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SGT James Owen Aplan

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Birth	:	17 May 1931 Fort Pierre, Stanley County, South Dakota, USA
Death	:	26 Dec 2018 Piedmont, Meade County, South Dakota, USA
Burial	:	Black Hills National Cemetery, Sturgis, Meade County, USA
Coordinate	:	44.3689003, -103.4753036
Plot	:	K_899
Inscription	:	SGT US ARMY KOREA
Description	:	Shortly after enjoying a televised Christmas choral presentation and a bowl of his favorite ice cream, Jim Aplan gently passed away in the arms of his wife and a grandson at their home near Piedmont, SD, on Wednesday, December 26, 2018. He was 87. The youngest of Helen (Fischer) and Frank Aplan’s three children, James Owen Aplan was born and raised in Ft. Pierre, SD, in the long shadow of a line of French and Indian fur traders. His rich and marbled life directly reflected major historical occurrences and cultural trends of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Aplan’s great-great... Read More	Shortly after enjoying a televised Christmas choral presentation and a bowl of his favorite ice cream, Jim Aplan gently passed away in the arms of his wife and a grandson at their home near Piedmont, SD, on Wednesday, December 26, 2018. He was 87. The youngest of Helen (Fischer) and Frank Aplan’s three children, James Owen Aplan was born and raised in Ft. Pierre, SD, in the long shadow of a line of French and Indian fur traders. His rich and marbled life directly reflected major historical occurrences and cultural trends of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Aplan’s great-great grandfather, Sefroy Iyotte, worked for the St. Louis, Missouri-based fur traders, Pierre Chouteau, Jr. and Co., which pioneered steamboat travel on the Missouri River. Iyotte and his brothers-in-law, Antoine and Nicholas Janis, were prime interpreters and authors in the making of the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty, which Aplan always claimed should be upheld. At an early age, Jim tended the furnace, shoveled snow, or packaged merchandise at the family business, Fischer Brothers general store. The boy exhibited his enterprising nature when he used his earnings to buy various cowboy and native items from customers; in turn, they spent the money at the store, and he started his antique collection. At eight years old, he won a national contest for hide skinning. He learned to cowboy at Charles Carlisle’s Bad River Ranch. Walking there from town along the railroad line, he would hunt wild game, which went into the cooking pot of Carlisle’s wife, Marie, formerly Helen’s domestic help in child rearing. Jim attended the Abbey School for Boys in Cañon City, CO, where he developed his taste for the increasingly popular past-time of rodeoing, which led to a 13-year career of saddle bronc busting, bull riding, and clowning – much to his mother’s chagrin. Growing up a family friend of World Champion rodeo rider Casey Tibbs, and working the circuit nationwide with other famous competitors, Jim rubbed shoulders with any number of celebrities, not the least of whom are big names in the country and folk music recording business. His career in the arena was interrupted by the draft to the Korean War, where he survived thanks to his gunsmithing studies at Trinidad State Junior College, in southern Colorado. He was one of only six soldiers extracted from 6,000 dispatched to the battle front: His skills were needed elsewhere for weapons inspection. Unlike his cousin Lakota U.S Army Sgt. Philip James Iyotte, who died in one of China’s Korean POW camps, Sgt. Aplan returned after his tour of duty in 1953 and 1954 to enroll at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, TX. He graduated in Industrial Arts in 1956 and received his master’s degree in 1957. Moving back to South Dakota, he became a vocational trainer at the Ft. Meade Campus of the VA Black Hills Health Care System and opened Jim's Gun Shop in nearby Boulder Canyon. In about 1966, he also opened a gift shop on Main Street in Keystone, where he showcased collections of guns, cowboy memorabilia and Indian artifacts amassed along with considerable knowledge gleaned over the years. He oversaw liquidation of the family store and assets in Ft. Pierre from 1968 to 1972 then went into banking until 1987. Well prepared by the credit business transactions of retailing, he worked at the Ft. Pierre National Bank, the Onida Bank, the Okaton-Midland Bank, and the Hulett Bank, which he founded in Wyoming. Since then, he and his Sturgis-local business partner and wife, Peg (formerly Kaubisch), have operated Antiques & Art near Piedmont, traveling to offer collectibles throughout the West and Midwest at trade shows and rare-book exchanges. The couple shared a passion for preservation of genuine Americana, demonstrated through years of dedication to the High Plains Heritage Center, the Old Ft. Meade Museum, the West River Historical Society, and the Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School, among other altruistic endeavors. A longtime board member of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Aplan garnered the Preservation of South Dakota History Award in 1981; the Outstanding Service to Dakota Artists award in 1982; and the Founders Award of the Dakota Territory Gun Collectors in 1986 and 2011. Jim and Peg were both inducted to the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1988. In 2001, he earned the Distinguished Alumnus of Sul Ross University award, in 2006 the Casey Tibbs Foundation Award, and in 2009 the Dedication of the Match of Champions Rodeo at Ft. Pierre. In 2018, he received the Herb Blakely Award, named after the founder of the West River History Conference launched in 1993. A story-teller who never lost a twinkle in his bright blue eyes, Jim weathered hardship and adversity with a positive viewpoint, serving as a model for family and friends. Whatever happens, he was fond of encouraging loved ones to remember: “I had all the fun.” In a letter to family members, at what he termed “a young 86”, he hinted at the reason for ending his rodeo riding in 1958. “What a joy it is to travel the rodeo road with cloth diapers, two babies 11 months apart..., and very dirty gas station restrooms. Thank God for a few flowing creeks along the way. I think all that FUN is what made me quit.” In addition to many friends, admirers, and business associates, James O. Aplan is survived by his wife, Peg Aplan; sister, Carla Sahr; brother, Frank Aplan; son, Arthur and his wife, Anja, and their daughter, Irene; daughter, Rose and her husband, Bob Diez, their son, Robert “Bobby,” and daughter, Georgia; daughter, Kathy Aplan and her son, Alexander; daughter, Karen Darling, her son, Zachary, and daughter, Carly; daughter, Karla Aplan; son, Morgan and his wife, Elysia; daughter, Travis and her children, Joshua and Paige; son, Brent Barker and his sons, Ashton and Logan. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday and services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, December 31, 2018, both at High Plains Heritage Center in Spearfish. Contributions to the James O. Aplan Memorial can be sent to: 21424 Clover Place, Piedmont, SD 57769. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.kinkadefunerals.com. Contributor: Sue Wiedemer Jones (48967649)

