Richard Kuske

Funeral services for Richard L. Kuske, 76, of New England, ND will be 10:00 a. m. Thursday, June 10, 2010 at Our Redeemer?s Lutheran Church, New England with Pastor Bruce Peterson officiating. Burial will follow at Our Redeemer?s Lutheran Cemetery, New England. Visitation will be from 12:00 p. m. to 9:00 p. m. Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson, ND with a Prayer Service at 7:00 p. m. Richard passed away at home on June 5th with his loving wife, Kay, at his side after a well-fought 2 ? year battle with cancer. Richard L. Kuske was born May 30, 1934 in Fargo, ND. The only child of Ben & Lillian Kuske, he grew up on the family farm on the Eddie-Foster County line in North Dakota. He went to country school not far from the farm, riding his Shetland pony ?Snooks? to school everyday. Higher elementary grades he attended at Brandford, ND, and attended high school in New Rockford, ND. He married Kay Edinger of Carrington, ND on October 28, 1955 in Jamestown, ND by Rev. N. E. McCoy. To this union four children were born. Music was Richard?s passion in life. As a young man with his guitar, he sang in the church choir and quartets in his home church in Branford, ND. In the 50?s and early 60?s he was part of the ?Pleasant Valley Boys? who sang and played on KSJB Radio in Jamestown, ND every other Saturday for 6 months. He was the lead singer and guitar player in the dance band ?The Dakota Travelers?. They played throughout central North Dakota. ?San Antonio Rose? was his favorite song of all time and Hank Williams his idol. Richard was an independent trucker his entire adult life, starting out with gravel trucks in 1958. On June 2, 1963, he and Kay took their young family ?out west? to New England because work was scarce in the rest of the state. They came for a 2-week job, and stayed a lifetime. Here, he and Jerome Stockert formed ?K & S Construction? and did gravel contract work. In 1968 he and Kay bought their first semi and were known as ?RL Kuske Trucking?. He hauled grain, lumber, steel, to name a few, throughout the upper Midwest. He retired from trucking in 1992, due to back problems. In the early ?90?s, after some years away from music during the busy trucking years, he went solo, and he and his guitar entertained at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Medora, the Cowboy Opry in Bowman & Marmarth, ND and Lemmon, SD, wagon trains, and many church and local events (to name a few) in western North and South Dakota. His signature songs were ?Bend in the River? and ?Lady at the Windmill?. He loved classic country music and country gospel music, singing and playing his Gibson Southern Jumbo guitar, the steel guitar, traveling in their motor home with Kay, working in his yard (having one of the most lush lawns in New England), the Minnesota ?Twins?, rodeos and boxing. He was an avid Cribbage player. He and Kay bought their first cribbage board the first winter they were married. In those lean years, it was their only entertainment. Together they learned to play and played regularly for nearly 55 years. During the winter months they played nightly. The last game they played together was this past May, while he was a patient in the West River Regional Medical Center in Hettinger, ND. When the grandkids were home, there was always a Cribbage game going with Grandpa Dick. Richard was a great ?Fix-It Man?, and could fix anything with perfection. He was a Trustee with the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, a member of Our Redeemer?s Lutheran Church, the New England Senior Citizens, and Farmer?s Union. He is survived by his wife of almost 55 years, Kay; their 4 children: Julie (Marty) Opdahl of New England; Wendy (Jay) Jackson of Spokane. WA; Doug (LaDonna) Kuske of New England; and Amy Castillo of Leavenworth, KS. Nine grandchildren: Stacey Opdahl (Mike Regan) of Seattle, WA; Ethan Opdahl of Reno, NV; Sheyenne, Sierra & Sam Hale & Marcus Jackson of Spokane, WA; Dallas Castillo of Leavenworth, KS; and Allie & Hailee Kuske of New England. Richard was preceded in death by his parents and grandparents.


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Burial Date: June 10, 2010
Funeral Home Dickinson, ND

Funeral Service: Thursday, Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church, New England, ND