Vern Mathis Jr. age 70, formally of Mitchell, died Sunday, January 27, 2019 at Prairie Lakes Hospital in Watertown.  Funeral services will be 1pm Friday at the Will Funeral Chapel in Mitchell with burial to follow at the Mt. Vernon Cemetery.  Visitation will be held prior to the service from 11am-1pm on Friday at the Will Funeral Chapel.

Vern was born on November 30, 1948 to Vern Mathis, Sr and Pearl (Cornwell) Mathis in Mitchell, South Dakota.  He attended school in Mt. Vernon and joined the Army National Guard.  Vern farmed with his brother and father while he remained active in the guards.

On June 29, 1973 he married Marjean Reimnitz at rural Dimock.  They lived on a farm south of Letcher and together had 4 children.  After their divorce, Vern had another son.  He rejoined the military in 1985 and served a total of 29 years.  He served a minimum of 2 tours overseas and was honorably discharged.  Vern also loved to hunt and fish and after farming, he went to Mitchell Technical Institute to take up building trade.  He loved working for himself and continued in that career until he fell ill in late 2009.  He moved to the Golden Living Center in Lake Norden, South Dakota in 2013 where he lived until his death.

Grateful for sharing his life were his children Angela (Jeremy) Peters of Madison, SD, Shawn (Jessica) Mathis of Lemmon, SD, Marie (Tom) Siemonsma of Crooks, SD, April (Ryan) Olson of Stickney, SD and Brandon (Kayonnie) Kitto of Mt. Vernon, SD; 1 brother John Mathis of Mitchell, SD, one sister Norma (Harvey) Fincher of Sioux Falls, SD; 12 grandchildren.

Preceded in death by his parents, a sister in infancy, 2 nephews and sister-in-law.