Alma Roberta Hass

Alma Hass, age 102, died peacefully with family by her side on Monday evening, January 9, 2023, at Avantara Nursing Home of Clark.

Alma Roberta Ludwig was born on March 5, 1920 on a farm two and a half miles east of Raymond. Her parents were Bobbie and Esther (Franzen) Ludwig, who farmed the land and had livestock. Alma had one older sister named Lois, who died in the hospital when she was 21 and one younger brother named Merle. As a young girl, she loved searching for arrowheads at old Indian camp sites, picking crocuses in the spring and cat-tail fluff in the fall.  Alma attended all eight grades at the Fine School, a country school.  At Raymond High School, she participated in chorus, volleyball and declaration graduating in 1938, the first class to graduate in the new school. She lived her entire life in Clark County.

For a time following graduation, Alma worked for a family near Clark for $2.50 a week cleaning house, scrubbing floors and cooking. One day, a neighbor boy, Henry Hass, drove over and asked her to the "picture show." The couple was married on October 9, 1940 at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Raymond. They farmed near Raymond where she resided until 2019.  She did chores, raised a big garden and canned a lot of her produce. In 1961, Henry died of an apparent heart attack. She, along with her children, Donna and Francis, continued to farm.

In the 1960s, Alma joined the Farmers Union and went on many trips visiting all 50 states. She was also a very active member and treasurer of the SD Federation of Democratic Women and made trips to Washington, DC to lobby for higher wheat prices.  Alma came to know Muriel and Hubert Humphrey, Eleanor and George McGovern and Nancy and Dick Kneip. She helped with the 1980 census, various election boards and was an active member of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church and Ladies Aid and the Senior Citizens group.

Alma loved to cook and bake along with her gardening and traveling. She also enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren; making special memories. She believed she lived in the greatest generation of all time. "From living with no water or electricity to all of the modern conveniences we have now, I've seen us going from the worst to the best," she recalled.

Preceding her in death were her parents, her husband, her siblings Lois and Merle (Jean) Ludwig, and her daughter-in-law, Deborah Hass.

Grateful for sharing her life are her children, Donna (Gerry) Davis, Aberdeen and Francis Hass, Raymond; grandchildren Sandra Davis, Susan (Brent) Parkinson, Ryan (Becky) Davis and Kiialoni (Ahisha) McMannen; great-grandchildren, Matthew Schulz, Noah Willgohs, Emily Parkinson, Christian Willgohs, Miranda Parkinson, Jake Davis, Spencer Parkinson, Chase Davis, and Aurora McMannen; nieces, Lois (Butch) Steenhoven, Roberta Keiser (Daryl Rossow) and Cathy Langreck; and several great nieces and nephews.

A prayer service will be held at 4:30 PM followed by a visitation from 5-7 PM on Friday, January 20, 2023, at Furness Funeral Home in Clark. A visitation will also be held one hour prior to services at the church.  Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2023, at 10:30 AM at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Raymond with Pastor Randy Bader officiating. Burial will be at Prairie Valley Cemetery of rural Raymond with a lunch to follow at the Raymond Legion Hall.

Funeral services are with Furness Funeral Home of Clark where there is an online registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com .