Marvin Messer, 95, of Faulkton and formerly of Rapid City, passed away Sunday, July 02, 2017 at the Faulkton Senior Living.

A prayer service will be held at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 5, 2017 at Luce Funeral Home, Faulkton with Pastor LeShea Avery officiating.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. MDT, Friday, July 7, 2017 at Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home, Rapid City with Pastor Wilbur Holz officiating. Burial will follow at 12:00 p.m., July 7, 2017 Black Hills National Cemetery, Sturgis with military honors.

Marvin Leslie Messer was born June 19, 1922 at Yakima, Wash., the fourth child of Roswell L. and Mary (Witherell) Messer. He grew up in the Naches, Wash., area. When World War II broke out he worked as a ship fitter in the Seattle/Tacoma, Wash., shipyards. He joined the Navy in 1944 and served to Jan. 20, 1946 as a gunner on the USS Colorado. His ship was docked next to the USS Missouri at the signing of the Japanese surrender on Sept. 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay. Following his honorable discharge, he returned to the Naches area and earned his Certificate of Equivalency from Naches Valley High School in 1951. He moved to Richland, Wash., where he was employed at Hanford with General Electric, first in a lab and then later as a security officer. He then became a policeman for the Richland Police Department and attended barber college. He graduated from the International Barber College in Pasco, Wash., in 1961. After moving his family to Rapid City, S.D., in 1962, he owned and operated Marv's Barber Shop in several locations in downtown Rapid City until his retirement in 1988.

He married Blanche I. Floden on April 2, 1952 in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. Following their retirement, they traveled in their pickup and camper to every state in the U.S.A. and visited all but two state capitol buildings. He loved to hunt and fish. They also traveled to Mexico and Europe several times as well as Egypt, the Holy Land and China. They enjoyed a cruise through the Panama Canal. For their 50th wedding anniversary they traveled to Hawaii. He was honored to participate in the Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. in Sept. 2010.

He was a lifetime member of VFW Post 1273 of Rapid City, the Disabled American Veterans, the Elks Lodge and Trinity Lutheran Church in Rapid City.

Marvin is survived by his daughter, Jody (Jim) Moritz of Faulkton; grandsons, Garrick (Carrie) Moritz of Garretson and their children, Morgan and Leif Moritz, and Paul (Alex) Moritz of Moorhead, Minn., and their children Isaac and Liam Tuhy and Mason and Simon Moritz.

He was preceded in death by: his wife, Blanche in 2011; an infant daughter, Karen Lee; his parents; two sisters: Marie Turner and Evelyn Wawrinofsky; and two brothers: Bud and Bob Messer.

Memorials may be directed to Faulk County Historical Society/Pickler Mansion Project, PO Box 584, Faulkton, SD 57438 or Trinity Lutheran Church, 402 Kansas City Street, Rapid City, SD 57701.