Lila Anderson, 94, of Mitchell, passed away Saturday, May 20, 2017, at Avera Queen of Peace Hospital.
Funeral services were Thursday, May 25, at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Mitchell, with Pastor John L. Hansen officiating. Visitation with a 7 p.m. prayer service was Wednesday, May 24, from 6-8 p.m. at the Will Funeral Chapel in Mitchell. Burial was in Butler Cemetery at rural Letcher.
Lila G. Anderson was born on Jan. 29, 1923, to Charley and Emma (Tuen) Torgerson in Yankton, and was raised on a farm near there until the spring of 1928, when they moved to a farm near Forestburg. Lila graduated from Forestburg High School in 1940.
Lila married George J. Jarabek on March 28, 1942, and they made their home in Letcher, where they remodeled and built many new homes together in the Mitchell area, the drive-in movie theater, and Twin Lakes Resort near Woonsocket, which they managed for five years. George passed away in 1971, and Lila moved to Mitchell, where she was a librarian at the Mitchell Public Library for 14 years.
Lila married Andy Anderson on Nov. 5, 1985. She and Andy enjoyed a special vacation to Florida with her brother and sister-in-law before Andy suddenly passed away in 1988.
Lila was a member of First Lutheran Church and later, a charter member of Resurrection Lutheran Church, the Moose Lodge, Senior Citizens and their bowling league. She loved music and dancing with family and friends, including playing keyboard and harmonica, playing cards, bowling, pontoon rides around Lake Mitchell, and special times with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She especially enjoyed her hot-air balloon ride on her 75th birthday.
Lila is survived by her children: LaVoy Gerlach of Mitchell, Judy (Tim McLaughlin) Cass of Sioux Falls, and Jerry Jarabek of Omaha, Neb.; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and sister-in-law, Virginia Haines of Phoenix, Ariz.;
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husbands, George and Andy; her infant son, Ronnie; one brother, Johnny (Irene) Torgerson; two sisters, Thora (Vernon) Lien and Clara (Kenneth) Peterson; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Steve and Bertha Jarabek, Roy and Emma Jacobson, Ray and Lily Jacobson, and John Haines; and nephews, Elmer Torgerson, Charles Peterson, Steve Haines and Gary Jacobson.