A Home Run for Columbia

By Chad Coppess

Columbia's ball field and park were the impetus for citywide refurbishments.

Community spirit. Most South Dakota towns have it, but it would be hard to find one with more than Columbia, 19 miles northeast of Aberdeen. That’s largely thanks to philanthropist Dean Buntrock, who has pumped large amounts of enthusiasm into his hometown.

Buntrock, 92, fondly remembers the days in the 1940s and ’50s when his father owned the International Harvester dealership and was mayor of Columbia. “He sold everything a farmer could need and I first started working there, if you could call it working,” he chuckled. “After the second World War, a lot of new things developed in farm machinery, so we had lots to sell.” That experience led Buntrock to become a successful businessman and a founder of Waste Management, Inc., a nationwide waste and environmental services company now headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Baseball has been an important part of Columbia for decades and became a focus of Buntrock’s hometown philanthropy. “When we were kids, if you had a bicycle, a baseball glove and a baseball bat, that’s all you needed,” Buntrock says. City councilman Cole Kampa agrees. “Columbia is built around baseball. As kids, that ballpark was the center of everything, even where we went to go fishing.”

Columbia’s ballpark is called Wahl Memorial Field, named for Kermit Wahl, a Major League Baseball player who grew up here. He spent time as an infielder for the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Browns from 1944 to 1951. He died in Arizona in 1987 and is buried at Columbia’s Lakeview Cemetery.

The ballpark, framed by huge trees along the banks of the James River, was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful places in the region to play. Unfortunately, that picturesque spot also meant flooding during spring seasons when the unruly Jim overflowed its banks.

When approached with an idea for refurbishing the Columbia baseball field, Buntrock offered a donation and assistance, but wanted to do more. “I said the town needs a place to gather for picnics and things like that also,” he says. The project grew to include a relocated ballfield and greatly expanded city park.

Karen Kampa and her husband Tyler have renovated Karen's Bar and Grill and filled it with antiques and Columbia memorabilia.

He placed good friend Terry Birck in charge of working with the community and told him, “If we’re going to do it, let’s do a good job.” Birck found additional funding sources through the state of South Dakota and, Buntrock says, “It’s quadrupled what I had ever expected.” The Columbia Community Foundation was established and is providing permanent funding for the park and other area charities.

“Dean understood that rural communities don’t have a lot of money,” Birck says. “He didn’t want it to be a Dean Buntrock project though, but a community project. The South Dakota Community Foundation was a great find. With their help this became a Columbia initiative. The gift of the park was the catalyst that got things percolating.”

The monetary gifts have spurred many projects to spruce up this tiny Brown County town. Buildings have been purchased and resold, repurposed and more. Two citywide cleanup days also made homeowners aware of grant programs that could provide things like new siding and roofing. “The cleanup days were so fun because of the connections made,” says Julie Lillis, a member of the Columbia Community Foundation. “It’s so energizing to meet people you’ve waved at, but you didn’t really know.”

Karen and Tyler Kampa reopened the old log cabin bar as Karen’s Bar and Grill in early 2023. Tyler’s love of antiques has filled the place with interesting memorabilia.

Tyler’s mother, Cheryl Kampa, is a longtime daycare provider who many Columbia residents remember as a second mother figure. “Karen’s has become an attraction for at least a 20-mile radius,” she says.

After 43 years Cheryl has turned over the daycare to neighbor Emily Eichler, a transplant who said her first week in Columbia made her feel more at home than anywhere else. She is now also a city council member. Buntrock offered to build a daycare center, but Eichler is happy to be at home. “I’m glad to be able to do my laundry while still at work,” she says.

Emily Eichler runs Columbia's daycare, which serves the surrounding countryside and other small neighboring communities.

There’s plenty of work for Eichler. “For the size of our town we have a lot of little kids,” she says. Census stats back that up, indicating that Columbia’s median age is 33.2, fairly low for a small community in farm country. The daycare has 17 enrolled children with some coming from Claremont, 18 miles away.

Cole Kampa said the new city park, which encompasses several city blocks, has created the recreational gathering site that Buntrock envisioned. “Kids can walk or ride their bikes to the park without worry.”

In the 1800s, riverboats plied the James River south from Jamestown, North Dakota, with dreams of connecting to Yankton and the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The dock on the west side of Columbia spurred the building of three grand hotels, Cole Kampa said. The hotels are gone, and the river is no longer deep enough here to support a large boat, but the riverboat era is remembered around town.

Mohr Honey, on the north edge of Columbia, was quickly born when  someone suggested to Dana Mohr that he should look at some books about beekeeping. “The first year we had eight pints of honey. We failed miserably,” Mohr laughs. “There is a real, real learning curve.” Fortunately, Mohr and his bees eventually found their rhythm. He and wife Lisa harvested 1,400 gallons from 100 beehives in 2023. Mohr Honey is now sold in 15 retail outlets as far away as Rapid City. The couple donates bottles of honey as prizes for community events and gives educational talks at area schools.

At age 95, Lloyd Dennert is happy to be Columbia’s oldest resident, and his wife Doris is right behind him. When Doris was born in Columbia during the winter of 1932, she and her mother stayed in town for a week until her father came to get them in a horse-drawn sleigh. The Dennerts laughed about Halloween pranks like tipping over outhouses and remembered watching movies projected on the side of a barn in town.

Despite the large donations coming from Buntrock, the United Church of Christ and others, community members have resisted the temptation to spend wildly. “You’re talking about frugal people here,” says Lillis, the community foundation member. “It’s just in our DNA. No one is getting crazy with spending.”

“Dean’s donations have given us resources,” Eichler says. “And it’s laying the foundation for long-term success. It’s been a whirlwind couple of years.”

That community spirit has also created a sense of volunteerism. Community events are on the rise, with last year’s parade being the first since the city’s centennial in 1985. “Dean’s motivation is beyond just the parks, but to improve the quality of life and create a long-lasting pride in the community,” Birck says.

Even with his assistance, Buntrock doesn’t necessarily expect Columbia to boom. “I don’t think they are ever going to be more than a little independent town close to Aberdeen, but more important than the baseball field and park is that we have really brought the town together. It’s in good hands.”

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the March/April 2024 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order or to subscribe, call (800) 456-5117.