Mable Hill, a long-time resident of Sturgis, Newell, and Vale died Saturday, October 4, 2008, at Fountain Springs Health Care in Rapid City. She was 89 years old.

Mable was born May 13, 1919, one of 10 children of William and Lydia (Scott) Darg. William Darg was a successful carpenter and drayman in Rapid City, but the lure of 160 acres of free land under the Homestead Act convinced him to move the family to the prairie town of Chalk Butte, SD, when Mable was seven years old.

Success at farming was a sometimes thing at Chalk Butte and for the Darg's and other families in the area, it was a hardscrabble existence. When she was still a teenager, Mable's father, William, was shot in the back and killed in a dispute over crop rights with a neighbor. The hardship of making a living without him was a heavy burden, but the family held together and survived.

Mable finished the 8th grade at Chalk Butte and was determined to go on to high school. That meant finding somebody willing to take her in to work for her room and board 60 miles away at Sturgis. She was 13 and lacking in housekeeping skills. Mable told of being taken in and let go by four families before finding someone willing to teach her the cooking and cleaning skills she needed to make the room and board arrangement a success. It was here that she met the Bachand family and lived her high school time with them. That family became lifelong friends of Mable and Buster.

She graduated from high school in 1936, and that same year, married Preston "Buster" Hill of Vale. For the next 40 years, they farmed and ranched in the Vale and Newell areas and ran farm implement dealerships, Preston Hill Sales, in Belle Fourche and Newell. Mable once said she just fed the hired men and kept the books. Those alone were no easy tasks, but they hardly describe her contribution. She was a full partner with her husband in all their farming, ranching, and business ventures. Buster always said it was Mable's wonderful meals that kept the hired help around the ranch. From 1978, they lived 30 years in the Sturgis area. They were residing at Fountain Springs Nursing Home at her death.

Mable collected antiques, dishes mostly. She had dozens of dishes. A standing joke was that when Buster bought another boat or snowmobile, Mable bought more dishes.

Mable was a 60-year member of the Aladdin Club, a social and community organization for which a mother-daughter banquet was the featured event. She was a member of the Eastern Star and the Rebekah Lodge. Mable and Buster recently celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary.

Mable is survived by her husband, Preston; three daughters, Lorelei (Dave) Andersen, Gilroy, CA, Karren (Gary) Kerr, Omaha, NE, and Sandee (Gary) Coe, Bozeman, MT; and two sons, Samuel (Diane) Hill, Hot Springs, SD, and Brent (Dawn) Hill, Buffalo Gap, SD. A daughter, Marilyn, died at childbirth in 1937 and is buried in Washington State. She is also survived by one sister, Clara Holt, Provo, UT.

Mable wants to be remembered for the children and grandchildren that make up the Hill family. A loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to all, she will be greatly missed. She was truly one of God's gentle creatures. Mable suffered from Huntington's chorea, a nerve disorder, for many years.

Visitation will be Friday from noon until 9:00 p.m. at Kinkade Funeral Chapel and will resume at Believers Fellowship on Saturday one hour prior to the beginning of the funeral service.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 11, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. at the Believers Fellowship Church, 180 Old Stone Road, Sturgis, SD, with Pastor John Williamson officiating. Following the service, Mable's body will be donated to science.

Memorials should go to the Cornerstone Mission of Rapid City.