Visitation: Visitation will be Friday from 2-9 p.m., with family present 7-9 p.m., at Anderson Funeral Home in Canton.
Service: Memorial services will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14 at Bethany Reformed Church in Canton, SD.
Paul Ray Sletten, age 58, died Tuesday, January 10, 2012 as the result of a hunting accident. Memorial services will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14 at Bethany Reformed Church in Canton, SD. Visitation will be Friday from 2-9 p.m., with family present 7-9 p.m., at Anderson Funeral Home in Canton.
Paul was born October 15, 1953 in Sioux Falls, SD, to Wanda Schunneman and later adopted by Samuel Sletten. He attended country school and graduated from Canton High School in 1971, where he enjoyed playing football for the C-Hawks. He attended college for a year at Springfield, SD.
Paul married Gail Lukes August 25, 1973 in Sioux Falls. They made their home on a farm in rural Beresford, where they raised two sons. Paul loved farming and played as hard as he worked. After working all day, he still had time to play with his boys. Gail felt like she raised three kids. He loved hunting, fishing, and building street rods. He built one of his street rods from start to finish in three months. He and Gail participated in rod runs all over the country. Paul was a past president and former member of the Siouxland Street Rodders and a member of Three Rivers Gun Club.
When Paul’s physical health began to fail in 2000, he became limited in his ability to farm, but that never stopped him from loving to hunt. He enjoyed playing internet poker and made many friends all over the country participating in hunting forums on the web. He enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren.
Grateful for having shared his life are: his wife of 38 years, Gail; sons- Nick and his wife, Halie, Beresford, SD and Adam and his wife, Kelly, Canton, SD; four grandchildren- Jurnie, Jerrica, Kaidyn, and Ava; father, Sam and his wife, Lavonne, Lennox, SD; sisters- Pauline (Neal) Albers, Garretson and Connie Dickinson, Slidell, LA; brother-in-law, Greg (Kathy) Lukes, Sioux Falls, SD; sister-in-law, Sandie (Larry) Wibeto, Mesa, AZ; nieces and nephews- Toby, Casey, Lory, Lonny, Craig, Stacy, Lisa, Donny, Katie, and Cory; and many other extended family members.
Paul’s family requests that you please wear camouflage to the memorial service to honor Paul’s love of hunting.
I am a Moderator on Jesses Hunting and Outdoors. Paul posted under the user name, “Farmdude”. I am very sorry for your loss. His hunting stories were very inspirational, and he will be sorely missed. Prayers out to his family and friends. God speed, Paul
A good friend I met online in a hunting forum…You will be missed and God’s speed brother!
Tom and Deb Paulson
We are very sorry for your loss. We enjoyed our time with Paul over the years and hold those memories very close to our hearts. Our sincerest condolences to Gail, Adam, Nick and their families.
I just wanted to express just how deeply sad I am with the passing of Paul aka farmdude. No words can express how much I will miss Paul or how much I enjoyed my time of knowing him. You can be assured that I will be praying for all of you in this very difficult time. I truly am very sorry. God Bless all of you.
My deepest sympathies go to Paul’s family and friends in SD and elsewhere. I believe he was one of the best people and hunters that I have known in my life and he will be dearly missed by many others besides myself I’m sure.
Gail, Nick and Adam, I’m so very sorry for the loss of Paul. He will truly be missed by the Outdoor Adventures forum family, and by me personally. I met him when he came to Tyler, TX. several years ago.. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you..
Our hearts are heavy from such sad news.. Paul, FD to me and others on the Outdoor Adventures Forum, has been a great inspiration to me over the last few years. I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person, yet, thru his writings his wonderful pictures, and jokes, he became a dear friend. He will be sorely missed by many. May God gather friends and family, alike, in His caring arms, granting all, the strength to face the days ahead. May the tears of sorrow wash away your pain, as multitudes of memories find their way in, casting out the shadows in your hearts, bringing tears of joy and comfort to your soul. I feel blessed to have traveled along life’s highway with you FD, Godspeed.
I played football with Paul. He played defensive nose and was one of the toughest guys I knew. I always tried to go against him in warm-up before a game. If I could do a decent job blocking him I was probably going to do OK for the game. I hope all you have are good memories. I had lost touch over the years, but I feel your loss. May God be with you at this time. From what I read, he was an exceptional person. My prayers are with you.
Hi guys. Sorry to hear about Paul. Just doesn’t seem real. We enjoyed many good times over the years. He will be in our thoughts forever.
We are very saddened by Paul’s sudden passing. He never failed to make us laugh on the Keith Warren hunting forum. I have and will continue to pray for you, his family, for peace, happiness and the love that Paul had for all of you. I am so thankful and blessed to have met him and will be glad when we all see each other in Heaven where I know he is now walking with happiness. Take care and God bless you all. Dotty.
My sincere Prayers for the family. I never met Paul in person yet shared many hours of ful laughter & good ale fashoned Comoradery on Keith Warrens Forum. He almost made one of the hunts we were on but came up without a ride. I will miss his kindness and just plain good guy chatter. May God bless you all in this time. Bob Taylor, Michigan
Never met Paul however I read many posts on Jesse’s hunting forum. Seemed to always be a nice man. God bless you all. RIP
The world is a lesser place today without Paul Farmerdude” Sletten. He set an example we can all struggle to follow and was a very positive force of nature. God Bless You Paul. Thanks for all the helpful advice along the way. See you around the campfire in Heaven buddy. Bruce PS: How did this happen?
Please accept my heartfelt sorrow over your loss. We will all miss him and his wonderful humor. We are so glad the two of you joined us this last fall for the class reunion. He was one of the classmates who I sat next to in school because our last names started with an ‘S’. Great memories are everything to us who have lost a spouse. God will bless you and your family as he helps you find your way forward.