Michael “Mike” Arthur Sale, 83, of Ashton, SD, passed away peacefully on June 23, 2022, at the Community Memorial Hospital Avera in Redfield, SD. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., with family present, on Monday, June 27, 2022, at Hyke Funeral Home in Redfield. 

His funeral service will be at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28, at Hyke Funeral Home, with Pastor Kody Bullock officiating.  Burial, with military honors, will follow in the Ashton Cemetery. There will be lunch and fellowship at the Ashton Community Center after the burial.

The funeral service will be live-streamed to the funeral home’s website, below Mike’s obituary.  Arrangements have been entrusted to Hyke Funeral Home (www.hykefuneralhome.com).

Mike was born on May 27, 1939, to Joyce Thomas and Edward Panek in Portland, OR.  Mike moved to Ashton, SD as an infant, spent his childhood in and around Ashton and attended school there. 

Mike joined the U.S. Navy in 1957 and served on the USS Hawkins during the Cuban Missile Crisis as a Boiler Tender. After the Navy, Mike returned to Ashton. On June 15, 1963, he married Sally Frericks of rural Northville, SD. Mike and Sally made their home in Ashton. In 1972, Mike rejoined the Navy and served on the USS Pratt until he left the U.S. Navy in 1976. He deployed in support of combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin and off the coast of Beirut.

Mike owned and operated many businesses in his life. He was the owner of Mike’s Disc Sharpening, Mike’s Painting, the Mellette Bar, and the Ashton Grocery Store. Mike is best known for being the owner of the Ashton Bar which was known locally as Ashton America USA. Many still talk about the annual softball tournament and street dance held around the July 4^th holiday. In 1994, Mike sold the Ashton Bar and returned to work at the South Dakota Developmental Center in Redfield, where he worked until his retirement.

Mike was an avid outdoorsman. He loved to trap, hunt, and fish. Mike learned how to trap fox from Ardell Grawe of rural North Dakota. Over his life, he shared his knowledge of trapping with his friend and brother-in-law Darwin “Buck” Frericks, his sons, and anyone who cared to learn. Mike continued trapping until the fall of 2021. 

Mike was a forty-year member of the American Legion and a veteran of the U.S. Navy.    He is survived by his sons, Richard (Stacy) Sale of Ashton, SD, and Brad (Dawn) Sale of Parker, AZ, along with five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. 

He was preceded in death by his wife Sally, grandson Nathan, his parents, beloved friend and brother-in-law Buck Frericks, and several other brothers- and sisters-in-law.

Due to Mike’s dislike for flowers, he would prefer donations be sent to the SD Trappers Association (SDTA - 811 S. Merton St. - Aberdeen, SD 57401) or the NRA (https://www.friendsofnra.org/donate/donate.aspx).