Roger Carey

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Obituary

Roger Carey, 73, of Mitchell, SD, passed away Thursday, December 29, 2022, at his home in Mitchell. Funeral services will be 1:00 PM Friday, January 6, 2023, at Bittner Funeral Chapel. Burial will be at a later date at Spencer Cemetery in Spencer, SD. Visitation will be Thursday, January 5, from 5-7:00 PM at Bittner Funeral Chapel.

Roger Carey was born December 6, 1949 to Leonard “Pete” and Bessie Carey in Canova, SD. He attended Pearl Township country schools until 8th grade, then graduated from Spencer High School in 1968. He studied at SDSU for 2 years. In 1971 Roger moved to Mitchell, SD. He began his military career at Fort Belvoir, Virginia where he was a decorated Sharpshooter (rifle). He served as an E5 SGT in the South Dakota Army National Guard - 665 HEM CO (GS) in Mitchell until 1976. He started out his career at UPS in 1971 as a semi-driver, and retired as a route driver in 2002 after 31 years with the company.

Roger attended and was baptized at Spencer Christian Church. He was a proud member of the Mitchell Moose Lodge and the American Legion.

Roger was an independent, self-reliant man. He was a mechanic and a handyman. He bought land in Mitchell in 1977 and built his first house in which he lived for 45 years. He had a great love for Harley Davidson Motorcycles, and owned many over the years. One of his favorite past times was going to the Sturgis Rally on his Harley. He was a great storyteller and had many good stories from those trips. He enjoyed hunting and fishing ever since he was a young boy. He was lucky enough to retire early in life, so you could find him deer or pheasant hunting in the fall, and camping and fishing at the river in the summer. He especially loved the cousin camping trips and the annual cousin bowling weekends in the winter. He was known for bringing his famous baked beans or his favorite County Fair cookies to any family event. Roger had a great love of dogs. In fact, he owned 7 over the years: Smokey, Champ, Sheba, Woody, Sam, Woody II, and his current best friend Thor, who misses Roger very much. Roger held high regard for the relationships in his life with the people that were special to him. If you were lucky enough to be his friend or part of his family, he would do anything for you. He was a protector…

Roger courageously lived with and fought cancer for over 3 years and remained independent up to the end. He will be sorely missed.

Roger is survived by his siblings, Karen (Allan) Bodlak of Wakefield, NE, David (Carrie) Carey of Sioux Falls, SD, and Anita Carey of Hartford, SD; uncle, Pete Vanderludt of Everett, WA; and his cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Leonard “Pete” and Bessie Carey, and brother, Duane Carey.

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