Dorothy Christina Steffen, 81, passed away at Sanford Hospice Cottage, Sioux Falls, SD, on June 14, 2016 after a brief battle with lung cancer.
Dorothy Vander Kuur was born February 8, 1935 in Paxton, SD to Leonard and Christena Vander Kuur.
She grew up with sister, Lorraine, and brother, Norman, enjoying airplane rides from her father and great German cooking from her mother.
She attended St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Pierre and obtained her Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) license prior to meeting and subsequently marrying the love of her life, Henry “Vic” Steffen, on February 14, 1960. They lived in Burke, SD and Ft. Riley, Kansas before they bought their first home in Blunt, SD in 1972, where Dorothy lived until moving to Sioux Falls in 2014.
Vic, who was Assistant Director of EMS Services in South Dakota, was tragically killed in an accident in 1976.
After Vic’s death, Dorothy received her EMT certification in 1977. She became one of the first female members of the Blunt Volunteer Fire Department when she joined that year ,as an EMT, to be part of their medical response team. She became a CPR Instructor in 1979 and a CPR Instructor Trainer in 1983. She was available for emergency calls, day or night, as part of this medical team. She provided various other nursing cares to the people of Blunt when needed, as well. The Blunt Elementary Fire Prevention Program was another way Dorothy was active in her community through the Fire Department, taking over as Chairperson of that program from 2003-2014.
Dorothy was employed at St Mary’s Hospital in Pierre, working on the Surgical/Orthopedic unit, but her main love was for care of Pediatric patients. She became well known for her role in the “Come and See” Program, allowing her to take school-aged children on tours of the hospital, showing them her world and enjoying all of their funny comments. She retired from St. Mary’s in 2000 after 25 years of caring.
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