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is SGT James Owen Aplan's memorial?
SGT James Owen Aplan's memorial is located at: Black Hills National Cemetery, Sturgis, Meade County, USA.
When did SGT James Owen Aplan death?
SGT James Owen Aplan death on 26 Dec 2018 in Piedmont, Meade County, South Dakota, USA
Where are the coordinates of the SGT James Owen Aplan's memorial?
Latitude: 44.3689003
Longitude: -103.4753036

Family Members:

Parent

Frank Fulton Aplan

(1900 - 1966)

Helen Fischer Aplan

(1897 - 1993)

Spouse

Teresa “Ramona” LeBeau

(1933 - 2016)

Siblings

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Black Hills National Cemetery
Sturgis, Meade County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3689003, -103.4753036

2. Curley Grimes Memorial Cemetery
Sturgis, Meade County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3764500, -103.4691300

3. Fort Meade National Cemetery
Sturgis, Meade County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4021988, -103.4757996

4. Bear Butte Cemetery
Sturgis, Meade County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4111595, -103.4947968

5. Saint Aloysius Cemetery
Sturgis, Meade County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4141340, -103.5193420

6. Pleasant Valley Cemetery
Tilford, Meade County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3192500, -103.3531160

7. Galena Cemetery
Galena, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3349220, -103.6438410

8. Crook City Cemetery
Crook City, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4432100, -103.6241500

9. Piedmont Cemetery
Piedmont, Meade County, USA
Coordinate: 44.2425780, -103.3871730

10. Oak Ridge Cemetery
Deadwood, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3891983, -103.6766968

11. Whitewood Cemetery
Whitewood, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4617820, -103.6330030

12. Roubaix Cemetery
Roubaix, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.2789380, -103.6656600

13. Mount Moriah Cemetery
Deadwood, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3760986, -103.7253036

14. Saint Ambrose Cemetery
Deadwood, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3821983, -103.7266998

15. Nemo Cemetery
Nemo, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.1872800, -103.5066410

16. Anderson Cemetery
Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4747009, -103.6896973

17. South Lead Cemetery
Lead, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3478510, -103.7606260

18. Little Dane Cemetery
Saint Onge, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5252500, -103.6705540

19. Mountain Meadow Cemetery
Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.2038994, -103.6557999

20. West Lead Cemetery
Lead, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3484001, -103.7779999

21. Gate of Heaven Cemetery
Saint Onge, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5353000, -103.7237000

22. Terry Cemetery
Terry, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3344290, -103.8165110

23. Vale Cemetery
Vale, Butte County, USA
Coordinate: 44.6138992, -103.4052963

24. Holy Cross Cemetery
Englewood, Lawrence County, USA
Coordinate: 44.2818985, -103.8047028