George Boom, 100, died Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026 at Touchmark All Saints Retirement Community in Sioux Falls. His funeral service was at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, at East Side Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. He was buried at Hills of Rest Cemetery. The family will be present to greet friends for visitation from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, at George Boom Funeral Home & On-Site Crematory in Sioux Falls.
George Boom Jr. was born Dec. 16, 1925, to Ella Otten and George A. Boom on a farm in Lincoln County between Tea and Lennox. He grew up in Tea during the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s and graduated from the Tea Grade School and Lennox High School. From early on, he followed his father to area farms, where he helped with carpentry and machinery repair. He appreciated his carpentry and mechanical training throughout his lifetime.
As with all young men graduating in 1943, the armed services were waiting. George spent the next three years in the U.S. Navy, ending with a fleet appointment to Annapolis. After graduating from Preparatory School, George took the entrance exams, but carpentry, friends in South Dakota and a strong interest in funeral service brought him back home. Uncle Oscar Gedstad’s offer of a funeral service job won out, and it was off to college. He attended South Dakota State University and Augustana College for his pre-mortuary training and the University of Minnesota for a mortuary science degree. He worked for his Uncle Oscar for a few years in New Ulm, Minn. But even with the comfort of his new bride, Faye Anderson (married July 9, 1950, at East Side Lutheran Church) at his side, old friends and South Dakota excitement pulled them back to Sioux Falls.
He began working for the Banton Funeral Home in Sioux Falls. In about four years, the Banton Funeral home came up for sale, and George and Faye’s optimism made them look past conditions and into a bright future. He purchased the funeral home, but Faye’s Beauty Shop bought groceries and brought them through financial emergencies for several years before the more secure times arrived. Their early supporters came from all over, but particularly rural churches and small towns.
George did whatever was necessary to grow the business. Aside from tending to his own business, he did service work for other funeral homes in the area. He operated an ambulance service, filled a contract for funerals at the VA hospital and served as Minnehaha County coroner. George even filled in as Minnehaha County Sheriff for a few hours. He provided the ambulance service to Huset’s Speedway for 17 years.
In 1964, he was able to purchase a house on the east end of town, just outside the city limits. He turned that house into a funeral home with the help of his father, father-in-law and son, David. The contribution of David, however, can be disputed, since he was only 6 years old. George did much of the work himself. He left the high traffic location of 11th and Minnesota despite the fact that he was warned that “no one wants to drive so far east.” He was always looking to the future, and in 1983, he recognized that funeral service was changing and joined with the partners of Miller Funeral Home and formed Pioneer Enterprises. In the years that followed, they took some young people as partners and became entirely employee owned. In 2018, the young owners built a new, state of the art funeral home. Building the new facility was long overdue, but it still hurt to see the old building go down.
Running a funeral home is around-the-clock work, but along with it there is extensive pleasant involvement with the community. He enjoyed extensive involvement with the Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Crippled Children’s Hospital. He was the last surviving charter member of the Sioux Falls Morning Optimist Club, an organization that put on the World’s Largest Rummage Sale. He was a charter member of East Side Lutheran Church, where he served in many roles. He was a member of the Split Rock Volunteer Fire Department and active in the El Riad Shrine Horse Corps. He served in all offices and positions in the South Dakota Funeral Directors Association, including publishing the monthly newsletter. He also served in all positions of the South Dakota State Board of Funeral Service. He loved the many families he was privileged to serve over the last 70 years or so. He was a licensed funeral director for 76 years, and over the course of those years impacted a lot of people. He was especially proud of the people he employed and mentored over the years. A visionary in funeral service, he was not afraid to embrace new technology or new trends.
George loved his hunting and fishing trips with his friends as well as spending time in his workshop. He was a master cabinetmaker and could make anything out of wood. George had a multitude of friends and loved church suppers and any kind of get-together. He loved Christmas parties and the annual fish boils he hosted. Above all, George loved the Lord. His family was the next important priority in his life. He attended every family event he could and spent many hours at ballgames, concerts, recitals, rodeos and the river. Grandchildren are special, and he was very proud of and loved each one of them.
Faye and George were blessed with one son, David, who is married to Laurie Johnson. David and Laurie in turn blessed them with three granddaughters and one grandson. Jennifer is married to Matthew Newman, and they have a daughter, Amelia, and son, Benjamin; Sara is married to Brenden Wilson, and they have a daughter, Lily; Naomi has a son, Wyatt; Jacob is married to Carly (Bostic) Boom, and they have two sons, Jack and Grant. George was also survived by one sister, Donis Rudsdil, and a host of other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Faye; parents, George and Ella Boom; and three sisters, Thelma Paape, Marjorie Thompson and Eunice Vorwerk.
George had a full life. We do not grieve for him, but we grieve for ourselves because we are going to miss him. He is with the Lord and is enjoying a family reunion like he’s never seen before.
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