Ken Linstrom passed away at Good Samaritan St. Martin's Village in Rapid City on January 10, 2020.

Visitation will be 5:00pm-7:00pm Thursday, January 16, 2020 at Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home. A funeral service will be 11:00am Friday, January 17 at the Westminster Church in Rapid City, with Rev. Bob Jacobs officiating. Interment with full military honors will be 2:30pm at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis. Online condolences can be left at www.osheimschmidt.com

As an athlete, educator, coach, friend, colleague and most of all, family member, Ken touched countless lives with a combination of focus, dedication, drive, intelligence, and humor. He was a man focused on achievement, but with a smile on his face, a witty quip on his lips and a soft spot in his heart.

Ken was born in Whitewood, South Dakota in 1928 to Victor and Hazel Linstrom. He was raised along with his brother Paul, in Sturgis where he was a four year letterman in track, football and basketball for the Scoopers. He was inducted into the Sturgis Brown High School Hall of Fame in 2014.

He served a stint in the US Navy where he was a fireman on the submarine, the Sea Owl, based out of Panama City.

After receiving his honorable discharge, he attended South Dakota State University majoring in Wildlife Studies. Competing in track for the Jackrabbits, Ken excelled at both the low and high hurdles, high jump and in particular the long jump. Ken was a four time North Central Conference champion in the long jump and hurdles. He held the All-Time South Dakota collegiate long jump record of 23 ft 5 1/2 inches from 1950 to 1966.

After graduation, he indulged his love of the outdoors by working for the state Game and Fish Department for a year. Then he took teaching and coaching positions in Gregory and Winner, South Dakota. He received his master's degree in Science Education at the University of North Dakota and then accepted a position as a science teacher at Rapid City High School in 1961.

Ken married Betty Fink in 1954 and had two sons, Steve and Jim. After Betty passed away, he married Martha Cox in 1967 and had two daughters, Karen and Sue.

When Stevens High School was established in 1969, he moved there to teach science, primarily Physics and Chemistry until his retirement in 1988. Generations of Rapid City high school students received their background in the sciences under Ken's passionate tutelage in the classroom.

With the move to Stevens High, Ken became an assistant track coach focusing on the hurdlers and jumpers. He had a way of identifying raw athletic ability in boys and girls and coaching them into becoming hurdlers.

In 1982 he became the head track and cross-country coach where he continued the Raider Dynasty. Ken's boys and girls teams won a total of nine state championships over the next seven years until his retirement.

Ken received the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year award for Boys Track & Field in 1988 and was inducted into the Rapid City Stevens Hall of Fame in 2016.

In his spare time throughout his fifties, Ken trained for and ran 12 marathons with a best time of 3:07. He was a fixture in the Black Hills running scene for many years.

Ken loved the Black Hills. He grew up hunting and fishing around the Sturgis area. He became an avid deer hunter, both archery and with a rifle, although memories of him actually killing anything are rare. He was also a dedicated fisherman, though he seemed to lose his scientist measuring skills when describing how big the fish were that he caught. He read almost every book about the Custer Expedition ever published and was an expert regarding the history of the Black Hills. He used this expertise as a Park Ranger at Mount Rushmore for seven summers.

After retirement Ken and Martha spent many winters touring the southwest United States in their motor home and enjoyed time at Hart Ranch and various campgrounds throughout the Black Hills. He also spent countless hours hiking and exploring the hills, always with a poodle by his side.

Ken and Martha were highly supportive of every activity their children or grandchildren were interested in. If their kid or grandkid was in it, they were there. Ken was also very supportive when family members (usually meaning his children) screwed up, although it was sometimes through clenched teeth.

Ken was always able to get a smile out of everyone he met. Generations of extended family members learned to recite Ken's "Falling Rock" story from the first time they sat around the campfire.

He leaves behind a cadre of family and friends who will sorely miss his quick wit, his laughter and genuine goodness.

Ken was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife Betty, brother Paul, sister-in-law Isabelle, daughter-in-law Molly, and grandson Nicholas Wendte.

He is survived by his wife Martha; brother-in-law Luke (Robin) Cox; children: Steve (Steph) Linstrom, Marshall, MN, Jim (Gina) Linstrom, Tucson, AZ, Karen (Monni) Karim, Custer, SD and Susan (Jeff) Wendte, Yankton, SD; grandchildren: Patrick (Kristin) Cowan, Gregory (Heather) Cowan, Jamie Linstrom, Kristen (Aaron) Lee, Sam Wendte, Chase and Tori Glazier, and Ramsey Karim; and three great grandchildren.

The family greatly appreciates the compassionate care Ken received at St. Martin's Skilled Nursing Facility.