Elmer "Poppy" Edward Newcomb
August 22, 1929 — February 21, 2015
Elmer "Poppy" Edward Newcomb, 85, of Aberdeen, passed away Saturday, February 21, 2015, at Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD.
Funeral services will be 1:30 p.m., Monday, March 2, 2015, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 1410 North Kline Street, Aberdeen, with Deacon Richard Zephier officiating.
Burial will take place at Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery in Aberdeen.
Schriver's Memorial Mortuary and Crematory, 414 5th Avenue NW, Aberdeen, is in charge of arrangements.
No visitation will be held prior to the service.
Elmer "Poppy" Edward Newcomb was born in Pepin, Wisconsin to Kenneth and Martha (Sitzler) Newcomb on August 22, 1929. He was the oldest of three sisters and six brothers.
He graduated from high school in his hometown in 1947. Elmer attended River Falls College before serving as a Corporal in the Korean Conflict from 1950 to 1952. He then went on to earn his Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics at South Dakota State University in 1957.
On December 27, 1956, Elmer married Joan J. Cressman in Pierre, SD. They had two sons and shared an everlasting bond together.
Among his various jobs, Elmer was employed by the Federal Government as a Managing Real Estate Appraiser with the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1964 to 1988. For the last eight years of his life he enjoyed working full time at Walmart in Aberdeen, SD.
Elmer savored all the simple aspects of life. He particularly enjoyed the outdoors, his family, a good meal, and his beloved pets. He loved to go fishing or go for a walk, and could spend all day reading a good book.
Elmer is remembered as a proud, strong, hard working, humble, wise and kind man with a gentle soul. He always saw the good in everyone.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Joan, in October of 2011, his parents, two sisters, one brother, and his grandson, Steven Newcomb.
Elmer is survived by his sons: Paul Newcomb and Theodore Newcomb; his grandchildren: Ericka (Jay) Bachmeyer, Michael Newcomb, Emily Newcomb, and Coryn Newcomb; his great-grandchildren: William and Gabriel; five brothers and one sister.