Elsie L. Oedekoven, 86, Sturgis, died Sunday, August 14, 2011, at the Sturgis Regional Hospital.

Visitation will be noon until 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday at the Kinkade Funeral Chapel in Sturgis. The family will be present at 7:00 p.m.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 17, 2011, at the Sturgis Church of Christ with Pastor Josh Floyd officiating. Burial will follow at the Bear Butte Cemetery in Sturgis.

Elsie Louise Smith was born November 28, 1924, at Newell, SD, to Clarence and Hayla (Ekstrom) Smith. She graduated from Newell High School in 1942. Elsie worked at Bratton's Store in Newell for one year. She married Vernon Peter Oedekoven on November 28, 1943, in Newell. Together, they farmed and ranched on nine mile creek near Vale, SD.

Elsie was a past member of the Vale Lutheran Church, a social group of area ranch wives, known affectionately as the "Friendly Club", and the Butte County Historical Society. She had a great interest in genealogy. Elsie liked to read, paint, and enjoyed the arts and music. Family was very important to Elsie. She loved spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She loved all children and their hugs and kisses. She will be dearly missed by her family and her "Foothills Family."

At the time of her death she was a member of the Sturgis Church of Christ.

Survivors include her son, Wayne (Carol) Oedekoven, Vale; daughter, Holly Jo (David) Mielke, Belle Fourche; brother, Carl (Norma Jean) Smith, Council Bluffs, IA; sisters, Carolyn Oedekoven, Sturgis, and Shirley (Andy) Aronson, Spearfish; three grandchildren, Adam Oedekoven, Portland, OR, Debbie Oedekoven Meyer (D.J. Meyer), Spearfish, and April Oedekoven Halter (Kelly Halter), Rapid City; two great-grandchildren, Vernon Michael Halter and Harold Wayne Halter; and one step-great-grandchild, Denali Meyer.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Vernon; daughter, Sharon; brothers, Chester and Stanley; and sister, Fern Ryther.

Memorials have been established to the Vale Lutheran Church and the Sturgis Church of Christ.

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