Fr. Charles Duman

MITCHELL, S.D. - Fr. Charles Duman, 97, Mitchell, S.D., formerly of Yankton, S.D., died Jan. 25, 2021, at Avera Brady Nursing Home, Mitchell, S.D., where he had been entrusted to hospice care.

Mass of Christian Burial was Feb. 1 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Salem, S.D. The Most Rev. Donald E. DeGrood, Bishop of Sioux Falls, S.D., was the main celebrant of the Mass.

Burial was in the Sacred Heart Cemetery, Yankton.

Walk through visitations were Jan. 31 at the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Onsite Crematory, Yankton, and continued one hour prior to the service at the church.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, friends and family were encouraged to participate through live streaming of Fr. Duman’s services at: https://www.facebook.com/opsahlkostel/live. Those wishing to attend in person were required to wear a mask and to practice social distancing guidelines.

Charles J. Duman was born May 5, 1923, in Hartington, to Ben and Leone (Wiebelhaus) Duman. One of six children, he was baptized May 6, 1923, at Holy Trinity Church, Hartington. The Dumans would later move from Hartington to Wynot, where Charles attended elementary school at St. James and then went to Vermillion, S.D., where he attended high school. In 1942, Charles enrolled at St. Bernard Seminary in Sioux Falls, a work of the Mariannhill Fathers. When the seminary was closed in 1943, Charles transferred to the seminary’s Brighton, Mich., location where he completed his minor seminary formation under the direction of the Mariannhill Fathers. He would go on to attend major seminary at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana.

Charles was ordained to the priesthood May 3, 1952, by the Most Rev. William 0. Brady at Saint Agnes Church, Vermillion. Upon his ordination until 1963, Father Duman served as an associate or temporary administrator at Christ the King and Cathedral parishes in Sioux Falls, and also at the Yankton, Aurora, White, Hartford and Huntimer parishes. In 1963, he was assigned pastor for the first time in Marion. He would go on to serve in pastorates at Scotland, Vodnany, Estelline, Garretson, and Castlewood, all in South Dakota. Beginning in 1981, Father Duman would serve at chaplaincies to the Sacred Heart Monastery, the SD Human Services Center, and the Federal Prison Camp in Yankton. From 1992 until 1996, Father Duman served in his final assignment as pastor at St. Patrick Parish, Wakonda.

Father Duman retired from his last assignment in 1996, but that hardly slowed him from offering priestly ministry. Father Duman ministered many times to the Residents Encounter Christ program offered to inmates within the South Dakota Penitentiary. In addition to providing substitute ministry for pastors at many locations, Father Duman went on to offer priestly ministry at Hartington, and Salem, Marion and Mitchell in South Dakota. While residing in these communities, he provided regular liturgies and other sacramental ministry to parishioners and to members of senior living facilities. In fact, Avera Brady Home and the Bishop Hoch Villas were his residence for nine years before his death.

Of the many accomplishments Father Duman achieved in life, two stood out for him. He was always proud to have been the first male graduate from Mount Marty College (1968, B.A. in English Literature). Even more frequently, Father Duman was known to regularly, and with humility, share stories of reconciliations he had come to after experiencing hardships and misunderstandings with parishioners and friends.

Father Duman was preceded in death by his parents and siblings. He is survived by most of his 41 nieces and nephews.