Robert William Tietgen was born on April 30, 1930, to Laverna (Glick) & William Tietgen.  He was born at home on their farm 11 miles south of Burke.  He passed away on November 27, 2022, at the Rosebud Country Care Center at the age of 92.

He attended grade school mostly at Glasser Country School, followed by 2 years at Herrick High School and then graduated from Burke High School in 1948.

Robert enlisted in the Navy on June 22, 1948 and attended boot camp and Cooks & Baker School in San Diego, California.  He was stationed on the USS Virgo for 5 weeks in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  He was then stationed in Guam from February of 1949 until May of 1951.  While in Guam he was a meat cutter at the Air Station and for a while at the Supply Depot.  During the first 35 months that Robert was enlisted, he only had 12 days of leave. Once he returned to San Francisco he reenlisted in the Navy but transferred to the Submarine Division.  He attended submarine school in New London, Connecticut and was assigned to serve on the USS Tigrone, a radar picket submarine in September of 1951.

Robert married Luella Bentz on March 30, 1952, while on leave.  The newlyweds moved right away to Norfolk, Virginia and only 14 days after they arrived, Robert was sent out to sea with no warning, leaving Luella to wait.  The couple then moved to Philadelphia in July of 1952, but in October, his wife Luella decided to move back home to Burke.  After being assigned to the USS Runner in January 1953 he made one last transfer to the USS Orion in March of 1953 before leaving the Navy in June of 1953 to return to his wife in Burke.  He left the Navy with the rank of Petty Officer 1 ^st Class.

Upon returning to Burke, Robert and Luella started farming south of town and raising their 5 children, Peter, Richard, Patricia, Michael & Tami.  Robert & Luella started the State Liners 4-H Club and served as leaders for 30 years.  In 1962 Robert accepted the position of Post Chaplain of the Herrick Legion and held that position for 54 years.  He took his position seriously and took pride in honoring the veterans who had passed.

Robert and Luella moved to Burke in 1989.  He continued to farm part time and he also worked part time at Prewitts Grocery and later Pat's Foodtown in the meat department.  Robert loved to visit and to tell a good story.  You could never really tell if it was all true or not, but he really took you along for the ride.  He loved to plant flowers, grow garden vegetables, bake bread, and spend time with his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Robert was a member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and was honored as the oldest member of the Ponca Tribe last spring.

Robert will be greatly missed by his children Peter Tietgen of Herrick, SD, Richard (Linda) Tietgen of Burke, SD, Patricia Mourer of Lennox, SD, Tami (Duane) Johnson of Arlington, SD, daughter-in-law Rochelle Tietgen of Burke, SD; 10 grandchildren: Melissa (Marc) Rolf, Stacy (Kent) Wells, Jennifer (Todd) Cole, Jacob (Jacinta) Tietgen, Michael (Danielle) Mourer, Sarah (Rick) Sutton, Sawyer Tietgen, Morgan Tietgen, Jesse (Jennifer) Johnson and Jeff Johnson; 15 great-grandchildren: Kaleen (Noah) Sandman, Borden & Corbin Rolf, Mykala (Justice) Voita & Kaleb Wells, Raymond & Cooper Cole, Jason, Joshua & Evie Tietgen, Garrett & Alice Mourer, Ella, Alison & Callen Johnson; 2 great-great-grandchildren: Ember & Asher Voita; in-laws Gary "Butch" (Barbara) Bentz and Joyce (William) Stanley; and several nephews & nieces.

Robert was preceded in death by his parents, his loving wife, Luella, his son Michael, his great-granddaughter Matti Cole, Jeff Carty (special friend of Patricia), sister and brother-in-law Marilyn & Bernard Baxa and many in-laws, nieces & nephew.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday , December 1, 2022 at 10:00 AM at Clausen Funeral Home in Burke, SD.  Burial will be in the Herrick Cemetery, Herrick, SD.  There will be a visitation Wednesday from 5 PM to 7 PM at the funeral home in Burke.