08/28/2026
Ronald “Ron” Dean Fravel
August 16, 1951 ~ August 20, 2026
SCHS class 1969
Ronald Dean "Ronnie" Fravel, 75 of Fort Pierre, SD died Thursday, August 20, 2026 at Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD due to complications after heart surgery.
Memorial service will be 11:00AM Saturday, September 5, 2026 at Community & Youth Involved Center in Fort Pierre.
Ron was born on August 16, 1951, to Clifford and Phyllis Fravel in Pierre, SD. He grew up at the Fravel Ranch in Mission Ridge and attended Orton School through 8th Grade and then attended Stanley County High School in Fort Pierre, where he received his diploma in 1969.
After graduation, Ron worked construction but quickly went back to his roots and accepted a job as ranch hand at Two Rivers Ranch in Plainview, SD. In 1971, Ron married Rene Glasford, and to their union was born their son, Kevin, in 1973. Ron welcomed another son, Colin, with long-time partner, Tammie O’Dea, in 1993.
In 1978, Ron found his dream job of brand inspecting. Ron worked for the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association inspecting cattle for Fort Pierre, Potter County, Presho, and Philip livestock yards. This was clearly his passion, and he became well-known and respected in the livestock industry. Ron poured his heart and soul into his craft and was still inspecting private ranches at the time of his death.
Ron deeply enjoyed time with his family and especially beamed with pride while watching Colin, as well as his grandkids, grinding the ice at hockey games or watching Kevin on the football field.
After “semi-retirement”, Ron spent much of his time tending to his garden and maintaining both his place and the Fravel homestead ranch with his best pup, Jess, at his side. When time allowed, he’d throw in a line here and there to see if they were “on the bite”. He was also the family’s weather reporter, often quoting the latest rainfall amounts and projected high temps for the week. When Ron's mother had a stroke in May of 2025, his nursing skills came out!! He was very patient and a great caregiver to her.
Ron is survived by his sons, Kevin (Laura) Fravel of Spearfish, SD and Colin O’Dea of Fort Collins, CO; his sister, Kathryn Stewart of Rapid City, SD; his brother Lynn (MaryBeth) Fravel of Fort Pierre, SD; his brother In-law Randy Vevig of Draper, SD; 3 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces and nephews.
Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Clifford and Phyllis (Tibbitts) Fravel; sister, Linda Vevig; grandparents, Glenn and Martha (Larson) Fravel and Tom and Florence (Pourier) Tibbits; niece, Kayla Stewart; nephew, Matthew Stewart; and nephew, Chad Stewart.
Ron will not only be remembered for his years inspecting cattle in the community and his time at the sale barn, but also for the time he spent with his family and friends.
He will be remembered for a laugh you could pick out across a room and a whistle you could hear for miles; for showing up at brandings or wherever there was work to be done. No matter what he was doing, he would always make time to stop and visit, always managing to get a chuckle.
He will be remembered as a man who lived life the way he wanted, where he wanted, and with the people he loved, doing what he loved.
Added memory of Ron when he was a high school wrestler:
By Terry Weischedel
You're in my thoughts and prayers Here’s a story about Ron back in high school wrestling in Onida. Onida just got started in wrestling and our Onida team was so-so. We were wrestling Stanley County. After weighting, in one of SC wrestlers told some of us that Ron was sick. Our Onida wrestler in that weight class was very happy, because we were well informed what an awesome wrestler Ron was . Well, to get on with the story, Ron pinned our Onida wrestler in like 12 seconds. After the match I asked Ron why so fast. His reply was “I wasn’t feeling well, so I wanted to get it over”. Now that was a great wrestler!
