Emilie Albertina Whitaker

Emilie Albertina Babe Whitaker, age 97, died in the Clarkson Care Center in Rapid City early Wednesday morning, July 7, 2010. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 10AM in the St. Paul Lutheran Church at Clark with the Reverend Robin Schaunaman officiating. Burial will follow in The Hague Lutheran Cemetery in Hague Township, Clark County. Visitation will be held on Friday, July 9, 2010 from 5-7 PM at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark and 1 hour preceding services at the church on Saturday morning. She was born on August 7, 1912 at the Clark County, SD farm of her parents Edward W. and Marie W. (Seefeldt) Geise. Being a very tiny infant and not expected to survive, the family doctor did not prepare her a live birth certificate until she was 3 months old and several pounds heavier. Consequently, she was referred to as Babe and retained the nickname throughout her life. She was named after her maternal grand-mother Emilie Alberta (Pieschke) Seefeldt. Babe started her education at the age of four. The rural school teacher, Doris Cronkhite, who was rooming at the farm during the school year and would become her aunt later on, agreed to take Babe along to the school and care for her during the day. This permitted her mother and father to work together on the homestead. By the time Babe was six years old and ready for school, she was able to start as a third grader and finished elementary school at the age of twelve. Babe was a self taught musician and spent her spare time playing the organ. She was the organist for the Hague Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church. A church which her grandparents Franz Chris and Emilie (Pieschke) Seefeldt were instrumental in building and getting started. Babes parents were the first couple married there and Babe was the first granddaughter to be baptized there. For the first part of her life Babe worked on the family farm helping in the fields and caring for livestock. In 1936, at the request of her widowed uncle, she moved to Minneapolis, MN as his housekeeper and to care for his nine year old daughter. In December of that year she became ill and returned to the farm. Later, she moved to Chicago to help in the war effort and worked for Western Electric making radio tubes. She again returned to the farm to help out until hr fianc was discharged from the U. S. Navy. On July 16, 1946, she married Emil Arthur Whitaker. They moved to Brookings, SD where her husband attended South Dakota State College earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1950. Their next location was Wichita, KS for two years where both were employed by the Beechcraft Corporation. In 1953, they moved to Pierre, SD for employment with the US Bureau of Reclamation. Following her husband with his job, she moved to Bismarck and Fargo, ND in 1961. In 1964, they moved to the Yellowtail Dam near Harden, MT. In 1967, they moved to Gering, NE. Emil retired in 1983 and after a brief illness passed away in 1988. During her time in Nebraska, Babe was active in the Faith Lutheran Church in Gering. She was Church organist for 20 years and also the Director of the Childrens Choir. She often assisted the Pastor in conducting religious services for the Veterans Home and the Northfield and Heritage Retirement Homes. Babe was an accomplished seamstress and made most of her clothing as well as clothing for her nieces for special occasions. Her favorite past time was crocheting, completing many Angels, afghans, pillows and dollies. For many years she supervised a Craft club. In 2002, she had both hips replaced and was unable to continue with those activities. In 2008 after a fall, she moved to Heritage Retirement Community in Gering for six months and then was able to return home. In November, with health failing, she moved to Northfield Retirement Communities in Scottsbluff, NE. In February 2010, in order to be closer to family, she moved to Clarkson Healthcare Facility in Rapid City. She is survived by two brothers, Arnold (Marilyn) Geise of Brookings and Harry (Sandra) Geise of Rapid City. Very Special in her life were her ten nephews, eight nieces, and numerous great and great-great nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband of 42 years, Emil, her parents, two brothers, two sisters, two nephews, one great niece and one great-great niece. Arrangements are pending with the Furness Funeral Home at Clark where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com