Good and Uplifting News

The Brookings Register recently had a nice piece on the Lake Campbell Lutheran Church. I believe a number of our classmates may have attended services there. David Berge's father is an elder, and his family played a prominent role in the formation of the church. The complete article can be found at http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=8459&page=76

An Unexpected Death

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Peggy and the family at their loss.

Leon F. Bush, 86, died suddenly Thursday, June 10, 2010 at his Sunnyview home in Brookings, SD. The funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 15, at First United Methodist Church in Brookings. Visitation is from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Monday, June 14, at Eidsness Funeral Home, with a brief prayer service at 7:00. Leon was born January 28, 1924 in Brooksville, KY, to George and Anna (Kalb) Bush. He grew up in a family of seven children on a tobacco farm in the hills of northeastern Kentucky and graduated from Brooksville High School in 1941. Following graduation from high school, he farmed for several years with his father and brother Bill. He enlisted in the Army Corps of Engineers in April 1945, served in Japan, and was discharged in December of 1946. He attended the University of KY in Lexington, earning a B.S. in Animal Science in 1950 and an M.S. in Animal Science in 1951. While at the university, Leon married his high school sweetheart, Mary Wood Lee, on June 7, 1949. They moved to Ithaca, NY, where Leon earned his Ph.D. in Sheep Nutrition & Reproduction at Cornell University in 1954. Following graduation from Cornell, Leon and Mary Wood made their home in Brookings, SD, where they raised their family of four children. Leon was an associate professor in the Animal Science Department of South Dakota State University from 1954 until his retirement in 1985. From 1972-1974, he took a leave of absence from the university to travel to Iran with Mary Wood and his two youngest children, where he served as a consultant for Development & Resources. During his employment at SDSU, from April 1979 to August 1983, Leon and Mary Wood lived in Gaborone, Botswana, where he worked with U.S. Aid at Botswana Agricultural College. Leon was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Zeta, and the American Society of Animal Science. He served on various church boards and commissions, and was an active 4-H leader and Boy Scout leader for many years. He recently served as treasurer for Retired Teachers Association, Brookings Township Board, and Sunnyview, Inc. He farmed and raised sheep throughout most of his life and was recognized as an FFA Honorary Farmer. He also enjoyed raising and showing Morgan horses with his daughter and granddaughter. Other favorite pastimes included gardening, traveling, and woodworking, especially intarsia projects that he created for family members. Leon was devoted to his family, and loved spending time with his three grandchildren. He is survived by his wife, Mary Wood; his daughters, Margaret Bush of Brookings and Patricia Bush of Mitchell, SD; his sons, David Bush of Loveland, CO and John (Connie) Bush of Mitchell; three grandchildren, Ashlee Wakeman, Justin Bush, and Kelsey Bush; and siblings, Ruth Figgins, Jane Bush, and Alma Bush of Brooksville, KY; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother and father, brothers Otto and Bill, and sister Erma Mains. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to either First United Methodist Church in Brookings or Brookings Habitat for Humanity.

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Another Parent Passes Away

The mother of Doug Voss passed away recently.
Esther Leona Voss, 84, died Tuesday, May 25, 2010, at Brookings Health Care System. Funeral services are at 2 p.m. Saturday at First Lutheran Church in Brookings. Visitation is from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday with a 6:30 p.m. prayer service at Rude’s Funeral Home in Brookings.Esther Leona Steinberg was born Sept. 17, 1925, in Tyndall, the daughter of Andrew (Florence) Hanson Steinberg. Esther received her education in the Brookings school district. Esther married Arthur R. Voss on May 13, 1941, in Ivanhoe, Minn. After their marriage they farmed for seven years near Anoka, Minn., and Ogilvie, Minn., area until moving back to Brookings in 1950. Art died Jan. 30, 2004.She was a lifetime member of First Lutheran Church in Brookings. She enjoyed bingo, playing 31 and especially enjoyed spending time with her family and visiting with her many friends. Her greatest joy was taking care of her grandchildren and her special dog, Muffin.She is survived by three sons, Leroy (Shirley) Voss of Brookings, Douglas (Kathy) Voss of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Gary (Shirley) Voss of Tremonton, Utah; two daughters, Jeanette (Leonard) Huffman of Bushnell and Sherrie (Steve) Hougland of Brookings; 16 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, four great-great- grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.She was preceded in death by her husband, Art, two infant grandchildren, two sisters and two brothers.Condolences may be sent to the family through www.rudesfuneralhome.com.

