as a member of the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 1991, the South Dakota Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1997 and the South Dakota Umpires Association Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1988, he was named boys basketball official of the year by the National Federation of Interscholastic Coaches Association. The dressing room for referees at the Corn Palace is named in his honor. Harve has also received the NFHSAA Distinguished Service Award in 1988, the SDHSAA Distinguished Service Award in 1983, the Doug Koester Memorial Award in 1992, the South Dakota Football Coaches Friend of Football Award in 1994, SDHSAA Golden Whistle Award in 2000 and the SD Coaches Association Distinguished Service Award in 1993. Most recently, Harve was honored as the 2005 Howard Wood Relays Honorary Referee and received the 2005 Community Service Award for the Mitchell Chamber of Commerce. In 1996, Harve was one of 11,000 people selected in the United States to carry the Olympic torch on its journey from California to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Harvey was a strong leader in the Mitchell community. He was a member of the American Legion where he served as the Americanism Officer for the Mitchell Post 18 American Legion and selected boys staters from Mitchell for 43 years and Athletic Officer for Post 18 American Legion for 23 years. Harve was also a member of the First United Methodist Church where he taught Sunday school for 33 years, the Elks, the Moose Lodge, and the VFW. He is survived by his wife, Igena; his children: Sherry Sparrow and husband, Bob Grussendorf, Bloomington, MN; Lynn Rudell and husband, Bob, Edina, MN and Jim Johnston, Mitchell; two grandchildren, Sarah Rudell, and husband, Todd Beach, Minneapolis, MN; Amber Rudell, San Francisco, CA; and a brother, Ralph Johnston, Clark, SD and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister-in-law, Shirley Johnston.