Category Archives: Obituaries

Mark Raymond Storms (Hoppy) was born July 6, 1923 on the family homestead, south of Keyapaha in the Beaver Creek Township to Joseph and Crescencia (Willems) Storms. Mark was the 2nd youngest child of nine. One younger brother Jim and three older brothers John, Eugene and Warner. Four older sisters Marie, Helen, Bernice and Laurene.

The family attended mass at a country church called St. Anne’s located 2 miles north of the homestead and St. Bonifice located 15 miles north of Clearfield, SD. The Priest would alternate Sunday’s. There were too many family members to fit in the old model T at one time, the family had to take turns going to mass.

Mark grew up on the family farm and attended Beaver Creek School. Mark and his dad were struck by lightning while milking cows in the barn. Mark’s dad was killed, Mark was knocked unconscious and three cows were also killed. Mark was 15 at the time. He dropped out of school and helped his brothers take over for their father. He later returned to school and graduated from Winner High School.

Mark joined the US Navy in 1943 and served in the Philippines during WWII until 1946. When Mark returned home from the service he went to a dance at the Cosmo Club in Valentine, NE where he met the love of his life, Dolores Simons. They were married September 23, 1948. They were married 3 months short of 60 years.

They lived on the Leo Rock ranch where they ranched for 4 years before moving to the Olaf Tuntland ranch east of Keyapaha in 1952. While living there two children were born. Andy, Ruth, Mark and Dolores raised cattle, chickens and had a huge garden with lots of canning done. They lived here for 18 years before moving to Winner in 1970. They all left their hearts on the ranch and tried to become accustomed to a new life style.

Mark went to work as a carpenter for Bill Koos and helped build their new home in Winner that they moved into in 1970. Mark worked for Bill until 1979 and then went to work for Highway Lumber building homes, until he retired.

Marked loved to hunt, fish and taught his kids and grandkids the love of the sport. He was a baseball coach for Clearfield Midgets. He loved to watch the Minnesota Twins and Vikings, as well as the Denver Broncos. He loved to read books as a past time.

After retirement Mark and Dolores enjoyed spending time together with their kids and grandchildren. When Dolores passed away in June 2007, Mark decided to move to Rapid City three and half years later. The yard and garden got to be more work instead of enjoyment. So he moved into an independent living retirement community (Primrose) in March 2011 at the age of 87. In August of 2015, Mark moved to Fountain Springs Health Care Center where he resided until his passing on November 6, at the age of 92.

Harold Smith was born on March 15, 1926 to Orville and Sarah (Fetzer) Smith on the family farm north of Gregory, SD. He was baptized and confirmed at St. John Lutheran Church in Gregory.

Harold attended rural school north of Dallas through the fourth grade. He then attended school in Gregory and graduated from high school in 1943. Harold joined the United States Army in 1944 and served at Fort Lawton, WA, where he joined the personnel group on the base. Among the many details of his job were the preparing of discharge papers for returning servicemen and ordering the many supplies needed on the base. Harold was honorably discharged in 1946.

Harold made the decision that he wanted to become a teacher. He enrolled at the University of South Dakota-Springfield through the G.I. Bill and completed the requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree in English education in 1949 graduating summa cum laude. He had reached the first part of his goal. He later earned a Master’s Degree from the University of Wyoming in 1954.

Harold began teaching in Colome and Winner as a high school teacher. In addition to his English classes he directed speech activities including declam and plays. Harold began teaching at USD/Springfield during the fall of 1956. Harold married Dolores Klima on June 4, 1966 at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, IA. Harold continued teaching at USD/S until the life of the institution ended in 1984 due to legislative actions. After the closure, Harold joined the faculty at Mount Marty College in Yankton, SD.

The final step in his teaching journey was in River Forest, IL where he taught at Concordia University. The experience of living in the Chicago area proved to be an exciting and rewarding way to end his career. Thus, the final goal was completed.

Harold enjoyed gardening and raising beautiful flowers. He shared tomatoes and other vegetables from his garden with friends and family.

Harold passed away November 19, 2015 at Avera Rosebud Country Care Center in Gregory at the age of 89 years.

Anna Marie Stoeser age 60 passed away peacefully from this life in the afternoon of November 12, 2015 in her home south of Winner, South Dakota. She was surrounded and supported by her loving family in the last days of her life.

Anna was born January 23, 1955 in Pierre, South Dakota. She was the daughter of Art and Grace Weber. She graduated high school from Draper, South Dakota. She married the love of her life Bert Stoeser on October 8, 1976 in Fort Pierre, South Dakota.

Anna enjoyed gardening, cooking, canning, crocheting and loved raising sheep. Most importantly loved spoiling her grandchildren. Anna will always be remembered for her hard work on the farm, big garden, beautiful flowerbeds, love for antiques and her famous pumpkin pies.

William Knodell, age 96, of Winner, passed away on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at the Winner Regional Healthcare Facility in Winner. Funeral Services were held at 2 p.m. Saturday, November 14, 2015 at the United Methodist Church in Winner. Burial followed at the Winner City Cemetery.

William Knodell was born at home in Winner, SD on October 9, 1919, the son of Roscoe and Clara Knodell. He graduated from Winner High School in 1939. He went into the Army on July 16, 1941. He completed his basic training at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and was stationed there when World War II broke out.

He was captured in Africa and taken prisoner of war in February 1943. He remained a POW in Germany for 27 months. He was liberated in May 1945.

