Funeral services for Opal Ann Boes were held April 21 at Grace Lutheran Church in Burke with Pastor David Schmidt and Pastor John Schwartz officiating. Burial will be in the Herrick Cemetery at a later date.
Opal Ann Boes was born Aug. 19, 1930, at St. Charles, South Dakota to Darwin and Fern Wilson. She passed away quietly, holding her son’s hand, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre, South Dakota at 4:09 p.m. on April 13, 2018 after a courageous battle with health issues.
Opal was the middle child of three and grew up on a farm south of Herrick, South Dakota. She was a member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Burke, South Dakota and was confirmed and baptized at St John’s Lutheran Church in Herrick as a child. At the age of 15, she met Naven Boes at a dance in Herrick, they dated for one year. They were united in marriage on Dec. 13, 1946 at the Naper Lutheran Church in Naper, Neb., in front of their witnesses Art and Erma Boes. This love would remain and sustain them for the remainder of their lives. To this union seven children were born. They would live on several farms within the Burke area prior to purchasing the Boes family farm from Naven’s parents in 1961. There they continued to live and raise their children until Naven’s death on Sept. 13, 1999. After his death, she sold the farm and moved to Gregory, South Dakota for a short time before moving to Ft. Pierre, South Dakota in 2002. She worked at the Community Youth Center until suffering a stroke, while working in 2009.
Some of Opal’s favorite activities included dancing with Naven, as they spent many nights gliding across a waltz floor as their children watched. She loved listening to music, especially Daniel O’Donnell and Lawrence Welk. She enjoyed hosting card parties for the neighbors and was always willing and able to play a hand of six point pitch or checkers at the drop of a hat with her grandchildren. She loved spending time with her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and any other child. Nothing would bring a smile to her face faster than a visit from a young person. She enjoyed all of her grandchildren’s sporting events, graduations, marriages and proms, and loved watching her favorite Chicago Cubs.
During her years on the farm she was known to raise large gardens of vegetables that she would use to feed her family or to sell. Acres and acres of tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, muskmelons, and onions. She also raised and butchered hundreds of chickens each year. She worked side by side with Naven, but was known for always having a chocolate brownie and cup of coffee ready for her family or guests.
Opal was preceded in death by her husband, Naven; her daughter, Joyce; her grandson, Steven; her great-grandson, Stetson; her parents, Darwin and Fern; her step-mother, Olive; her sister, Dorothea, her brother, Edwin; her in-laws, Jacob and Hulda Boes; 9 brothers-in-law and 5 sisters-in-law.
Opal is survived by her children and their spouses: Twila (Kenny) Combs of Dallas, SD; Bradley (Elaine) Boes of Rapid City, SD; Lorna (Richard) Whiting of Gregory, SD; Krista (Steve) Cerny of Rapid City, SD; Douglas (Candi) Boes of Ft. Pierre, SD; Timothy (Jen) Boes of Johnston, IA; her son-in-law, Sonny; 21 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren; as well as many other relatives and friends.
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