Edith Anderson, 98, died Sunday, June 14, 2009, at the Sturgis Regional Health Care Center.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, June 20, 2009, at 1:30 p.m. at Kinkade Funeral Chapel with Rev. Denzel Nonhof officiating. Burial will follow at Pine Slope Cemetery in Belle Fourche.

She was born February 12, 1911, near Nisland to James Elbert and Mary (Axson) Payne. The pioneering farm family moved from Illinois to Western South Dakota in 1908 with their five children.

They farmed near the new town of Nisland for a decade. Her mother, Mary, died of pneumonia in 1915 leaving seven children that now included 4 year old Edith and her younger sister, 2 year old Jess.

In 1921 the Payne family moved to the Tyndal ranch seven miles east of Vale, which was the only house around with running water and a bathroom.

Edith graduated from the Newell High School in 1928, attended Northern State Teacher's College, and attended Black Hills Teacher's College. Edith taught school for 42 years at Nisland, Vale, and Butte County Country Schools.

Edith was married to Ernest Gutsche on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1934 by Pastor C. D. Erskine of the First Presbyterian Church in Sturgis. Edith and Ernest farmed in the Nisland and Vale areas until Ernest's death in 1973.

After Ernest's death she continued to teach in Vale and operate the family ranch.

Edith married a lifelong friend, John Anderson in 1976. They enjoyed 10 years together on Edith's ranch where John was born and spent his early years.

Edith became a Sturgis resident after purchasing her "favorite home" of twenty years in 1992.

She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Women's Group, the Delta Kappa Gamma Society, and the Aladdin Club.

Edith was a master gardener who enjoyed sharing the bounty of her harvest from her large garden. The first row of her garden was always planted with beautiful flowers for family and guests to enjoy.

Survivors include her loving family, Myra Jones, Little Rock, AR; Grandchildren, Michael Jones and his wife Tonia, Oak Harbor, WA, and their children, Jacob and Patrick Jones, all of Oak Harbor, WA; Granddaughter, Melissa Bowen and her husband Stephen, Maumelle, AR, and their sons, Drew and Ethan Bowen, both of Maumelle, AR. She is also survived by many loving nieces, nephews and their families.

Edith was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers, Oscar, Harry, and Dale Payne; three sisters, Edna Kinser, Ida Mae Doud, and Jess Smith; her husbands, Ernest Gutsche and John Anderson.

Memorials have been established to the First Presbyterian Church in Sturgis and for the benefit of Newell School students seeking a degree in education at Black Hills State University.