Harley Dyer, 88, Dickinson, died Sunday, December 25, 2011 at St. Alexius Medical Center, Bismarck. Harley’s funeral service will be at 10 a.m., Friday, December 30, 2011 at St. John Evan. Lutheran Church, Dickinson, with Rev. Lisa Lewton officiating. Interment will follow at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. Military honors will be provided by the Dickinson Honors Team. Visitation will be from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday with the family present from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., to greet friends at Ladbury Funeral Service, Dickinson, and will continue one hour prior to services at the church on Friday.
Harley Dyer was born December 24, 1923, at Brinkman, Mont., the son of Albert West and Dottie (Thompson) Dyer. He was raised and educated in the Big Sandy, Mont. Area, having attended Big Sandy High School. Following high school he went to Seattle, Wash., to work in the shipyards.
Harley joined the United States Navy on April 28, 1943, and served on the Aleutian Islands during WWII. He got out of the military on March 7, 1946, and went to work at various jobs, taking flying lessons, and helping with the Civil Air Patrol. On July 22, 1950, Harley reentered the Navy and served honorably during the Korean Conflict as a Transfer Boat Operator until his discharge on April 21, 1954.
Harley returned to from the military and was united in marriage to Joyce “Josie” Kohoutek, on August 2, 1956 in Minot. They moved to Montana where he began his career with the Montana Employment Services in 1957, and following four years, they moved to Glendive, Mont., where he worked for the Montana Job Service until 1968. The Dyer family moved to Dickinson where Harley took a position with Dickinson Job Service as the supervisor of the unemployment division, retiring in 1983.
He loved to read and share the knowledge that he gained from the books and from his experiences. He was an avid WWII buff, loved to fly, study Irish and Scottish history, volunteered with RSVP, at St. Joseph’s Hospital, watching car racing and NASCAR. His greatest pleasures came from spending time with his family, children and grandchildren.
Harley is survived by his wife, Josie, Dickinson; two daughters, Kathleen Dyer, Livermore, Calif., and Linda Caron, Rapid City, S.D.; four grandchildren, Andrea, Trista, Christopher and Daniel Caron; one great-granddaughter, Jazlyn Harley Caron; two sisters, Dorothy Weaver, Othello, Wash., and Betty (Ronald) Bitz, Box Elder, Mont.; sister-in-law, Doris Dyer, Missoula, Mont.; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; siblings, Ross Dyer, Vernell Blockhus, Jack Dyer, Marlene Darlington, and Robert Dyer. In lieu of flowers the family prefers memorials to the donors choice.
