ALICE EASTERLING
Public visitation (without family present) for Alice Easterling, 91, of Wagner will be Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Peters Funeral Home in Wagner. Due to Covid19 health concerns, private funeral services will be held with burial in the ZCBJ Cemetery, rural Wagner.
Memorials can be directed to Springfield Assisted Living Actives, or Wagner Community Church or a charity of your choice. Condolences can be sent to: Easterling Family, 30041 392 Ave, Wagner, SD 57380.
Alice Elaine Easterling passed away on February 6, 2021. She was born on the Strid family farm southwest of Delmont, SD on August 1, 1929. She was the daughter of Gottfrid Strid, who emigrated from Sweden in 1907 and Amanda Nelson, who, as a small child, homesteaded with her parents southwest of Delmont in 1897.
Alice’s love for the land and the creatures it held, was firmly rooted in a childhood spent growing up during the Great Depression and the World War II years. She understood that true contentment did not come from possessing “things” but rather from the relationships that develop between people over time. She deeply loved her family and they, in return, deeply loved her. She taught them to work hard, to live honestly, to treat others with respect and to never judge someone by the color of their skin.
Following graduation from Delmont High School, Alice attended the Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Mitchell, SD, graduating in 1952. Following her graduation, she worked as an RN for one year at the Methodist Hospital in Mitchell.
On October 18, 1953, Alice married George Easterling. George and Alice would settle on the Easterling farm southwest of Wagner. Besides working full time, Alice took an active role on the farm. It was not uncommon for her to get on a tractor and help in the field following a shift at the hospital. She was just as competent at starting an IV in a pig’s ear as she was on a human’s hand. She simply did whatever needed to be done at the moment and she never complained.
Following her marriage and move to Wagner, Alice worked for both Wagner Community Hospital and Indian Health Services. Alice would spend thirty nine years working at IHS and was the Assistant Director of Nursing at the time of her retirement in April of 1999. Alice was recognized for her kind and compassionate care by all the patients she cared for and by her coworkers.
During her retirement Alice was able to spend time doing what she really enjoyed, that being a farmer’s wife. She absolutely enjoyed spending time with her family, watching things grow and taking care of her animals. Raising bottle calves was not a chore to her, it was a joy, well maybe not so much in the winter, in the winter it was a chore.
Her faith and church family were very important to her. Alice and George were active members of the Wagner Community Church for many years. Even the confusion of dementia could not remove the connection of Sunday and church. One morning, a few months ago, when she realized it was Sunday, she made the comment that her children never learned anything in Sunday School. When asked why not, she simply replied that all they ever did was “talk, talk, talk”. She may have been right, her quiet, steady, deep faith spoke volumes to her family, far more than any particular Sunday School lesson ever could.
George and Alice had six children, Kris Harris, Vicki (Tom) Thaler, Janice Ricketts, Marsha Easterling (Sharon Deeb), Lavonne (Doug) Andersh and Keith Easterling (Cheryl Giedd). The running joke always was that they kept having children until they finally got it right and had a son.
Beside her six children, Alice is survived by twelve grandchildren: James (Deb) Harris, Alisha Harris, Jared (Linnea) Harris, Steven (Kelsey) Thaler, Amanda Thaler, Tim Thaler (Tori Vogt), Christine Ricketts (Derrick Taylor), Brien Roberts, Ella (Ryan) Thaler, Danielle (Cody) Meyers, Ashley (David) Ludens, Tristan Easterling and thirteen great-grandchildren; special relatives: Lee and Caryl Aanenson, Bob and Sherry Sorenson, Dick and Earla Strid and special friends, Bob and Margaret Roberts, Darlene Crisman, Sandy Easterling and Matilda “Pinky” Bruguier and family.
Greeting Alice in heaven were her parents, husband, George, and brother and sisters-in-law: Nina and Henry Becker, Tom and Helen Easterling, Elvis and Earl Sorenson and Bill and Ruth Easterling; and a host of friends and family members.
“Well done, good and faithful servant…come and share your master’s happiness”. Matthew 25:23