Obituary of Joe Sejnoha

Joe Sejnoha, age 87 of Yankton, passed away Saturday, July 26, 2014 at Avera Yankton Care Center, Yankton, SD. Visitations will be from 5-7 PM, Tuesday, July 29, 2014 at the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home and Crematory, Yankton with the family present. Visitations will resume from 1-2 PM, Wednesday, July 30, 2014 at the Opsahl-Kostel Memorial Chapel in Tyndall. A Graveside service will be held at 2:15 PM, Wednesday at the Czech National Cemetery in Tyndall with military graveside rites by Simek-Ptak VFW Post #6895 and the Pike-Wagner American Legion Post #2, of Tyndall and the South Dakota Army National Guard Honor Guard, Sioux Falls, SD. Opsahl-Kostel Memorial Chapel, Tyndall is in care of the arrangements. Joe was born March 31, 1927 in Tyndall, SD to Rudolph and Emma (Pavlish) Sejnoha. He grew up on the family farm North of Tyndall with his 5 sisters: twins, Helen & Libby, Rose, Emma and Evelyn. On July 20, 1945, shortly after graduating from Tyndall High School, Joe entered the U.S Army. He proudly served his country in Germany during WWII and received an honorable discharge on December 28, 1946. After his return, Joe married the love of his life, Enid Dorraine Avery on November 18, 1950. Joe's life was dedicated to his family and his first thoughts were always about his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Over the years, Joe was involved in many endeavors; farming, residential construction, owning and operating Rest Haven Assisted Living Center, just to name a few. Joe was never afraid of hard work or bringing an idea to reality. Even after retiring he went back to work part time for John A. Conkling Distributing (Joe always did enjoy a good, cold beer) until he retired again at the age of 82. Joe was an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan since he was a boy. He also enjoyed gardening, hunting, fishing and spending time with his family. One of his greatest enjoyments was Czech music and playing the accordion, along with several other musical instruments. He was very proud of one of his biggest personal accomplishments - organizing the Sejnoha Memorial Band - a band dedicated to the memory of his father's band, The Sejnoha Jr. Band. This band performed and recorded original, hand written music that was handed down from his ancestors. Joe is survived by his wife, Enid; children: Cheryl (Bruce) Alver, Jim Sejnoha, Gary (Dianne) Sejnoha, Elaine (Steve) Talley, 8 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren; sisters: Helen Hovorka, Rose Novak and Evelyn (Joe) Schuch; brother-in-law, Roger Jones; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters, Libby Hamberger and Emma Jones, 3 brothers-in-law and 1 great-grandson.