Category Archives: News

Tracy Jean Harmacek, 52, passed away Tuesday Dec. 13, 2016, after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis.   She was born in Burke on Oct. 14, 1964 to Ernie and Eileen (Young) Harmacek. Tracy moved from Colome with her family to Denver Colorado in 1977 and graduated from high school in 1982 at Thomas Jefferson High School . She interned her junior and senior year of high school at ACCU, Inc. a property management company and was hired after graduation where she worked until her retirement in 2006.

Bernice H. (Lawyer) Hermanek was born on November 28, 1929 in Wagner, SD. She was the second daughter of three to Elmer and Helen (Hrdlicka) Lawyer.

Bernice attended school in Ravinia and graduated from Lake Andes High School in 1947. Bernice received her teacher’s certificate from Southen State Teachers College in Springfield, SD in 1947. She taught country school for 3 years. Bernice met Norman Hermanek at a dance in Lake Andes in 1943. They were united in marriage on a Sunday evening, June 20, 1948 at the Geddes Methodist Church. Bernice and Norman made their home east of Geddes on a farm for over 44 years. In 1992, they moved to Geddes. Two children were born to this union.

Bernice and Norman started square dance lessons in Pickstown, SD in 1956 which led to over 40 years of dancing all over South Dakota and several states, including Hawaii, California and Washington. Since she was the caller’s wife, she rarely sat out a dance, which probably contributed to three knee replacements over the years. During this time she found time to start a wedding business in 1968 making hundreds of large wedding cakes and cakes for all occasions along with wood-fiber flowers for weddings; quilting, crocheting, sewing her own square dance dresses, crafts of all types, canning and gardening. Family gatherings meant so much to her. She loved the holidays when the entire family would gather. Playing with her grandkids and holding her great-grandchildren. Bernice died at Armour Care & Rehabilitation Center on Friday, January 6, 2017 at the age of 87.

Dennis was born in Burke on Feb. 26, 1955 to his parents Andrew W. and Eleanor R. (Herndon) Klein. He graduated from Burke High School in 1973. He had various jobs, but his primary occupation was truck driving.

In May of 1975 he was united in marriage to Vickie Stoltenburg. To this union a daughter, Katie, was born. This marriage later ended in divorce. Dennis then married Mardella Graf and to this union a son, Nicholas, was born.

Den was often described as having a heart of gold. His hobbies included fishing, coin collecting, volunteering at the Butterfly House in Sioux Falls and attending church activities.

Leo was born Winner, SD on June 2, 1952 to Robert and Vera (Pastian) Mansheim as the fourth of six children. He attended rural Gable School for his elementary years and graduated from Colome High School in 1971. He attended Mitchell Vo Tech before returning to Colome to join his father and brother Donald in the family farming tradition. Leo married Retta Dale Wilms on Nov. 24, 1972. They made their home on a farm north of Colome where Leo resided with Retta and their son Travis until Leo’s disabling stroke in October 2008, after which he resided at nursing homes in Gregory, Armour, and Winner.

Following the example of his father and grandfather, Leo’s life prior to his stroke, revolved around building a successful farming, dairy, and ranching operation with his family. Retta was in charge of milking cows and Leo was the “field” man.

Leo always enjoyed spending time with his numerous cousins, nieces and nephews that visited the farm for horseback rides, rides in his big Green Tractor and even rides on a pet dairy cow. A couple of his hobbies were bowling and snowmobiling. He looked forward to pheasant hunting season and all the good times and laughs with relatives and friends from across the country. He thoroughly enjoyed visiting. He could always tell a good story and enjoyed a good laugh.

Leo was a man of the soil and a hard worker. He wanted work done right and his way. Leo was a member of the Knights of Columbus and became a Fourth Degree Knight. He also worked with the Colome Jaycees and was very involved in 4-H.