1920
Inez
2009
Inez Levisen
July 27, 1920 — April 16, 2009
Click here to view her tribute video.Funeral services for retired Koch Elementary School teacher, Mrs. Inez E. Levisen, age 88, of Milbank, will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009, at the American Lutheran Church in Milbank. Inez died on Thursday, April 16th, at her home. The Reverends Craig Werling and Janine Rew-Werling will officiate. The organist will be Carol Ydstie and special music will be presented by a trio composed of Ruth Modin, Shirley Thorson, and Howard LaMee. Visitation will be at the American Lutheran Church in Milbank on Monday from 2:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., followed by a prayer service for family and friends. Visitation will continue in the church on Tuesday one hour before services. Pallbearers will be grandsons and great grandsons: Brian, John, and Roger Dather, Andrew Bemis, and Justin, Jared, and Cole Dather. Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery near Stockholm, SD. The family requests that memorials be directed to the Grant County Historical Society for the restoration of the Brown Earth Indian Church, P.O. Box 201, Milbank, SD, 57252, or to the Grant County Public Library, 207 E. Park Avenue, Milbank, SD 57252.
Inez was born on July 27th, 1920, at Toronto, SD, to George and Anna (Bentaas) Hammer. Her early years, 1920-30, were spent on family farms near Astoria, SD, and Toronto, SD. Her junior and senior high school years, 1930-39, were spent on a farm near LaBolt, SD. Inez attended Deuel County Schools from 1925-30 and Grant County Schools from 1930-39. She graduated from Strandburg (SD) High School in the spring of 1939. She then attended Northern State Teacher's College in Aberdeen, SD, during the 1939-40 school term and obtained her Third Grade Teaching Certificate. She continued her college training on the installment basis, graduating in August of 1970 with a BA Degree in Elementary Education. Inez then renewed her teaching credential every five years by taking additional college classes.
Inez taught elementary school for forty years, starting with the 1940-41 school term. She started in the rural "country" schools in Grant County, teaching in Madison #4 and #5 prior to her marriage and just after.
She was united in marriage to John Levisen on November 7, 1942, at the Tabor Lutheran Church in Strandburg. They lived on a farm site east of Stockholm from the time of their marriage until the summer of 1970 when she and her two youngest daughters moved to Milbank. Her husband had died in 1969.
She took off a few years to have children, resuming her career in the fall of 1950 in Troy, SD. Inez taught there, in Stockholm, in LaBolt, and in the Madison #5 rural school until the spring of 1970, when she joined the staff of the Koch Elementary School in the Milbank School District. She retired from active teaching in 1986, but continued to substitute teach for many years thereafter. Inez absolutely loved being a school teacher and inspired many a child in the process. She will be well remembered by so many of her former students.
In her earlier years she was a member of the Leganger Lutheran Church in Toronto, SD, and the Tabor Lutheran Church in Strandburg, SD. Inez and her husband were members of the Elim Evangelical Covenant Church in Stockholm from 1942-70. In 1970 she became a member of the American Lutheran Church in Milbank. She was a member of the "money-counting" crew at the church for many years.
She was always interested in local history and was a member of the Grant County Historical Society. She served as the "Mistress of Ceremonies" at the 100th Anniversary of the Brown Earth Indian Church, held in the summer of 1978. She particularly enjoyed being the "school marm" who talked to the kids coming to the "Amsden School" on the museum grounds in Milbank while they were on their spring field trips.
She was a good singer as well as a skilled public speaker, often reading poems at public gatherings and celebrations held over the years.
Inez was a member of the Grant County Teacher's Association and, in fact, it was her absence at this past week's meeting that initially caused the immediate concern as to her personal welfare.
She was also a part of a "card-playing crew of cronies" that gathered together every other Thursday. Win or lose, she enjoyed their company.
One of her happier days, in addition to the day she married her husband John, was that day in August of 1970 when she finally graduated with a college degree from Northern State University-as it had become by then. She graduated with her son Arlo on that day, who obtained a graduate degree. It was a special moment in time for her.
