Hot SpringsRodney R. Strayer, 58, of rural Hot Springs, died on Sunday, April 24, 2011, while camping in his beloved Black Hills. Rod was born on May 31, 1952, in Buffalo Center, Iowa, to Russell and Virginia (Verdoes) Strayer. He grew up on the family farm near Ceylon, Minnesota, and graduated from Ceylon High School in 1970. After graduation he was employed at a feed lot in Sutherland, IA, and eventually moved to Hurley, South Dakota, where he managed a cattle feedlot. In the late 1980s he moved for a short time to Garden City, Kansas and then to Nebraska, before settling in the Black Hills of South Dakota near Hot Springs. While living in the Hot Springs area, Rod was employed at a feedlot, managed the Super 8, was assistant manager of a grocery store and worked at the Taco Johns. He also worked at some of the Deadwood casinos and held various other jobs. Rod was just starting to get involved in more food catering at the urging of his friends. Rod enjoyed cooking, camping, horseback riding and spending time with his friends. Survivors include 3 nephews, Todd Bailey and his wife, Colleen, Gayville, Joel Bailey and his friend Dean Hirner, of Dallas, TX and Aaron Bailey and his wife Ashley, of Holt, Missouri; a great-nephew, Parker Bailey; a great-niece, Keagan Bailey and an exchange student great niece, Juliane Balk; aunts and uncles, Arnie and Donna Jobes, Boise, ID, Terry and Marjorie Mag Baldwin, Muscatine, IA, George and Judy Lange, Lorimore, IA, Jim and Vivian Strayer, Sanborn, IA and Don Stone, Arthur, IA; great uncle and aunt, Ernest and Sandra Verdoes, Freemont, CA; a brother-in-law, Richard Bailey, Spencer, IA and his faithful companion, Smokey, the Blue Healer. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Kandi Bailey in 1999. Visitation will be from 5 until 7 p.m. , with a prayer service at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, at Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home in Rapid City. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 30, at United Methodist Church in Estherville, Iowa, with visitation 2 hours prior to the service. Burial will be in East Lawn Cemetery in Algona, Iowa.