A memorial service for Torger Henckel is set for 11:00 a.m. on
Saturday, October 5 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Rapid City. The funeral is planned for the same day at
the English Lutheran Church in his
hometown of Viroqua,
Wisc.
The students, faculty and staff at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
are mourning the loss of Torger Henckel, who passed away after a fall while
hiking in the Black Elk Wilderness area of Custer State Park in the Black Hills.
Henckel represented the best of SD
Mines. He was an active member of both the Mine Rescue Team and the world
champion Mining and Mucking Team. His skills as a mathematician and
surveyor clinched the SD Mines world championship victory at the 2018 International
Collegiate Mining Games in Cornwall, England. Henckel was completing his final
semester in mining engineering and set to graduate in December. He had accepted
a job offer in Tucson, Ariz., with Freeport McMoRan.
He will be greatly missed on
campus. A local memorial service for Torger
Henckel is set for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 5 at St. Paul’s Lutheran
Church which is located at 835 E Fairmont Boulevard in Rapid City. The same day his funeral will be held at the English Lutheran Church in Torger’s
hometown of Viroqua, Wisc. More
information on the service in Wisconsin is in the obituary published here.
The Henckel family is establishing
memorials in Torger’s name for Custer
County Search & Rescue as well as the SD Mines Mining and Mucking Team. They request that no flowers be sent.
SD Mines President Jim Rankin encourages any students, faculty, or
staff who are finding difficulty in this loss to seek out campus counseling services,
campus ministries, human resources, and other appropriate personnel as needed.