Jerome G. Harvey, beloved husband, father, grandfather, teacher, and friend, died Jan. 19, 2024, in the care of the hospice team at Ft. Meade VA Health Care, Sturgis, SD.
The third of four children, Jerome was born Jan. 4, 1941, the New Year’s Baby at St. Joseph Hospital in Deadwood. He grew up knowing and loving the Black Hills through a lifetime spent hunting and fishing with family and friends across the backcountry from Lead to Deerfield and beyond. Jerome graduated from Lead High School in 1959. He was a kicker and an All-Black Hills Conference and All-State Defensive End in football. Like many small-town athletes, Jerome was also a standout on the Golddiggers Varsity Basketball Team. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he served as an Aviation Ordnance Fire Control Airman in Jacksonville, FL, Yorktown, VA, and Memphis, TN. As a top member of the Naval Rifle Team, Jerome earned All Navy honors in 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963, including the Wimbledon Cup and Camp Perry National Matches. His winning scores in national and international competitions in the high-power classification earned Jerome all three legs to the US Navy Distinguished Expert Marksman Badge in 1961, and the coveted Dogs of War medal at the National Trophy Matches. He also continued to participate in full contact football, competing in Inter-Navy and Interservice games. Jerome returned to the Black Hills in 1964. He worked his way through college serving as a machinist and welder for Hall Clauser Machine Shop in Deadwood. Jerome completed his bachelor’s degree in education from Black Hills State University in 1969 and later completed a master’s in vocational education from the University of South Dakota-Springfield. His first teaching assignment was in the Deadwood School District. As part of the school consolidation, Jerome was transferred to Lead High School where he taught biology for many years. His students still recall the annual spring field trip which consisted of an entire day spent hiking the hills around Lead, studying local biology and natural history firsthand. Jerome loved teaching and it showed in his student outcomes. Countless times his family have heard how Mr. Harvey was the “favorite teacher of all time” for many individuals. His crowning achievement – combining his appreciation for the art of metal work with the practicality of vocational education – was the Lead-Deadwood High School Vocational Welding Program. Jerome designed and developed the curriculum, with classes starting in a local machine shop in 1978. By 1979, the vocational welding building on the high school campus was complete and students only needed to walk up the hill to get to class. Proficient welders graduated from Jerome’s classes and went on to become masters in their trades whether in business or military service. Jerome retired from teaching in 1997.
Jerome married Lucy Keller June 24, 1986. Together, they shared a love for their acreage outside of Deadwood, spending many hours with maintenance and improvements before taking daily walks through the neighborhood. They enjoyed motorcycle tours of the United States, and eventually spent several winters in Coolidge, AZ, among friends from Canada and other U.S. locations. Jerome spent his lifetime enjoying and perfecting his performance in the shooting sports. He was a member of the record-setting Lead Rifle and Pistol Team that won the South Dakota State Small Bore Championship numerous times, and he was the 1971 Individual South Dakota Small Bore Rifle Champion. As a founding member of Lawrence County Search and Rescue, Jerome served many years as a reserve Deputy Sheriff and as a member of the Brownsville Volunteer Fire Department.
Jerome is survived by his wife, Lucy Harvey of Spearfish, SD; two children Michelle Harvey Erpenbach and her husband, Steve, of Sioux Falls; Jerome F. Harvey and his wife, Paula, of Rapid City; special friend and “third child” Rodney Robertson, Gillette, WY; stepson Bob Keller, Deadwood; four grandchildren: Max Erpenbach, Big Sky, MT, Jack Erpenbach, Washington, DC, Grace Erpenbach, Minneapolis, MN, and Amelia Harvey, Rapid City; two step-grandchildren and three step-great-grandchildren; as well as his sister Jeanette Black, Aberdeen; two half-sisters, two half-brothers, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, a brother, a stepson, and an infant son.
Burial will be in the private Harvey Family Cemetery in the Limestone Country west of Lead. A celebration of life will be planned for friends, family, and former students at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests friends support schoolteachers by providing their own local schools with gift cards to purchase classroom supplies. Memorials may also be directed to Shriner’s Hospitals at donate.lovetotherescue.org.
