Terje Preber, age 74, of Rapid City, South Dakota, passed away peacefully at Rapid City Regional Hospital on Monday, June 26, 2017. He was born October 16, 1942 in Oslo, Norway to Asbjorn and Karen (Henriksen) Preber.

He attended grade, high school and Schous Technical Institute in the Oslo area before coming to the United States to study at the University of Wisconsin. In August of 1964 at age 22, Terje worked his way across the Atlantic as a galley boy on a freighter, eventually landing in Milwaukee. He then traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, where he earned his Master's and PhD in Civil Engineering and met the love of his life.

On August 17, 1968 he married Carolyn Schubert in Janesville, Wisconsin. During their marriage, they lived in Madison, Wisconsin; Stabekk, Norway; Lake Zurich, Illinois; and Rapid City, South Dakota. While working as a temporary transfer in Tehran, Iran, they adopted their daughter, Maria Farah.  Their son, John Edward, was adopted later in the Chicago area.

Terje was employed by Dames & Moore in Des Plaines, Illinois as an engineering consultant for ten years. In 1984, he began his career at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City where he was a professor in the Civil Engineering Department. During his tenure at SDSM&T, he served as Department Chair and was the adviser to many Norwegian students who came to study there. For several years, he was a consultant for CE&MT in Gillette, Wyoming, where he also co-owned the business for several years.

Terje enjoyed American History, stamp collecting, gardening, collecting firearms, fishing and building model air planes. He was a member of South Canyon Lutheran Church, Sons of Norway, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Terje is survived by his wife of 48 years, Carolyn; his daughter Maria Jackson (Chad Lindgren); his son John Preber (Jamie Cohn); grandchildren, Edward (EJ), Tyler, and Steven Allen, Asher Jackson, and Brenden Lindgren, all of Rapid City, South Dakota; two nephews, Henrik and Jon Horgen of Norway; and many cousins in the Oslo, Norway area, Wisconsin and Illinois.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Marit Horgen; his father and mother-in-law, Edward and Opal Schubert; and many aunts and uncles.

Visitation will be held for one hour before the service. His funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 30, 2017 at South Canyon Lutheran Church, 700 44th St, Rapid City.

Memorial donations may be made to the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Civil Engineering Department.