Wanda Y. Steen

Wanda Yvonne Steen, age 84, of Watertown,SD, formerly of the Clark and Willow Lake, SD communities, died on Wednesday afternoon, February 9, 2011, at the Jenkins Living Center in Watertown. She was the widow of Selmer H. Steen. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, February 13th, at 1:30 p.m. at the Good Hope Lutheran Church of rural Willow Lake. Vicar Jonathan Boynton will officiate. Spring burial will be in the Good Hope Lutheran Cemetery of rural Willow Lake. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark and from noon until the time of the service on Sunday at the church. The organist will be Dorothy Fuller. Dorothy Haug and Melanie Schmidt will sing "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" and "In The Garden". The Congregation will sing "How Great Thou Art". The honorary casketbearers will be her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The active casketbearers will be Richard (Rick) Steen, Danny Steen, Merlin Whitted, Dennis Buckland, Kurwin Hovde and Gary Kolden. Wanda Yvonne Phillips was born on a farm west of Willow Lake on November 30, 1926, the daughter of Lester and Florence (Ruth) Phillips. She grew to adulthood and attended school at Willow Lake, graduating with the class of 1944. She was united in marriage to Selmer H. Steen on September 23, 1946 at St. Cloud, MN. Following their marriage, they resided on a farm in Merton Township, Clark County, until moving into Clark in June of 2005. Selmer preceded her in death on August 22, 2005. She resided in her apartment at Garden Grove until her health failed and she moved to the Wookey Assisted Living Center in Clark. She had resided at the Jenkins Living Center in Watertown since January of 2010. She was a member of the Good Hope Lutheran Church of rural Willow Lake and a longtime member of the WELCA of the church. Her family was the most important thing in her life. She was a great cook, which she learned on her own as her mother died when she was only 9 years old. Homemade bread, rolls, lefse and noodles were her specialties. Her hobbies included playing cards, especially pinochle, playing bingo and playing the piano. She loved having people stop by for coffee. Among survivors grateful for having shared in her life are her children, Larry (Vergean) Steen and Sandy (Allen) Wells, all of Watertown; seven grandchildren, David Steen, Tammy (Wells) Shult, Jeff Wells, James Steen, Teresa (Steen) Mowery, Donald Anderson and Jason Steen; sixteen great-grandchildren; a brother, Lester (Diane) Phillips of Simi Valley, CA; a sister-in-law, Selma (Steen) Larson of Sioux Falls; many nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of friends. Preceding her in death were her husband, Selmer; two sons, Randy and Garry; her parents; her step-mother, Edna; a sister and brother-in-law, Wilma and Bud Buckland; and a step-sister, Aileen Waddington. www.furnessfuneralhome@itctel.com