Pauline “Polly” Maher, age 89, of Mitchell, died Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at Avera Brady Health and Rehab.
Funeral services were Tuesday, May 19 at Holy Family Catholic Church. Visitation was Monday, May 18 at the Will Funeral Chapel with a prayer service. Burial was in Serviceman’s Cemetery.
Polly was born July 15, 1925, in Lemmon to George and Pauline Gossmann. She was the sixth of nine children and the first child to be born in the US after her German parents migrated here from Russia in approximately 1924.
Upon graduation from Lemmon High School, she entered the Presentation Nurses Training Program in Aberdeen.  In 1947 Polly completed Registered Nurses Training at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Mitchell.
Polly was married to John Maher on Sept. 20, 1948, in Lemmon. While living in Brookings, Artesian and Woonsocket, she did part-time nursing while devoting her time to her husband and four children. When the family moved to Mitchell in 1962 she began a 20-year career as a registered nurse working at St. Joseph Hospital as a medical floor supervisor. Following retirement in 1982 she continued hospital volunteer services for many years.
Polly was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church where she was a member of the Altar Society. She was also a member of South Dakota Nurses Association and St. Joseph’s Alumni Association as well as a volunteer for many organizations.
Polly is survived by three children, Patricia (Ed) Horgan  of Carson City, Nev., Joan (Doug) Henderson  of  Sioux Falls, and Robert  (Denise) Maher of League City, Texas;  daughter-in-law, Adela Maher of Hot Springs; nine grandsons; 15 great-grandchildren; her brother, Robert (Linda) Gossmann of Ben Wheeler, Texas; her sister, Georgia Satter of Rapid City; and her very special friend, Lori Kelsey of Mitchell.