Michele Renee Van Leur, 70, of Colton, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. 

A memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, at St. George Catholic Church in Hartford. A memorial visitation was held from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday at Minnehaha Funeral Chapel in Colton.

Michele was born at Methodist Hospital on April 17, 1955, in Mitchell. Michele was baptized and confirmed at St. Wilfrid Catholic Church. The majority of her first five years were spent with her grandparents, Almar and M. Loretta Murphy Rask, in Letcher, where her grandfather ran the hardware store, and her grandmother ran a boarding house from the large family home. After her grandfather’s death, she and her grandmother moved to rural Woonsocket to the Van Leur family farm. 

She attended Cuthbert Country School where all eight grades were housed in one room until its closure. She then attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School from fourth to seventh grade. When it closed, she continued the remainder of her education at Woonsocket Public School where she graduated in 1973. She attended South Dakota State University and later Dakota Wesleyan University, where she graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in nursing. She practiced at Community Bailey Hospital in Chamberlain, operated Brule County Ambulance, practiced in New Mexico in a number of clinical and administrative settings, attained a Bachelor of Science degree in allied health care administration, and began a business career with United Health Care before returning to South Dakota. In South Dakota, she had an administrative career and was last employed with Select Specialty Hospital as the Director of Business Development for marketing and referral services. Other career achievements included state office, appointee to the Governor’s task force on nursing home bed availability, and a national speaker at multiple clinical conferences in the United States and Canada. However, the greatest achievements of Michele’s life were being blessed to be the mother of her four children and grandmother to their children.

Michele is survived by her children, Jacqueline Lea Miller Barrick of Crooks, Dane Andrew Miller of Sioux Falls, and Danielle Renee Miller Thompson of Queen Creek, Ariz.; five grandchildren; one special grandson; brother, Curtis Chlebeck Van Leur (Dr. Paul Chlebeck); and nieces and nephew.

She was preceded in death by her son, Gavin; her brother, Kevin; grandparents, Almar and Loretta Rask, and Albert and Hazel Van Leur; and her aunt, Leatrice Hoy.