Cora Uecker, a longtime resident of Sturgis, SD, passed away peacefully on May 22, 2022, in Sioux Falls, SD, at the age of 92.

Cora was born on June 6, 1929, to Harry and Inez Dickerson on her paternal grandparents' homestead near Sanborn, MN. After graduating from Ruthton High School in 1947, she went on to earn a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Minnesota. After graduation, she taught in Wyandotte, MI.

She returned to Minnesota to marry Albert Uecker in 1953. She taught for a year in Isanti, MN.  She went on to have three children, Kurt, Nancy, and Eric.

Cora spent many years doing volunteer work.  She was a Brownie and Girl Scout leader. She volunteered to teach remedial reading, to help with Head Start, to help in the school library, and to teach poetry to elementary students. She also taught Sunday School.

She had many hobbies over the years including gardening, sewing, knitting, needlepoint, decoupage, and playing the dulcimer. She had a passion for song. She was in the Senior Chorus at the Senior Citizens Center. At age 92, she still remembered the complete lyrics to many songs from the 1920's to the 1960's.

Cora is survived by her children, Kurt (Karla) Uecker, Nancy Dickerson, and Eric (Mary) Uecker; seven grandchildren; Nancy's children, David Waibel, Elizabeth Steffel, Adric Potter, and Teagen Reyer; Kurt's daughter, Kirsten Uecker; and Eric's daughters, Emily, and Alison Uecker, and three great-grandchildren, Arabelle, and Genevieve Steffel, and Augustus Potter; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Cora is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her siblings, Marion Roepke, Bruce Dickerson, Mildred Wheeler, Bernice McFarlane, and Wilton Dickerson.

Visitation will be at Kinkade Funeral Chapel from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, 2022.

Services will be held at Sturgis First United Methodist Church at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, June 3, 2022, followed by burial at Black Hills National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Sturgis Kiwanis Food Pantry.

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