Richard Belatti, M.D., (ANES ’78)

January 20, 1928  –  October 23, 2023

Richard Belatti, Sr. Obituary

Dick Belatti, age 95, of Madison, passed away Monday, October 23, 2023 at Bethel Lutheran Home in Madison.

Memorial mass will be 10:30 AM on Friday, October 27th at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church with Father Chester Murtha as the Celebrant. Visitation will be 5-7 PM on Thursday at Rustand-Weiland Funeral Chapel with a prayer service at 7 PM and a Rosary to follow. Visitation will continue from 9:30-10:15 AM on Friday at the funeral chapel followed by procession to the church for mass. Inurnment will be in St. Thomas Cemetery following mass. 

Richard George Belatti constantly used his education and people skills, guided by his faith, to assist his family and his community. He was born in Watertown, South Dakota, on January 20, 1928, with his early education at Immaculate Conception School and graduation from Watertown Senior High School in 1945. Richard attended the University of South Dakota for one year before enlisting with the U.S. Army and serving two years in Japan.

After his military service, Richard attended and graduated, in 1951, from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended medical school at the University of South Dakota for two years and, while there, met Marilyn Jean Lloyd, of Vermillion, South Dakota. They were united in marriage in December of 1954 in Omaha, Nebraska, while Richard was completing the last two years of his medical education. He received the degree of Medical Doctor from Creighton University in 1956.

After an internship in Duluth, Minnesota, and two years of medical practice in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, Dr. Belatti and his family moved to Madison, South Dakota, in 1959. There he found family medicine, a rewarding practice at the Madison Clinic. He also valued his time with his family and friends, including his hobbies of hunting, fishing, and raising cattle and sheep. While his children were growing up in Madison, Dr. Belatti was elected to the Lake Central School Board and served as city Health Director. In other community service, he was Co-Chairman of fund raising for Madison’s Prairie Village, a Board Member of the early Prairie Historical Society, and a member of the Lake County Historical Society. He was a Board member of The Catholic Foundation of Eastern South Dakota and the South Dakota Lung Association.

In 1976, with his family by his side, Dr. Belatti entered the Anesthesiology Residency program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. After completing this program in 1979, he and Marilyn moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he practiced Anesthesiology at Sioux Valley Hospital. Dr. Belatti was also elected to the South Dakota Legislature. He served for a total of eight years, including terms in both the South Dakota Senate and the South Dakota House of Representatives.

Upon his retirement from medical practice in 1993, Dr. Richard and Marilyn moved back to Madison. They enjoyed traveling the world in addition to their community service. Dr. Belatti was appointed to the South Dakota Board of Regents and served for six years. Over the years, he was a member of the American Legion, the Knights of Columbus, the Elks, Rotary, and regularly served as a lector at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Madison.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Oscar and Carlotta Belatti; his beloved wife, Marilyn Lloyd Belatti: his brother, Steven; his sister, Katherine; and grandson, Michael. He is survived by: two sons, Dr. Richard (Michaela) of Omaha, Nebraska, and John of Sedro Wooley, Washington; two daughters, Ann of Madison, South Dakota, and Susan of Flagstaff, Arizona; two grandsons, Dr. Daniel (Heidi) of Grand Junction, Colorado, and Thomas (Dr. Paula) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; many nieces and nephews.

The family suggest memorials to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Madison, South Dakota, or to the Richard G. and Marilyn J. Belatti Scholarship Funds at the following:

The University of South Dakota Foundation,

Creighton University in Omaha, NE, and

Dakota State University Foundation.