Ervin Vetter, 89, Chamberlain, SD died February 13, 2024 at Sanford Health, Sioux Falls, SD.  Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 AM on Friday, February 16, 2024 at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Hague, ND with Father Shannon Lucht officiating.  Burial will be held at 3:00 PM on Friday at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, rural Mandan with military honors and Deacon Jerome Volk presiding.  There will be a Vigil/Rosary service at 5:00 PM on Thursday, February 15, 2024 at the church in Hague.

Ervin was born June 8, 1934 in Fargo, ND the son of Sophie Vetter.  He was raised by his grandparents, Wendelin and Elizabeth (Feist) Vetter on a farm southeast of Hague.  He attended country school until 1948 and graduated from the Hague High School in 1951 at the age of 16.  He also attended State Normal Industrial College in Ellendale where he received his teaching certificate.  He taught country school during the 1951-1952 school year.

He entered the U.S. Army in 1953 and spent time in Japan and Korea. He was discharged from the army in 1955.  Ervin then attended Northern State College in Aberdeen, SD where he met his wife, Mary Held.  He then taught country school during the 1955-1956 school year.  He then entered the U.S. Airforce.  Ervin and Mary were married in 1956 in Laramie, WY while he was attending tech school in Cheyenne, WY.  After tech school he was stationed in Dallas, TX.  Their first child, Cindy was born in Aberdeen in 1958.  They were then stationed in Zapata, TX before being transferred to Houston, TX in 1960 where Linda was born in 1961.  Ervin was then transferred to Istanbul, Turkey in 1961 for 18 months.  He returned to the U.S. and was stationed Big Spring, TX where Tom was born in 1965.  In 1967 he was sent to Thailand where he spent a year and then returned to Minot, ND until 1973.  It was during this time that Janet was born in Linton, ND in 1972.  In 1973 the family was sent to Okinawa for one year.  When they returned from Okinawa he retired from the U.S. Airforce as an E6 and they settled in his hometown of Hague, ND.

Ervin bought the Hague Bar which he renamed Erv's Inn and later sold it in 1979.  He obtained the USPS rural contract in 1980 for the cities of Hague and Zeeland.  He carried the rural mail for 20 years and retired again in 2000.  In 2002 his wife, Mary passed away in Bradenton, FL where they had a winter home.  In 2005 Ervin married Corrine Leiferman in Chamberlain, SD after meeting on the internet while he was in Florida.  They made their home in Chamberlain and spent the first two winters in Florida.  They sold the home in Florida and stayed in South Dakota.  Corrine passed away in 2017 and Ervin continued to live in Chamberlain while still maintaining his home in Hague for summer hunting and fishing.

Ervin is survived by his son, Tom Vetter (Barb) of Bradenton, FL; his daughters, Cindy (John) Bouchard of Burnsville, MN, Linda (Gerard) Goldade of Hague and Janet (Jeff) Cammerrer of Savage, MN; eight grandchildren; 16 Great Grandchildren; his step children, Larry (Barb) Leiferman, Brenda (Peter) Owens, Scott (Bobbi) Leiferman, Todd (Kim) Leiferman; several step grandchildren and step great grandchildren; two half-sisters, Patty Larson and Mary (Darwin) Kane of all of Aberdeen, SD and an aunt, Clara Lipp of Strasburg.

He was preceded in death by his mother; both wives; brother, Jim Salwei, his grandparents; uncles and aunts who grew up with him and a great granddaughter, Faith Ryckman.