Douglas Bendt

Douglas Edward Bendt, 69, of Flandreau, SD, passed away on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at Avantara Lake Norden.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 8, at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Flandreau, SD. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, March 7, at Skroch Funeral Chapel in Flandreau, SD.
Douglas Edward Bendt was born on Oct. 25, 1955, at Hendricks, MN, to Loren and Donna (Story) Bendt. They lived near White, SD, when he was a young child. Later, he moved with his family to a farm northwest of Flandreau in Spring Creek Township north of Grandpa and Grandma Story. Then they moved a mile and a half down the road to Grandpa and Grandma Bendts farm.
He attended Dexter No. 14 country school through the fifth grade. He then attended Flandreau Public School. While in high school he participated in FFA. He graduated from Flandreau High School in 1974.
He belonged to Springview 4-H Club as a youth and liked to show cattle. After graduating from high school, he farmed with his father for a number of years raising cattle, pigs, chickens, and crops. He also worked for Rick and Denise Weise as a farm hand. While working for them he changed his first dirty diaper by putting the child (Anna) in the sink and hosing her clean! He worked at Gehl Manufacturing for a number of years, he drove truck for Tab Peper, worked for Les VanDyke, and he worked at Cenex.
In his spare time, he liked going to the car races and working alongside Steve Ziebarth and others for Dave Ekern. He also liked hunting and fishing. He had a trophy deer hanging on the wall that he shot in Moody County.
He was a longtime friend of Diana Lovejoy. Doug said he lived with Diana for seventeen and a half years when she became ill with cancer and passed away. After her death, he married Billie Jo Hughs on Oct. 12, 2001, and was married to her until the time of her death on Nov. 28, 2005. During that time, they lived northwest of Flandreau on an acreage. Doug moved to his home in Flandreau in 2020. It was here that he became a toy collector.
Doug is survived by one sister, Patricia Blackketter, Webb City, MO; niece, Krystal (Barry) Wingfield, Web Citty, MO, and their children, Dylan, Caden, Kayl, and Khiley; and numerous cousins.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Billie Jo, his parents, and brother-in-law, Robert Blackketter.