Milbert Schick
Milbert Schick peacefully passed away, with family by his side, on July 21 ,2025. He was born in Eureka, SD, on Oct. 31, 1924, to John Schick and Katherina (Weller) Schick.
Milbert’s 100 years on this earth were marked by many notable world events and personal challenges. He lived his life with a strong commitment to God, family and community. His father passed away unexpectedly when he was 2 years old. His mother, Katherina, auctioned off all the farm machinery and horses. With the crash of 1929, the banks closed, and she lost all of her savings. This led to very challenging times with the Great Depression. His mother remarried in 1933 to John Ottenbacher which added 7 new siblings to the 6 brothers he already had. John and Katherina then had one son together making for a large family of 17!
At 10 years old, Milbert moved to one of the two family farms with his 2 older brothers, (a simple sod house with no electricity or plumbing), to help with chores and cooking. He never complained about this challenging life and looked back on his childhood with great fondness. He moved back to Eureka for high school, staying with his uncle’s family. He graduated High School in 1944 then joined the US Army to fight in WWII. He served in the European Theatre (Italy) and rose to the rank of Master Sergeant. He was honorably discharged in 1946 and returned to Eureka.
Not wanting farm life after seeing the bigger world, he moved to Minneapolis, MN, to attend technical school. There he met a beautiful young girl who was working at a drug store in Minneapolis, and he was immediately smitten. After a short courtship, he married the love of his life Elizabeth (Bette Jo) Schuller Oct. 11, 1947. They moved back to Aberdeen, SD and started a family. Post WWII with so many returning from the war, jobs were hard to find. But he persevered with a family to support, always finding and excelling at work. His employer recommended him to the Coca-Cola Bottling company of Aberdeen, and he was chosen over a hundred other candidates. He found his career home and worked there the next 4 decades, becoming Plant Manager. He loved working there and excelled as it was a good match for his talents in math and organization.
Then the world intervened again. As an Army Reservist, and with a pregnant wife and a one-year-old child, he was called up for the Korean conflict in 1950. Despite the difficulties, he proudly went off to serve his country as First Sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. He was honorably discharged at the end of 1951 and returned home to Aberdeen to his family and to his job at Coca Cola.
His family continued to grow. Him and Bette Jo had 5 children, 3 daughters and 2 sons. His faith in God was always important to him and he was always a participating member of his church throughout his life.
He was known for his ability to figure out problems and to fix things. He was like MacGyver in figuring out how to use simple items to solve a problem. Even after he retired, he would help his kids, friends and neighbors in fixing things. He took great joy in working on a project and always stayed busy.
He enjoyed camping with his family in a pop-up tent camper at many midwest lakes. He had a strong passion for hunting and fishing and loved being out on the water. Going on a fishing trip with his friends was always a great joy to him and to his friends because no one could filet fish like he could. Our family freezers were always filled to the brim with wild game, birds and fish. Life was simple and good!
Milbert lived in Aberdeen most of life. In 2019, Bette passed away after 72 years of marriage. In 2020, with the isolation of Covid cutting him off from friends, church, and activities, he moved to Anthem, AZ to live with his daughter, Lisa and her husband, Bob. Never one to stay still, he continued to enjoy life. During his final five years in Arizona, Milbert loved watching wildlife in the Arizona desert, taking boat rides on Lake Pleasant, going to the rodeo, enjoying polka music in the back yard and going to church. He was a proud member of CCV (Christ’s Church of The Valley) and made many friends there. Like Bette, he enjoyed a good party and loved having his family throw both 99th and 100th birthday parties for him. He lived a blessed life, with his health intact all the way to the end.
Milbert is survived by his children, Charles Schick (Ann) Denver; Paula Pippert (Steve) Toronto, Thomas Schick (Lynette), Denver; Lisa Ackerly (Bob), Phoenix and Melinda Robins (Rob), Sacramento. His grandchildren: Tiffany Schick, Brittany Tangsrud, Tarrah Bissell, Brian Pippert, Matthew Schick, Alex Schick, Justin Schick, Tracy O’Neill, Brian Ackerly, Brooke Willloughby, MacKenzie Robins, Katie Robins and 9 great grandchildren. He has 1 surviving half-brother, Reuben Ottenbacher, in Louisiana.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Bette Jo, his parents, his brothers, stepbrothers and stepsisters. He left this note regarding his life: “I am so thankful that God Almighty Blessed me with a wonderful wife and 5 wonderful children.