Grace L Skavang

Graveside services will be held on Sunday, June 26, 2016 at noon in the Our Saviors Lutheran Cemetery - East, northwest of Bradley, SD with Minister Marion Grimes officiating.  Following the graveside services, everyone is invited in to the Bradley Community Center in Bradley for a dinner and a time  of fellowship. "Well done, good and faithful servant." Grace L (Arndt) Skavang, age 80, passed away January 23, 2016 in Yakima, WA. Grace had an amazing combination of tenacity and optimism that saw her through many medical issues and allowed her to enjoy her life and continue making friends right up to her final days.

Grace was born January 14, 1936,  in Flasher, ND to Henry and Mabel (Marshall) Arndt but she grew up in the Bradley and Garden City areas of Clark County SD. She graduated from Bradley High School, married Kenneth Skavang and they had three daughters: Debra, Lorna and Charlotte.

Kenneth and Grace moved to Spokane, WA in 1955 and stayed in the area until they retired. Grace began working for the US Postal Service when their youngest daughter went to kindergarten. She was one of the first women to work for the Postal Service in Spokane; it was a time when most men didn't welcome the change. But her tenacity and optimism allowed her to succeed and eventually be welcomed as a valuable coworker. In the early 60's many women did not work outside the home, but Grace not only worked full time, she gardened, canned, sewed clothes for the family, was a Girl Scout Leader and an active member of the Lutheran Church. Her ginger snap cookies were legendary.

Upon retirement, Kenneth and Grace moved to Dayton, MT on Flathead Lake and then to Yakima, WA which was much closer to their daughters who were all in the Seattle area at the time. The grandchildren, Mike, Jenny and Jason Chapman, were also a big draw. Grandchildren Mercedes and James Langley never lived near, but were greatly loved from afar.

Grace and Kenneth enjoyed camping, square dancing, pinochle, and spending winters in Southern CA.

Grace was preceded in death by her husband and parents, brothers Glen and John Arndt, her sister Lois Zerble, her sisters-in-law Alice (Skavang) Hill and Harriet Arndt, her brothers-in-law Oscar Bjerke, DeWayne Moe, Westin Hill and Roger Jones and her sons-in-law, C.Richard Langley Jr., Daniel M Chapman and Richard O Bridges.

Grace is survived by her daughters Debra Chapman, Lorna Langley and Charlotte Bridges along with her brothers Don (Lois) and Jim (Rosemary) Arndt, her sisters Lillian Jones, Martha (Dale) Brown, Gloria Moe, and Bonnie (Garry) Stepanek, and her sister-in-law Louise (Skavang) Bjerke, her grandchildren, Michael (Kristin) Chapman, Jennifer (Justin) Reyes, Jason (Lisa) Chapman, Mercedes (Matt) Unfried, James Langley, and 6 beautiful great-grandchildren.

The Furness Funeral Home of Clark is assisting the family with the arrangements.  There is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com