Van W. Sorenson, 93, passed away on Tuesday, January 26, 2010, at his home in Rapid City.
Van was born August 5, 1916 at Lennox, South Dakota. He was the son of Jim and Nora (Overgaard) Sorenson. He graduated from Lennox High School in 1935 and attended South Dakota State College in Brookings, studying Animal Husbandry. He became a livestock judge in Eastern South Dakota before moving to California where he worked as a civil service engineer for Moore’s Shipyard out of San Francisco. He moved back to South Dakota with his wife, Ardis (Jackson) in 1943. Van started a cattle and hog feed lot operation near Worthing, South Dakota, and then in 1946, the couple moved to Spearfish where Van operated a wholesale gas and oil distributorship. Later, just prior to the big blizzard in 1949, the couple moved to Rapid City, where Van opened a used car lot, located across from Halley Park. He then purchased and operated two service stations in Rapid City. From 1954 until he retired, Van was a car Salesman at Rapid Chevrolet. He held the prestigious honor of being Top Sales Producer for seven consecutive years in five states for the Chevrolet dealer and amassed numerous other sales awards including induction into the Chevrolet Dealer Sales Hall of Fame. He was retired for forty years, living in Rapid City entirely during his retirement.
Van is survived by his wife of seventy-one and a half years (September 26, 1938) along with their two children, Ardeen Bass of Ruidoso, New Mexico, and Jay Sorenson of Lincoln, California. Other survivor’s include three grandchildren, Zachary Bass and Stuart Bass (Tularosa, New Mexico) and Nicole Sorenson, (Sacramento, California), and two great grand children, along with sister-in-law, Darlene Blake of Spearfish, and numerous cousins in Sioux Falls and Beresford, SD.
A Memorial Service will be held at the Kirk Funeral Home, 1051 E. Minnesota Street, Rapid City, SD, at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 with Rev. Doug Free officiating.
Friends may sign Vans online guestbook at www.kirkfuneralhome.com
