PAUL WIECHMANN
Funeral services were held March 8, 2021 at the United Methodist Church in Wagner. Burial was in the ZCBJ Cemetery, rural Wagner, with military honors. Peters Funeral Home in Wagner was in charge of arrangements.
As a child in the 30s, Paul Wiechmann learned how to work. When his dad died, he dropped out of high school to help his mother and brother run the farm. For 90 years, he was always happiest working on a project. Much later, because education was so important, he attended night school and received his GED.
Paul had an adventurous spirit, sparked by his time in the service and love of travel. He appreciated the big outside world. There were lots of family trips to Pullman, Washington to visit relatives. Paul always tried to take different routes to the same destination so he could see new sights. There were cruises where he would get private tours of the engine room because he made friends so easily. While in the service, he loved visiting Alaska. He made it his mission to get back which culminated in a month-long camping trip to “The Last Frontier” with Dick and Mavis Hoffman. He talked of it often.
Paul was an aircraft mechanic while in the Air Force, proudly working on B-36 bombers. During his time in Spokane, he met the love of his life, Pearl Yates. They were enjoying a whirlwind romance when he was transferred to Texas. That’s when they realized that being separated was not possible. Paul wrote Pearl letters every day and they were married on a snowy day in December 1955, shortly after his discharge. In his letters, he promised to build a beautiful life with his bride-to-be; a promise he kept for more than sixty-three years. Pearl passed away in December 2019. Paul thought and spoke of her daily. His family is so thankful that Pearl and Paul are together again for eternity and so grateful to be participants in their incredible love story.
Paul was always trying new techniques on the farm to get more from his acreage. He was one of the first in Charles Mix County to dig an irrigation well and was featured in a popular magazine. Active in his community, he was honored with a letter from President Reagan about his draft board service. He was a member of the United Methodist Church for years and attended regularly. He was active in the American Legion. He enjoyed a good Labor Day parade, and often drove an antique car for his dear friend, Paul Stogsdill.
Paul and Pearl moved to Wagner. First came Peggy and then Pam (January & December of 1957). They moved to the farm when they were expecting their third child, Paula. Then came Patrick, Penny, Piper and finally Perry who surprised everyone in 1974.
Paul took fatherhood seriously and used his creativity to entertain his children. First a swing set and teeter totter that amused his kids, then the neighbor kids and then dozens of grandkids and finally his great grandkids, all over the course of sixty years. Paul built them a treehouse with a picture window and even attended a tea party or two. He built a small tractor with a Renault engine and then a wagon. For years, he drove his kids all over the farm at 2 mph.
Paul even relented and bought an old horse named Jesse, who was a favorite, especially for the girls. He liked to find unusual vehicles and the little Subaru was legendary around Wagner and Rest Haven during the late 70s. His girls never knew where their car would be picked up and relocated.
Paul was a wonderful storyteller and rarely repeated his tales. The ones that did get retold, got more hilarious every time. He had an uncanny memory for faces and seemed to have at least one friend in every city and town in South Dakota. But his old friends were his best friends – he treasured those relationships like the one with his first-grade buddy Bob Broz and the neighborhood farmers too numerous to mention who always helped each other out.
Paul Wiechman was born November 22, 1930, the youngest of William and Margaret Wiechmann’s six children. He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Earl, Walt and Noel Wiechman and his sisters Iva and Irene Uecker and his beloved wife Pearl. He left this earth on March 4, 2021 surrounded by The Gang of Seven— Peggy (John) Phillip of Pompano Beach Florida, Pam (Bob) Drake, Penny (Harlan) Eickholt and Perry (Toni) Wiechmann of Watertown, Paula (Ken) Mazourek of Dante and Piper (Jim) Hause and Patrick Wiechmann of Wagner. He is also survived by 21 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren.