Obituary | Horace Clayton Seim of Shadehill, South Dakota

March 7, 1929 – April 17, 2025

Horace Seim, 96, of Shadehill, South Dakota passed away Thursday, April 17, 2025, at Five Counties Nursing Home in Lemmon. Memorial services will be in June with Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge. 

Horace (Feathers) Seim was born March 7, 1929, in the little log cabin along the bank of the South Grand River. His parents were Willie L. Seim and Blanche (Becker) Seim. He was the eighth of nine children, all born there at home.  His siblings include Clara, Nellie, Susie, Wilford, Shelby, Fern, Norman, and Nels.

Feathers’ early childhood was spent outdoors with his brothers, cousins, and neighbors. They spent many carefree hours along and, in the river, playing games and riding their horses. Feathers attended the Bronson School in first grade, 3rd grade at Meadow School, and he finished his elementary education at Pleasant Ridge School. During his growing up years, Feathers had quite a reputation for breaking horses. Due to his lifelong poor eyesight, he was unable to get a driver’s license until he was in his 40’s!  So, he rode everywhere he wanted to go!  It was a great way to put some miles on those broncs!

Most or all of Feathers’ siblings were musically inclined.  As his young nephews grew, Feathers would spend time playing guitar, fiddle, mandolin all while teaching them to play as they listened to all the old instrumental tunes. His honkytonk style of playing the piano was awesome.  Feathers could play almost any instrument. He even tried his hand at building his own fiddle.

Having no television or telephone, Feathers listened to the radio and was an avid reader. He was especially interested in history. He wrote many pages in notebooks documenting the history of the town of Seim and many early settlers that came to this area. His grandparents came to northwest South Dakota in the 1890’s. His historical writings have never been published, because he was never really “done with it all”

In addition to his musical and writing abilities, Feathers was very talented at braiding leather. He would even make his own rawhide and made many hackamores.

In 1975, Tim, JoAnne, and family moved about a mile away from Feathers.  So, for 50 years, he and Tim ranched together, keeping the tradition of raising horned Hereford cattle that Feathers was so proud of.  At the age of 88, Feathers moved into an apartment in Lemmon in January of 2017.  It was during an especially snowy winter when it got hard for Tim to get over to check on him.  In town, he finally had a phone! Feathers and some fellow musicians would play music at the Five Counties Nursing Home on Friday afternoons. The residents really enjoyed it, and Feathers did too.  That lasted until 2020. In March of 2024, Feathers entered Five Counties Nursing Home.  During the summer of 2024, he was cared for by Dawn and Duane Harris in their home.  He really enjoyed his time with them, and they took such great care of him.  He went back to the Nursing Home in the fall. WE celebrated his 96th birthday in March and he passed away on April 17th. Graveside services have taken place, and we will have a memorial service in June.    

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