Any Good news?

For those of you who have been following this feeble attempt at blogging, you have noticed that there does not seem to be a great deal of pleasant news. If any of you have anything that could put a little cheer into our lives, please feel free to make a contribution. Surely, there must be some joyous occasions that your classmates would like to know about. Perhaps you can think of something that happened while we were in school . This is OUR class blog, not my own personal one. All of you can make some valuable contribution. Let us know if you are traveling; maybe you can arrange to meet some classmates in the area. I'm actually not even in Brookings anymore. I have returned to school in the Boston area, trying to discern if I should continue studies for the priesthood. It's been a struggle. Life was much simpler in Brookings, and school was easier, at least for me.

This is more like it. Barb Koenders just informed me that she has been blessed with a new granddaughter. Her oldest daughter had an adorable baby girl on May 9. Congratulations.

Our Class Suffers Another Loss

We lost another one of our class recently. I had some of her children when I taught school. Her brother Mike was on our basketball and track teams our senior year. I also taught her two youngest sisters and many of her nephews. Our condolences, sympathies, and prayers go out to the family. If you go to this website (http://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/index.php?option=com_obituary&task=details&oid=748), you can sign the guestbook.


Susan M. Zimmerman
Mar 14 1951 - May 07 2010
Susan M. Zimmerman, 59, Brookings died Friday, May 07, 2010 at the Brookings Health System. Funeral services have been sent for 10:30am Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Brookings. Visitation will be held Monday, May 10, 2010 at Rude’s Funeral Home from 4:00pm to 7:00pm with a Liturgical Wake service beginning at 6:30pm Susan M. Redmond was born on March 14, 1951, in Brookings, South Dakota the daughter of Kenneth and Mary (Collins) Redmond. She received her education in the Brookings Schools and was a graduate of the Brookings High School in 1969. She continued her education at Stewarts School of Hairstyling in Sioux Falls, SD. Sue was united in marriage to Gail Zimmerman on July 12, 1975. She was employed at the Carousel and Scissor Shanty for many years. She was presently employed at MTR in Brookings. She was a member of the St. Thomas More Catholic Parish of Brookings. She enjoyed traveling, camping, arranging flowers, gardening, cross stitching, decorating, cooking and baking and walking her dogs. She also enjoyed spending time with her family and especially her grandchildren.Susan is survived by her husband Gail of Brookings; her children, Toby (Alicia) Zimmerman of Bruce, SD, Tennille S. (Richard) Taylor of Stratford, SD, Gayle Dean (Butch) Rodman of Antioch, CA; her grandchildren Tage, Taryn and Lanell; her mother Mary Redmond of Brookings; one brother Mike (June) Redmond of Brookings, SD; five sisters Becky (Don) Salonen of Sioux Falls, SD, Betty Steen of Sioux Falls, SD, Teresa (Randy) McLagan of Brookings, SD, Lori (Butch) Oseby of Crooks, SD, Mary Frances Redmond of Minneapolis, MN; two uncles Bob (Ginny) Collins, John Collins; cousins Vaughn (Joe) Ripley, Rex Collin and many relatives.She was preceded in death by her father and one daughter Tennille M. Zimmerman.

Emmett Earley, Jr.

The mother of Emmett Earley, Jr. passed away on March 31, 2010. Our condolences and sympathies go out to the family. In a roundabout way, Emmett and I have some close ties. He was my neighbor for the last three years, and has helped me to maintain my old car. Emmett is well-known around Brookings for his love of 50's and 60's classic automobiles, and his ability to maintain and restore them. His mother was first married to an Iverson, who was a cousin to my father, I believe. He died from leukemia, and she later married Emmett Earley, Sr. I am not familiar with all of the details, as all of this obviously happened before we were born. It may have been difficult to talk about it, so it was not mentioned while we were growing up. The Argus-Leader ran this brief obituary today, April 1.

