KARA GREGER
Kara died Saturday, September 10, 2022 in Harrisburg. Funeral services were Friday, September 16, at the 4H building in Lake Andes. Peters Funeral Home in Wagner was in charge of arrangements.
Kara Lynn Greger was born on November 10, 2000 to her mother Larina Lynn (Cournoyer) Greger and father Todd Alan Greger. She lived in Wagner with her Grandma Bernadette Patterson and Susan Patterson. She attended elementary and middle school in Lake Andes, Wagner and Sioux Falls. She moved back to Lake Andes to attend high school at Andes Central and then finished her last semester at Wagner Community School, where she graduated with the Class of 2019. After graduation, she moved to Sioux Falls to live young, wild and free until the summer of 2021.
Kara returned to her home in Lake Andes where she worked for the past year at three jobs and volunteered for many tribal and community events. She was an employee of the Lake Andes Carnegie Public Library, Knotheads Bar & Grill and the Lake Andes Gus Stop. Prior to that she worked Summer Youth at the Native American Women’s Health and Education Resource Center with her good buddy Everdale Song Hawk. Throughout high school, she worked at the Lake Andes Carnegie Library with Mary Jo Parker, whom she absolutely adored. Kara was the 2018 Homecoming Queen for Andes Central. She was also the 2018 Miss Fish Days Queen. She was a true Queen inside and out!
Kara had many unique talents and hobbies. She enjoyed watching shows about history, aliens and a lot of odd comedy. She had a great sense of humor to match her beautiful smile and hearty laugh. She loved to listen to music and sing in the shower as loud as can be! She was a roller skating and dancing machine; nobody could keep up with her on the dance floor. She loved family time, most of all. Whether she was hanging out with her little cousins Deborah and Stephanie Olubummo or finding a fair, festival, carnival, concert, powwow or other family event with Aunties Steph and Ethel - she was always down to go do something fun with her family who loved her dearly. She spent a lot of time with her Grandma Stephanie, they are our version of Thelma and Louise, and you just never knew if they were rummaging in some nearby town or dining at any restaurant in the area. She shared countless memories with her Hopkins cousins and Liz Patterson, along with the whole Sioux Falls crew. Kara enjoyed adventures and would agree to any cool idea that someone came up with because she loved having fun! She loved holidays and the traditions, feasts, decorating and memories that went along with them. She enjoyed Halloween in particular because she enjoyed costumes and doing her makeup and hair. She would make sure to find the best haunted houses to go to as well. Some of the greatest memories are just hanging out, playing family bingo and having snacks and food. She enjoyed late night cooking and visiting with her Mom, Dad, and Uncle Joe Swatek. She would tell them (and anyone else who would listen) about all sorts of stories, theories, observations and ideas all night and all day. Kara was quite brilliant and always interesting.
Kara was wonderful with people. She knew how to make anyone feel better, in a very authentic way that only Kara could. She was also great at working with children and treated them with such care, patience and kindness. She had a positive attitude and easygoing personality. Laughter was her medicine and she shared it with everyone who crossed her path. You were guaranteed to walk away for any interaction with Kara feeling better, smiling and appreciating her genuine kindness. She was always willing to help anyone in any way she could. Everyone knows Kara was a sweet girl, a wonderfully kind young lady with a Beautiful Soul and fun-loving Spirit. She made friends with anyone and accepted people as they were, without judgment. She loved her friends and family unconditionally, and that’s a small part of what made her so absolutely beautiful. Kara will be missed and never, ever forgotten.
Kara is survived by her parents Todd and Larina Greger; Susan Patterson; brothers: Beau Greger, Todd Peltier, Spencer and Sage Patterson; sisters: Araya Cournoyer, Ashley Greger and Misty Peltier; Grandmas Stephanie Cournoyer and Juanita Antelope; aunties: Ethel Cournoyer, Stephanie Cournoyer II, Ida Greger & Rhonda Patterson; uncles: Steven Petrick, Les Petrick (Iliana), Adewale Olubummo, Leon Antelope, William Patterson and Joe Swatek; niece Emma Jane Greger; nephew Gabriel Adam James Greger; as well as many cousins, friends and relatives.
Kara was preceded in death by her brother Damien James Greger; Grandma Bernadette Patterson; and Grandpas Albert Tweedy, Larry Cournoyer and Darrell Greger.