RAPID CITY- Thomas Dale Sawyer, 92, died Sunday, December 15, 2013 at Golden Living Center- Black Hills. Dale was born on May 2, 1921, in Dupree, South Dakota to Thomas William and Hazel (Curtis) Sawyer. The family moved to Scenic, South Dakota in 1933, where he helped his mother run a restaurant and worked on the railroad. The family moved to Wind Cave in the Black Hills and then to Hot Springs, where Dale graduated from high school in 1940. He entered the military and served in to 109th Combat Engineers and was honorably discharged. Dale and his father bought the Deerfield Store in 1941. They moved the store from the banks of Castle Creek, now at the bottom of Deerfield Lake, to its present location at Deerfield. On October 4, 1943, Dale was married to Sherrill Ashcroft of Hot Springs. They had 2 boys, James Thomas and Michael D. Sawyer. Dale and his wife Sherrill operated the Deerfield Store until 1984. During winters, Dale drove school bus and helped neighbors truck supplies from Rapid City to the Deerfield and Limestone areas. He worked for the US Forest Service and was a civilian employee at Ellsworth Air Force Base as a plow operator for the runways. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Sherrill in 2003 and his son James in 1972. He is survived by his son Mike of Deerfield. Private services will be held at a later date. Memorials may be directed to Hospice of the Hills.