Lois Stern

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Lois Stern, Bristol, formerly of the Clark and Bradley communities, age 94, died peacefully with family by her side on Monday, November 22, 2021 in Bristol at Sun Dial Manor.

Visitation will be held from 5-7 PM on Friday, December 3, 2021 at Furness Funeral Home of Clark and one hour prior to the funeral service.  Funeral services will be Saturday, December 4, 2021 at St. Paul Lutheran Church of Clark at 2 PM with Minister Marion Grimes officiating. Wendy Christman will be the pianist.  Lois's sons will serve as pall bearers with honorary bearers being her grandchildren and great grandchildren and the staff of Sun Dial Manor of Bristol who cared for her and gave her friendship these past few years.  Refreshments will follow the service at St. Paul Lutheran Church with burial to follow at the Bristol Cemetery.

Lois Beverly Stern was born December 2, 1926, in Bristol, SD to parents William and Emma (Engberg) Harms. She grew up in rural Butler and attended Butler school graduating from Butler High School in 1945.  While attending high school, she resided in town and worked part time at the café in Bristol.

She married Virgil "Speed" Stern on June 24, 1945, at the Bethesda Lutheran Church in Bristol. To this union, nine children were born starting in 1946 with Alvin, Rosella, Raymond, Lyle, Ron, Delmer, Allen, Dale and Steve.

She and Speed lived in Oak Gulch Township and continued to farm until they purchased land southwest of Bradley. They farmed grain, had dairy cows, pigs and chickens and built a house where they continued to raise their family. In 1967, they sold the farm and moved to Bradley. The family later moved near Garden City in 1967 where they farmed once again, grain and pigs.  In 1979, they moved to Clark for a short time before purchasing their home a mile and a half west of Clark. Lois kept busy at home raising their nine children and managing the household. She cooked everything from scratch. For the amount that she cooked and baked, she had a small amount of recipes. Most of them were in her head! She would cook and cook for the pheasant hunters that came to stay. Lois worked at Fairfield Foods of Clark, Dakota Poultry of Watertown, harvesting potatoes for Larry Lien and ICAP.

In 2009, Speed and Lois entered Fay Wookey Memorial Assisted Living Center for a few years before calling Sun Dial Manor in Bristol home.  She was an active and faithful member of the Crocker Lutheran Church, which they loved to attend on Sunday mornings. She loved canning and embroidered thousands of dish towels throughout the years for church and community activities and her many family members. In recent months, she embroidered a personalized pillowcase for each of her 35 great grandchildren. She could play piano by ear, enjoyed playing the penny slots and keeping up and sharing the local news.  Lois was an avid Minnesota Twins fan and a huge follower of all the games. Even in her 90s, she kept up with family and friends on Facebook.  Lois was sharper than a tack with a great sense of humor and sometimes brutally honest with her comments to family and friends. She loved to keep up with her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids lives through visiting, phone calls or on "The Book." Her family was most important to her and she found great joy in planning family gatherings which of course involved plenty of food. She was a treasure to so many…family, church, and community members.

Grateful for sharing in her life are her sons: Alvin (Sue) Stern of Litchfield, MN, Raymond (Peggy) Stern of Baxter, MN, Ronald (Linda) Stern of Henry, SD, Allen (Lisa) Stern of Clark, SD, Dale (Laurie) Stern of Arlington, MN, and Steve (Vicki) Stern of Browns Valley, CA; daughter-in-law Lynda Stern of Garden City, SD; 26 grandchildren; 35 great grandchildren; brother Donald (Rose) Harms of Redfield, SD; and one son-in-law, Norman Sinclair of Middleton,ID.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Virgil, siblings Lorane (Florence) Harms, Opal Hild and Delores (Harold) Stokes, children Rosella, Lyle, and Delmer, one granddaughter Karen, and three great-granddaughters Gretchen, Grace and Sidney.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be directed to the Crocker Lutheran Church, % Jean Obermeier, 16571 422nd Ave, Clark, SD 57225.

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