Former Sioux Valley Hospital leader Lyle Schroeder dies
Aug. 15, 2024
Lyle Schroeder, who served as longtime president of Sioux Valley Hospital, now Sanford Health, has died.
He was 89.
Schroeder spent more than 35 years at Sioux Valley, beginning in housekeeping and maintenance and leading to decades of service as president and CEO.
As general chairman and coordinator of Forward Sioux Falls, Schroeder organized volunteers to raise over $1.8 million in 78 days, according to information published by the South Dakota Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 1994.
“This helped Sioux Falls receive the No. 1 rating by Money magazine in 1992,” it said. “That same year, Schroeder’s vision of Sioux Falls and dedication to SVH was commended by the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, naming him Sioux Falls Business Citizen of the Year.”
Schroeder retired from Sioux Valley in 1997.
“I had a very good career at Sioux Valley Hospital,” he wrote. “The hospital was good for the Schroeder family and hopefully history will show that we were good for the hospital.”
To read an account of his life in his own words, click here.
The accomplishments and standing, personal and professional, expressed in Schroeder’s own life summary illustrate “a man bigger than life,” said Kelby Krabbenhoft, who succeeded him as CEO.
“What a blessing it must be to be in his lineage as family. What a blessing it must be to have been in his employ. What a blessing it must be to have been his friend,” he said.
“To have known him as a man that was chosen to succeed him was a public, and deeply private, gift. He was a legend beyond his work, before ever meeting him.”
