Cecelia Ann (Brekenfeld) Schwartz, 92, went home to be with Jesus Thursday, February 19, 2009, at Sturgis Regional Senior Care surrounded by her family.

Visitation will be Monday from noon until 9:00 p.m. at Kinkade Funeral Chapel and will resume on Tuesday, one hour prior to the services at Grace Lutheran Church.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Lutheran Church with Rev. Michael J. Fox officiating. Burial will follow at Black Hills National Cemetery.

Cecelia was born December 29, 1916, at Burke, SD, to John and Wilhelmina (Voss) Brekenfeld. Cecelia attended country school near Burke until the Spring of 1929, when she moved with her parents to a farm near Newell, SD. She attended grade school and high school in Newell and graduated in May 1934. After high school, she attended Green's Beauty School in Rapid City, SD, and graduated with a degree in cosmetology in 1937. Cecelia opened a beauty shop in Newell where she met and married Charles Schwartz on May 4, 1941. Charles was drafted into the army ten months later, during WWII, and spent the next three years overseas. When he returned, they lived first in Newell, where both of their sons were born, and in 1958 they moved to Sturgis, SD, where Cecelia opened a beauty shop in her home. Her cosmetology career spanned over fifty-six years until she retired in 1993.

Cecelia loved music. She sang for many weddings and funerals and was a member of the church choir at the First Lutheran Church in Newell and later at the Grace Lutheran Church in Sturgis. She was also active in church circles, Ladies Aid, quilting, and the annual church motorcycle breakfast. She was a Past Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star and a member for sixty years. Cecelia was a soloist for many events at the Newell and Sturgis Lodges. Her faith, her incredible love affair with her husband, Charles, family, friends, flowers, and music were Cecelia's strength and joy. She was dignified and classy and still had a wonderful sense of humor and such a beautiful smile.

Survivors include her two sons and their wives, Lowell and Debbie Schwartz and Bill and Rita Schwartz, all of Sturgis; five grandchildren, Breawna and Jason Nylen, Alesha Schwartz, Seth Schwartz, Michael Schwartz, and Clark Schwartz; and two great-grandchildren, Isaiah Nylen and Kendrick Schwartz.

Her parents, husband, Charles, four brothers, and five sisters preceded her in death.

Memorials have been established to Grace Lutheran Church and the Sturgis Senior Citizens Center.