Jose' (Joseph) Eutimio Roybal, Rapid City, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family on Sept. 4, 2016. He was 95.

Born Sept. 3, 1921, in Sapello, NM, he was one of nine children born to Filiberto and Ana Maria Aragon Roybal. Like millions of his contemporaries who lived the harsh realities of the Great Depression and World War II, his life was one of hardship and sacrifice but also much happiness and joy. Most important to him were his Catholic faith, his family and his country, and his life was a testament to each of those passions.

Roybal grew up in the Sangre de Christo Mountains of northern New Mexico on a small diversified farm in the village of San Ignacio. As a boy, he attended the rural school and did farm work, but he most enjoyed working cattle on horseback and fishing the mountain streams of the area. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, he was drafted and entered active military service the following summer.

Roybal served more than four years in the U.S. Army, seeing action in the Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central European campaigns. Among his notable experiences were taking part in the Omaha Beach landings of Operation Overlord in June 1944, parading down the Champs-Élysées of a newly liberated Paris a few months later, and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge in December of the same year.

After returning to the U.S. at war's end, he married Mary Edith Solano on Feb. 2, 1948, in Rapid City; the couple had met while he was on leave before shipping out for Europe, and they corresponded throughout the war. Roybal initially worked with various construction companies in the Rapid City area before serving 34 years as a federal employee at Ellsworth Air Force Base. He was named the Civil Service Employee of the Year in 1964. Upon his retirement, he worked in part-time positions with Sears and the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

Roybal was preceded in death by his parents and six brothers and sisters. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Mary, and their six children. This includes three daughters – Maryann (Charlie Sykes), Spring Hope, NC; Abby (Mark McCaskey), Piedmont; and Sally (Rod Colhoff), Rapid City; and three sons – Joe (Peggy) of Woodbury, MN; Desi (Eileen) of Georgetown, TX; and Fil (Laura) of Rapid City. In addition, they have 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Other survivors include a sister, Cleo Noel, and a brother, Adolfo Roybal, both of Las Vegas, NM.

A member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, the Knights of Columbus, and Disabled American Veterans, Roybal received his 50-year membership pin from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1273 in 2015. In addition, he volunteered for more than 20 years in providing military funeral honors for his fellow veterans at Black Hills National Cemetery.

Visitation begins at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home in Rapid City, followed by a vigil with rosary recitation at 7 p.m. Christian funeral mass will be offered on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 11:30 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Burial, with military honors rendered by Rushmore VFW Post 1273 and the South Dakota Army National Guard, will be at 2:30 p.m. at Black Hills National Cemetery.

In lieu of gifts, the family requests contributions to Hospice of the Hills, 224 Elk St., Rapid City, SD 57701.