Survivors include her son, Arlo Levisen, and wife Paulette, rural Wilmot, SD; three daughters, Annette Dather, Verdel, NE; Janell Bemis, Castlewood, SD; and Lori Waegell and husband Bob, Sacramento, CA; seven grandchildren: Brian Dather, Kellen Levisen, John Dather, Kirsten Levisen, Roger Dather, Christina Bemis, and Andrew Bemis; ten great grandchildren, Lauren, Trevor, and Julia Hatch; Justin and Jared Dather; Cole, Mariah, Calvin, and Piper Dather; and Arianna Bemis; four siblings, Signora Sieverson, Spokane, WA; Clarice Wiley and husband Robert, Willmar, MN; Le Ann Juenemann and husband Don, Kalamazoo, MI; and Verle Hammer and wife Janice, Forada, MN; and many nieces and nephews.
Her parents, husband John, one brother, Stanton Hammer, and one sister, Gloria Hanson, preceded her in death.
Inez was born on July 27th, 1920, at Toronto, SD, to George and Anna (Bentaas) Hammer. Her early years, 1920-30, were spent on family farms near Astoria, SD, and Toronto, SD. Her junior and senior high school years, 1930-39, were spent on a farm near LaBolt, SD. Inez attended Deuel County Schools from 1925-30 and Grant County Schools from 1930-39. She graduated from Strandburg (SD) High School in the spring of 1939. She then attended Northern State Teacher's College in Aberdeen, SD, during the 1939-40 school term and obtained her Third Grade Teaching Certificate. She continued her college training on the installment basis, graduating in August of 1970 with a BA Degree in Elementary Education. Inez then renewed her teaching credential every five years by taking additional college classes.
Inez taught elementary school for forty years, starting with the 1940-41 school term. She started in the rural "country" schools in Grant County, teaching in Madison #4 and #5 prior to her marriage and just after.
She was united in marriage to John Levisen on November 7, 1942, at the Tabor Lutheran Church in Strandburg. They lived on a farm site east of Stockholm from the time of their marriage until the summer of 1970 when she and her two youngest daughters moved to Milbank. Her husband had died in 1969.
She took off a few years to have children, resuming her career in the fall of 1950 in Troy, SD. Inez taught there, in Stockholm, in LaBolt, and in the Madison #5 rural school until the spring of 1970, when she joined the staff of the Koch Elementary School in the Milbank School District. She retired from active teaching in 1986, but continued to substitute teach for many years thereafter. Inez absolutely loved being a school teacher and inspired many a child in the process. She will be well remembered by so many of her former students.
In her earlier years she was a member of the Leganger Lutheran Church in Toronto, SD, and the Tabor Lutheran Church in Strandburg, SD. Inez and her husband were members of the Elim Evangelical Covenant Church in Stockholm from 1942-70. In 1970 she became a member of the American Lutheran Church in Milbank. She was a member of the "money-counting" crew at the church for many years.
She was always interested in local history and was a member of the Grant County Historical Society. She served as the "Mistress of Ceremonies" at the 100th Anniversary of the Brown Earth Indian Church, held in the summer of 1978. She particularly enjoyed being the "school marm" who talked to the kids coming to the "Amsden School" on the museum grounds in Milbank while they were on their spring field trips.
She was a good singer as well as a skilled public speaker, often reading poems at public gatherings and celebrations held over the years.
Inez was a member of the Grant County Teacher's Association and, in fact, it was her absence at this past week's meeting that initially caused the immediate concern as to her personal welfare.
She was also a part of a "card-playing crew of cronies" that gathered together every other Thursday. Win or lose, she enjoyed their company.
One of her happier days, in addition to the day she married her husband John, was that day in August of 1970 when she finally graduated with a college degree from Northern State University-as it had become by then. She graduated with her son Arlo on that day, who obtained a graduate degree. It was a special moment in time for her.
Survivors include her son, Arlo Levisen, and wife Paulette, rural Wilmot, SD; three daughters, Annette Dather, Verdel, NE; Janell Bemis, Castlewood, SD; and Lori Waegell and husband Bob, Sacramento, CA; seven grandchildren: Brian Dather, Kellen Levisen, John Dather, Kirsten Levisen, Roger Dather, Christina Bemis, and Andrew Bemis; ten great grandchildren, Lauren, Trevor, and Julia Hatch; Justin and Jared Dather; Cole, Mariah, Calvin, and Piper Dather; and Arianna Bemis; four siblings, Signora Sieverson, Spokane, WA; Clarice Wiley and husband Robert, Willmar, MN; Le Ann Juenemann and husband Don, Kalamazoo, MI; and Verle Hammer and wife Janice, Forada, MN; and many nieces and nephews.
Her parents, husband John, one brother, Stanton Hammer, and one sister, Gloria Hanson, preceded her in death.