Michael Raymond Sprong, 61

Michael Raymond Sprong, 61, of Yankton, S.D., passed away on Oct. 16, 2024 after a brief hospitalization. He was born on Feb. 10, 1963 to Irene Wood Sprong and Raymond Sprong in Franklin Park, Ill., and thus began a life of great adventure.

Michael spent most of his youth in Elkhart, Inc. So, at the age of 15, while living with his family in Michigan, he made a choice to have a safer life. He left home one morning with just the clothes on his back, walked more than an hour to get to Christiana Creek, jumped in, and then swam almost 10 miles back to Elkhart. As a homeless teenager, he soon became an emancipated minor. While working nights over the next three years, he attended high school and graduated in 1981.

At the age of 18, he caught a ride with friends heading out west in search of a California dream. Fate intervened. His friends abandoned him at the Des Moines Catholic Worker, a homeless shelter in Iowa. And in this way, he was delivered into his life’s vocation as an activist in humanitarian service.

True to the principles of the Catholic Worker movement and his Anabaptist faith, Michael came to embrace pacifism, Christian anarchism, voluntary poverty, and living out the Gospel Works of Mercy. For the next four decades he worked to end war and its root causes of poverty and injustice. He cared for the sick, provided food and shelter to those in need, and advocated for human rights.

By studying the “Greats” who had come before, Michael understood the power of activism. He followed their example in his simplest act of holding a protest sign to lobbying in the halls of Congress. As a gifted organizer and extemporaneous speaker, he was sought after to collaborate with groups both in the United States and internationally. He was proud to be an election observer in war zones in the Philippines (1992) and in El Salvador (1994).

Throughout the years he spent time in several Catholic Worker communities in Des Moines, Iowa; Columbia, Mo,; Omaha, Neb.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Luck, Wis. He also helped found two communities in South Dakota.

In 1985, he met Beth Preheim when they both lived and worked at the Community for Creative Nonviolence in Washington DC. On August 1, 1987 they were joined in common law marriage in the Turkey Ridge valley near Freeman, S.D. They made Beth’s ancestral homestead a home base and a Catholic Worker farm, called Rose Hill, for more than 20 years. During this time together, they also operated a book publishing company for books about the Catholic Worker movement and peace activism.

For many years, Michael was instrumental in leadership of the South Dakota Peace and Justice Center. Besides serving on the board of directors, he did state lobbying that resulted in expansion of Medicaid for children, enhanced recognition of indigenous and tribal rights, and protection of the environment.

Both Michael and Beth also worked with Nukewatch, an organization dedicated to bringing attention to critical issues of nuclear weapons and radioactive waste. Out of this work, Michael joined with others to confront U.S. violations of international law. In a three-year project, he worked under the guidance of lawyers and experts in international law on the issues of no-fly-zones in Iraq and first-strike nuclear weapon systems. This sustained campaign of education and action garnered international attention.

In June of 2000, in a part of this wider effort, Michael along with Bonnie Urfer cut down electrical poles to take a first-strike nuclear communication system offline to bring an international law argument into the U.S. courts. The trial lasted several days and inspired others to continue the campaign. He received a light sentence of just 60 days in the federal prison camp in Yankton.

This led Michael to a passion for prison ministry. In 2003, Michael and Beth formed the Yankton Catholic Worker community along with other local Peace and Justice Center members. In addition to working to end the death penalty in South Dakota, the group founded Emmaus House. This hospitality house provided free accommodations and meals for women and children visiting loved ones in local prisons and the state psychiatric hospital. Over 15 years as live-in volunteers, Michael and Beth welcomed more than 3,000 individuals into their home. He cleaned toilets, did fundraising, and kept everything running.

Michael retired in 2019 and became legally divorced from Beth as a result of the lasting effects of his severe childhood trauma and subsequent alcohol dependency. They lived apart and yet remained life partners and best friends. They spent time together each and every day.

Michael repeatedly struggled to get out of the grip of trauma and alcohol that would define the last years of his life. As it increasingly took its toll, he did all he could to live a humble life of dignity: to garden, cook, clean and walk in nature.

As a champion of many lost causes, he lived by a phrase he coined early on: “Even if it turns slowly, it’s still a revolution.” He brought a little more peace and comfort to this world. Now, not only is he in a place of peace, but also on to his next adventure in the Great Beyond.

He is survived by his life partner, Beth Preheim; his mother, Irene Wood Dickman, and his brother, Mark Sprong, both of Cookeville, Tenn.; his cousin Don Scheberle of Michigan City, Ind.; his nieces and their children; and many friends.

He was preceded in death by his father, Raymond Sprong, and his sister Machelle Pearce.

A visitation will be held Friday, Nov. 15 from 5 to 7 p.m., and a Celebration of Life service will take place on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Opsahl Kostel Funeral Home in Yankton.