, beloved husband, father, grandfather, teacher, and friend, died Jan. 19, 2024, in the care of the hospice team at Ft. Meade VA Health Care, Sturgis, SD.
The third of four children, Jerome was born Jan. 4, 1941, the New Year’s Baby at St. Joseph Hospital in Deadwood. He grew up knowing and loving the Black Hills through a lifetime spent hunting and fishing with family and friends across the backcountry from Lead to Deerfield and beyond. Jerome graduated from Lead High School in 1959. He was a kicker and an All-Black Hills Conference and All-State Defensive End in football. Like many small-town athletes, Jerome was also a standout on the Golddiggers Varsity Basketball Team. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he served as an Aviation Ordnance Fire Control Airman in Jacksonville, FL, Yorktown, VA, and Memphis, TN. As a top member of the Naval Rifle Team, Jerome earned All Navy honors in 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963, including the Wimbledon Cup and Camp Perry National Matches. His winning scores in national and international competitions in the high-power classification earned Jerome all three legs to the US Navy Distinguished Expert Marksman Badge in 1961, and the coveted Dogs of War medal at the National Trophy Matches. He also continued to participate in full contact football, competing in Inter-Navy and Interservice games. Jerome returned to the Black Hills in 1964. He worked his way through college serving as a machinist and welder for Hall Clauser Machine Shop in Deadwood. Jerome completed his bachelor’s degree in education from Black Hills State University in 1969 and later completed a master’s in vocational education from the University of South Dakota-Springfield. His first teaching assignment was in the Deadwood School District. As part of the school consolidation, Jerome was transferred to Lead High School where he taught biology for many years. His students still recall the annual spring field trip which consisted of an entire day spent hiking the hills around Lead, studying local biology and natural history firsthand. Jerome loved teaching and it showed in his student outcomes. Countless times his family have heard how Mr. Harvey was the “favorite teacher of all time” for many individuals. His crowning achievement – combining his appreciation for the art of metal work with the practicality of vocational education – was the Lead-Deadwood High School Vocational Welding Program. Jerome designed and developed the curriculum, with classes starting in a local machine shop in 1978. By 1979, the vocational welding building on the high school campus was complete and students only needed to walk up the hill to get to class. Proficient welders graduated from Jerome’s classes and went on to become masters in their trades whether in business or military service. Jerome retired from teaching in 1997.
Jerome married Lucy Keller June 24, 1986. Together, they shared a love for their acreage outside of Deadwood, spending many hours with maintenance and improvements before taking daily walks through the neighborhood. They enjoyed motorcycle tours of the United States, and eventually spent several winters in Coolidge, AZ, among friends from Canada and other U.S. locations. Jerome spent his lifetime enjoying and perfecting his performance in the shooting sports. He was a member of the record-setting Lead Rifle and Pistol Team that won the South Dakota State Small Bore Championship numerous times, and he was the 1971 Individual South Dakota Small Bore Rifle Champion. As a founding member of Lawrence County Search and Rescue, Jerome served many years as a reserve Deputy Sheriff and as a member of the Brownsville Volunteer Fire Department.
Jerome is survived by his wife, Lucy Harvey of Spearfish, SD; two children Michelle Harvey Erpenbach and her husband, Steve, of Sioux Falls; Jerome F. Harvey and his wife, Paula, of Rapid City; special friend and “third child” Rodney Robertson, Gillette, WY; stepson Bob Keller, Deadwood; four grandchildren: Max Erpenbach, Big Sky, MT, Jack Erpenbach, Washington, DC, Grace Erpenbach, Minneapolis, MN, and Amelia Harvey, Rapid City; two step-grandchildren and three step-great-grandchildren; as well as his sister Jeanette Black, Aberdeen; two half-sisters, two half-brothers, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, a brother, a stepson, and an infant son.
Burial will be in the private Harvey Family Cemetery in the Limestone Country west of Lead. A celebration of life will be planned for friends, family, and former students at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests friends support schoolteachers by providing their own local schools with gift cards to purchase classroom supplies. Memorials may also be directed to Shriner’s Hospitals at donate.lovetotherescue.org.
