Eureka High School Alumni
Eureka, South Dakota (SD)
Recent Members
| Amanda Vanderlaan | 1997 |
| Christy Schick | 1973 |
| Don Kallenberger Kallenberger | 1972 |
| John John Nies | 1981 |
| Judy Judy Fischer | 1972 |
| Julie Bill | 1976 |
| Mike Opp | 1975 |
| Roxy Bertsch | 1981 |
Military Alumni
Honoring Our Heroes
This area is dedicated to our alumni that have served or are serving in our armed forces!
Lost Class Rings
Have you lost your Eureka High School class ring? Have you found someone's class ring? Visit our Trojans lost class ring page to search for your class ring or post information about a found ring.
Honored Military Alumni
Keva Bender
Class of 1933
Army, 6 Years
Keva (Kenneth) Bender was the first volunteer from McPherson County, South Dakota for the army in World War II in 1941. Though he had recently graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School and had passed the Minnesota and South Dakota Bar, he enlisted as a private. After training at Fort Snelling, and Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, he, Captain "Chief" Bender led 200 men onto the beaches of Normandy, France on D Day +1, and earned a silver star, 2 purple hearts, bronze star and combat infantry badge in 68 straight days of combat. Upon honorable discharge from the Army, he had earned the rank of Major. Two of the members of our Dad's Eureka Trojan basketball team were killed in the service. Our Dad always felt lucky to have been given the privilege to fight for our country with such a wonderful group of men, and alsofelt lucky that he survived to raise his family in this great land. My sister and I now have our Dad's book of Eureka men who served our country. We and our children will always be proud of him, and thankful we were able to return to Eureka with him and with 2 of his grandchildren 2 years before his death. On his gravestone we had written, "Gentle soldier ... you fought so we can live."
Class of 1933
Army, 6 Years
Keva (Kenneth) Bender was the first volunteer from McPherson County, South Dakota for the army in World War II in 1941. Though he had recently graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School and had passed the Minnesota and South Dakota Bar, he enlisted as a private. After training at Fort Snelling, and Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, he, Captain "Chief" Bender led 200 men onto the beaches of Normandy, France on D Day +1, and earned a silver star, 2 purple hearts, bronze star and combat infantry badge in 68 straight days of combat. Upon honorable discharge from the Army, he had earned the rank of Major. Two of the members of our Dad's Eureka Trojan basketball team were killed in the service. Our Dad always felt lucky to have been given the privilege to fight for our country with such a wonderful group of men, and alsofelt lucky that he survived to raise his family in this great land. My sister and I now have our Dad's book of Eureka men who served our country. We and our children will always be proud of him, and thankful we were able to return to Eureka with him and with 2 of his grandchildren 2 years before his death. On his gravestone we had written, "Gentle soldier ... you fought so we can live."
Alumni Stories
Read and submit stories about our classmates from Eureka High School, post achievements and news about our alumni, and post photos of our fellow Trojans.
School News
Do you have any news to share? Keep our classmates informed on news and current events! Please post all reunion information in the reunion area.
Our Eureka High School military alumni are some of the most outstanding people we know and this page recognizes them and everything they have done! Not everyone gets to come home for the holidays and we want our Eureka High School Military to know that they are loved and appreciated. All of us in Eureka are proud of our military alumni and want to thank them for risking their lives to protect our country!