He married Patricia Collins on September 29, 1945. They moved to a ranch 15 miles Northwest of Mission, SD. They moved to Winner in 1955 and raised a family of 4 daughters and 4 sons.

Ruby M. Jansen, age 81 of Mission, SD, passed away November 4, 2015 in Sioux Falls after her battle with leukemia. Ruby was married to John (Jack) L. Jansen Feb 14, 1952. Before retiring in 1995 she had been employed as a meat cutter and a baker and worked for 20 years at Assman Implement as a bookkeeper.
Ruby enjoyed quilting, sewing, traveling, baking and family and friends.

Gerald Dean Drey was born June 9, 1926 at Gregory, South Dakota to Albert and Edna (Jones) Drey and he died November 11, 2015 at the Rosebud Country Care Center in Gregory, South Dakota at the age of 89 years.

A memorial service was held Nov. 14 at 10:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Burke with Father Godfrey Muwanga officiating. Burial will be at a later date at Graceland Cemetery of Burke.

Gerald attended the Rhodes School and the Catholic School in Gregory. He grew up on a farm east of Gregory. He later moved to a farm south of Burke, where he farmed with his dad and his brother.

In 1954 he was united in marriage to Edith Rang and to this union three children were born: Bruce, Jackie and Rodney. Together they lived and worked on a farm eleven miles south of Burke, where they also helped his father-in-law with farming. In 1964 they purchased a home in Burke and move into town. Gerald held many jobs throughout his life.

Due to health reasons, Gerald entered the TLC Assisted Living in Burke before moving to the Rosebud Country Care Center Nursing Home in Gregory. He had spent the last seven years in the nursing home.

Jane Lynn Nicolaisen, daughter of Edward and Lucille (Farnsworth) Nicolaisen was born on Feb. 9, 1958 in Winner. She grew up in Carter, and attended country school prior to attending Winner High School.

While competitive girl’s basketball may have been new to South Dakota, this sport was nothing new to this farm girl thanks to many hours spent growing up playing with her older brother and cousins.

Jane was a two sport athlete at Winner High School graduating in 1976. She was part of the first ever State Girls Basketball Tournament where she scored 70 points including one 31 point game. She was selected to the All-Tournament Team and was also selected to the All State 2nd team. She lettered in track two years and placed at the state track meet in discus.

She was recruited by Coach Curt Fredrickson to play women’s basketball at Northern State. Jane would like to remind Freddie that she gave him his first win and also his first loss. At Northern she was a three sport athlete competing in basketball, softball and volleyball. She lettered four seasons in basketball and softball and three years in volleyball. Jane was named the NSU Female Athlete of the year in 1976-1977. She scored 1,375 career points and had a 91 percent free throw average.

Long before the days of a smaller ball for girls or a three point line, Jane set records at both schools and many are still held to this day. She was named to the Northern State Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Winner High School Hall of Fame in 2013.

Following graduating in 1980 with a degree in education from Northern she went on to coach for a short time in Warner, S.D. In 1981 she began working for several agents managing the office for Northwestern Mutual in Aberdeen. Her persistence and attention to detail played a critical role in the success of agent Tootie Podoll. In June of 2015, Jane “Nic” Nicolaisen was honored with the Lifetime Service Award by Northwestern Mutual.

A practical jokester, Nic, as she was frequently called, would enjoy the opportunity to catch someone when they would least expect it. She loved being outdoors and always enjoyed softball, hunting and fishing. Outdoor activities have created many memories by her family and friends, some memories that can be shared in public and others that are best left to those that helped make them with her to remember with a smile. Jane favored western movies, old or new and she loved rainy days. In addition to her home in Aberdeen, Jane would return to her childhood home of Carter as often as time would allow.

Funeral services for Mary Lambley, age 77, of Burke, will be held on Monday, November 16, at 10:30 a.m. at the Civic Center in Burke. Burial will be in the Herrick Cemetery, Herrick. There will be a prayer service on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Burke. Visitation will be one hour prior to both services at the church and Civic Center.

Brayden James Worden, born May 23, 2015, passed away October 22, 2015.

Survivors include his parents, Michael and Michelle Worden; grandparents, Steve and Darla Jones and Ray and Karen Worden; great-grandparents, Douglas and Marilyn Jones, Jim and Darnytia Kucera, Ivan and Mary Wille, Norman Worden and Laura Knight; great-great grandparent, Olive Sargent; aunts and uncles, Jacob Worden, Nikki and Lee Huber and their children, Carter, Cole, and KyLee; and numerous relatives and friends.

Coreen Jean Harr was born August 23, 1936 in Gregory, SD to Harold and Inda (Blitzkie) Tarr. She grew up in St. Charles, SD and was baptized at St. Charles Methodist Church in 1939. She married Harold Dobbin in Lake Andes, SD on Dec. 29, 1952; they raised five children, Beverly, David, Lorin, Dorinda and Ellen.

Coreen enjoyed taking care of her home and cooking meals for her family. Fresh bread and cinnamon rolls were made nearly every week on the farm. When adult children came for a visit, she looked forward to preparing their favorite meals. Reading and crossword puzzles were two of her passions. Even when her children were little, she took time to solve the daily newspaper puzzle. She also enjoyed a slice of pie and any flavor of ice cream. She loved animals, especially cats and was a strong supporter of the Humane Society. Her beloved cats, Leo and Charlie, were considered part of the family. She was a member of the Democratic party and was always ready to discuss current events. In 2000 she moved from Winner to Sioux Falls to be closer to family.