Ross W Gerhold, 83, of Watertown, SD, died Nov 19, 2019, while being served lovingly by the staff of Prairie Lakes Hospice. The family will host a visitation from 5:00 pm to 7:00pm Friday at Geise Funeral Chapel in Castlewood, SD. A funeral service and reception will be held at 2:00 pm Saturday, November 23, 2019, at the Presbyterian Church in Castlewood, SD.

Ross was born in the family homestead in 1936 in Castlewood. He graduated from Castlewood High School. He was active in baseball, football, basketball and theatre. He was honored to the student body president. Ross attended Augustana for a year and finished at Northern State in Aberdeen while working summers on construction in Minnesota.

Ross taught high school math, sciences and German in Castlewood and Brookings for 4 years and thoroughly enjoyed helping students get ready to succeed in life. He then worked as an insurance claim adjuster for 4 years at General Adjustment (GAB) in Bismarck and then joined Dakota Fire Insurance.  In 1974 Ross joined the First State Bank of Wilton, ND. He bought the First Wilton Insurance Agency. He was on the bank's board of directors and operated the insurance agency for 15 years.  While in the insurance business he belonged to the ND professional insurance agents (PIA) organization and was honored to serve on their board as state president. Ross received the agent of the year award from PIA in 1986. He enjoyed teaching licensing schools for PIA and was proud of the success rate that his students had when taking the licensing exams.

While in Bismarck and Wilton, ND he was a Boy Scouts club master, helped start the Painted Woods Golf Course between Wilton and Washburn, and was key in starting the Lions Club and volunteer ambulance organizations. He enjoyed participating in musical productions directed by his wife, Bonnie and served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church.

Ross loved golfing, hunting, ice fishing and watching his boys' basketball and football games. He was a Vikings and Timberwolf fan to the end. He enjoyed calling bingo for the Lions Club. One hobby he enjoyed his entire life was gardening, always trying to figure out the best way to get plants to grow.

In 1958 Ross married his high school sweetheart Bonnie Wellhouse. They have 2 sons: Scott (Sue) and Randy (Danita). He has 5 grandchildren: Nikki, Britney, Alisa, Chandler and Lindsey. Two of his proudest moments were listening to his sons give their valedictorian addresses.

He is also survived by his sister, Verna Johnson.

Ross was preceded in death by his parents, brother, John; two sisters, Lola and Loretta (Walter), and brother-in-law, Bob Johnson

The family would like to thank family, friends and the Prairie Lakes Hospice staff for the support they provided during the last few months.