Kirly "Steve" Paul Bjorum

Obituary -- Kirly (Steven) Bjorum

Kirly was born February 12, 1954, in Bowman, North Dakota, and passed away February 4, 2026—just a few days short of his 72nd birthday. His parents moved to Pierre, South Dakota, where he started school. The family relocated to Spearfish where his dad ended up as the athletic director at the high school where Kirly played football, wrestled, and skied on the high school ski team. He graduated in 1972 and immediately enlisted in the United States Naval Construction Battalion, the SeeBee’s, and completed the Class A Builder’s School (USN). His home port was in Gulf Port, Mississippi, with deployments to Okinawa and Rota, Spain. While on the Rota deployment, Kirly was a member of the Naval Wrestling Team that gave him many opportunities to travel throughout Europe to wrestle with time to ski and sample a few local vineyards.

After an Honorable Discharge from the Navy, Kirly returned to Spearfish and put his carpentry skills to work building homes. In 1976, the allure of the oil and coal boom in Gillette offered more opportunities where he and his first wife, Terri, opened a flower shop, where shortly, they added two sons, Matt and Marshall, to the family. As the boys grew, he continued “building a small part of a beautiful America” --always employing the SeeBee value of “doing a job right the first time”.

Gillette had a booming, vibrant economy, and he worked on many community projects from the ground up including Buckskin Mine, Stockmen’s and First National Banks, the county parking structure, Campbell County Hospital, Detention Center, the Heritage Center and horse barn at Camplex, Thunder Basin High School, and others. In 2000, he quit working for others and opened his own construction business enjoying his favorite part of carpentry, interior trim work. He continued his business until 2015 when he retired alongside his second wife of over 40 years, Karen.

While Gillette was a working community, Spearfish and the Black Hills were the places where his heart was with family, friends, and a cabin in the hills where he was the happiest, and he pursued his passion for hunting white tail, elk, and turkey. The cabin was a place for family and friends—snowmobiling, four wheeling, dirt bikes, hiking, getting stuck, poker, stories around the fireplace, gold panning! --and endless memories for many.

Retirement brought ‘snow birding’ and camping adventures to southern Texas where he fished the Gulf to his heart’s content, traveled to Arizona to golf, and made many new friends. That retirement was cut short when Kirly was diagnosed with cancer and started treatments hoping not for a cure but for more time. He didn’t tolerate the treatment drugs well, and they didn’t control the spread of the cancer, so he quit. He passed peacefully held softly by his family.

The best experience in Kirly’s life was his service to his country that he did proudly. It instilled in him a life purpose, values, and a deep patriotism that structured his life.

Kirly is survived by his wife, Karen; sons Matt (grandchildren Mattie, Jackson, and Lukas); Marshall (grandchildren Quintin, Londyn, and Bronx); step-daughter and son-in-law-Jaci and Don (grandchildren: Zane, Olivia, and Jack); and brother Dan.

Services:

Visitation: Thursday, February 12; 3-5P; Gillette Memorial Chapel, Gillette, WY (Celebration of Life to follow at Kirly’s garage).

Service: Friday, February 13; 11A; Gillette Memorial Chapter, Gillette, WY

Internment: February 13; 2:30P; Black Hills National Cemetery, Sturgis, SD

(Celebration of Life to follow at Saloon 333, Beulah, WY)

Donation in lieu of flowers:

Spearfish Veteran’s Memorial, PO Box 1072, Spearfish, SD 57783