24 April 2020
Curtis (Curt) Orville Goehring passed on Friday 24 April 2020, at Maryhouse in Pierre, South Dakota.
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak there will be no public service. The family wishes to invite you to join them in celebrating Curt’s life at 2:00pm on Wednesday 29 April 2020 through a live stream video link that will be posted the day of the service. Burial will follow the service at Calvary Cemetery in Pierre, SD.
You can also show support by taking part in our “Together In Spirit” option. Please email your name and a message of support to togetherinspirit@yahoo.com and we will place it on a heart that will be attached to a chair at the service. The family will be able to read your heartfelt message and know that you are together with them in spirit.
Curt was born on 18 November 1939 to Ernest G. and Gladys (Smith) Goehring in Hazelton, North Dakota. He was the youngest of three children. The family moved to Flandreau when Curt was a young child and he attended Flandreau Public School. The family moved to Slayton, Minnesota, and Curt graduated from Slayton High School in 1957. In high school, he participated in baseball, football, track and basketball. He was also named as a Minnesota Boys State representative. After high school, Curt enlisted in the US Army and served at various posts including South Korea, Sandia, New Mexico, and New York’s Governor’s Island. Upon his honorable discharge, he continued to serve in the Army Reserve until 1963.
After leaving the Army, Curt settled in Pierre and worked for the City of Pierre Electric Department. It was at City Hall where he met his wife Mary Lou Walsh and on 1 June 1974 they were married in Pierre. Curt and Mary Lou had one daughter, Kate, who was the light of his life. Her light was only brightened more with her marriage to Shaun Ashbaugh and the birth of his grandchildren, Avery and Parker. He loved them all so much.
Curt’s career with the City spanned 37 years beginning as a groundman and ending as the superintendent of the department. His greatest career achievement was removing almost all of the overhead electrical lines in Pierre and creating an underground system including the building of two substations. It was something he always commented on when traveling and he would see overhead power lines in large cities.
Curt enjoyed golfing, playing cards, camping, boating and fishing and introduced Mary Lou to these pastimes. He was a great cook who was never afraid of trying new wine, foods and recipes and loved cooking for family celebrations whether it was ribs on the 4th of July or turkey at Thanksgiving. They also traveled as much as possible with memorable trips to the Great Lakes, Grand Canyon and Napa Valley as well as Niagara Falls, Alaska (which included ziplining) and the northeast foliage trips with in-laws, Deene and Miki Dayton.
Curt is survived by his wife of nearly 46 years, Mary Lou; his daughter Kate (Shaun) Ashbaugh, Huron; grandchildren Avery and Parker Ashbaugh; brother, Edward Goehring, Milford, Iowa; sister, Claris Nord, Slayton, Minnesota; sisters-in-law Miki (Deene) Dayton, Pierre; Eileen (Randy) Horn, Sioux Falls; Judy Stout, Solon, Iowa; Terry DeYonge, Yankton; Johna Walsh, Springfield, Missouri, Cindi Walsh, Lake Mina, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his father- and mother-in-law Frank and Martha Walsh, brother-in-law Jerry Nord, sister-in-law Delores Goehring, brother-in-law Mike Walsh, and nephew Wayne Stout, and great-niece Mandy Gilliland.
Curt is listed in the 4th edition of the Friedrich Seidemann Family Tree Book on page 408 with his wife Mary Lou and their daughter Kate. He is a5th generation descendant of Friedrich and Rosine Seidemann and his genealogy line is as follows: Friedrich, Carl, Rosa, Ernst, and Curtis.