Elsie Mae Earley of Brookings, SDPublished: April 01, 2010
Brookings - Elsie Mae Earley, 92, of Brookings, SD died Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at her residence. Funeral Services have been set for 1:30pm Saturday, April 3, 2010 at First Lutheran Church, Brookings, SD. Visitation will be from 4:00pm to 7:00pm Friday, April 2, 2010 at Rude's Funeral Home, Brookings, SD. Condolences may be sent to the family through http://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/.

This is the additional information from the funeral home website:

Elsie M. Clark was born on January 19, 1918 in Bagley, IA the daughter of Charles and Lena (Ehlers) Clark.Elsie attended schools in White, Bushnell and Brookings, South Dakota. In 1936, she married Lyle Iverson in Brookings. She was employed for several years at the Produce Company in Brookings. Lyle died on February 13, 1949 in Brookings. Elsie was united in marriage to Emmett Earley on April 24, 1950, in Pipestone, MN. In 1953, they moved to San Francisco, CA until moving back to Brookings later in that same year. Elsie was then employed at various places in Brookings throughout her life.She was a life member of the VFW Auxiliary. She enjoyed gardening, flowers and especially spending time with her family and friends.Elsie is survived by her husband, Emmett of Brookings, SD; three sons, Lyle Butch Iverson (Linda) of Colorado Springs, CO, Richard Earley and Emmett Earley, Jr. both of Brookings, SD; one daughter, Donna Anundson also of Brookings, SD; many grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren and one sister Helen Walsh of Martinez, CA.She was preceded in death by her parents, first husband, Lyle; one son, Warren Iverson; one daughter, Beverly Shearer; one granddaughter, Sherrie Shearer; five brothers, James, Richard, Warren, Oarn and Roy and one sister, Laura Hammond.

Rodney Hill

The mother of Rodney Hill passed away recently. I believe Rod attended country school before 9th grade. We were in the same homeroom , so I became acquainted somewhat with him (they always placed us in homerooms alphabetically). At our 20th reunion, I believe he was chosen as the one who had changed the most. Our condolences to Rod and his family. The online obituary from the Brookings Register is below.

Ruth A. Hill, 93, died on Monday, March 15, 2010, at the Brookings Health System.Funeral services are at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at First Lutheran Church in Brookings. Visitation is 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, at Rude’s Funeral Home in Brookings. Ruth Adelia Nelson was born on June 27, 1916, in Volga, the daughter of John and Anna (Skaar) Nelson. She received her education in the Volga public school and was a graduate of Volga High School in 1934. She continued her education at Parisian School of Beauty Culture in Minneapolis. Ruth married Arley D. Hill on Dec. 23, 1934, in Volga. After their marriage they farmed north of Brookings for 37 years. She was employed at Cole’s Department Store for 13 years. Arley died Jan. 15, 1975 in Brookings. In 1975, Ruth moved to Brookings where she continued her employment at Cole’s Department Store. She entered Greenleaf Assisted Living in November 2009.She was a member of the First Lutheran Church in Brookings, the Ladies Circle and taught Sunday school for many years. She enjoyed sewing, music, reading and traveling.She is survived by two sons Marlin (Kathy) Hill of Brookings and Rodney (Toni) Hill of Moorhead, Minn.; four daughters Joanne (Dale) Saxton of St. Paul, Minn., Elaine (James) Sellers of Pickstown, Eleanor Beaudette of Menno and Karen (Ron) Paulson of Sulfur Springs, Texas; 21 grandchildren; many great-grandchildren; and several great-great-grandchildren and one sister , Olga Pederson of Brookings.She was preceded in death by her husband; one daughter, Ardys Olson; two brothers, Joe and Gerhard and two sisters, Alice and Marie.Condolences may be sent to the family through www.rudesfuneralhome.com.