Kevin Dean Heald, 69, of Sterling, Ill., died Monday, March 13, 2023, at CGH Medical Center. 

Funeral services were held Saturday, March 18, at Schilling Funeral Home & Cremation, with Adam Meyer officiating. Visitation was Friday, March 17, and one hour prior to the service at Schilling Funeral Home & Cremation.  

Kevin was born April 24, 1953, in Woonsocket, the son of Marion and Martha (Veenendaal) Heald. He married Judith Ann Smith on June 30, 1973.

Kevin worked at Menards for 19 years, retired, and then continued at Carpetland. He was a foster parent, a house dad, a minister and youth group leader.

Kevin enjoyed fishing and traveling.

Kevin is survived by his wife, Judy; two sons, Sam Heald and Zach (Kim) Heald; four brothers, Mark, Scott, Vance and Jarod; four sisters, Karen (Ron) Bartz, Donna (Darell) Pack, Yvonne Glover, and Colleen (George) Borys; mother-in-law, Barbara Beien; brother-in-law, Jim (Brenda) Smith; sisters-in-law, Kathy (Ken) Holtz, Marie (Jesse) Eissens, Teresa (Dan) Brown, and Becky (Steve) King; and six grandchildren. 

Kevin was preceded in death by his parents, Marion and Martha Heald; sisters, Kathleen and Sonya; and brothers, Fabian and Shawn.

Leslie LaVerne Jensen, 85, of Alpena, passed away Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Huron Regional Medical Center.

His funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 25, at the First Presbyterian Church, Huron. His service will be live-streamed through the Kuhler Funeral Home website. Burial will be in the Rest Haven Cemetery, Alpena, with military honors. Visitation will be from 1-7 p.m, Friday at the Kuhler Funeral Home, with his family present from 5-7 p.m. Friday evening. A prayer service will be held at 6:30 p.m.

Leslie LaVerne Jensen was born Sept. 24, 1937, to Clifford and Nellie (Heggen) Jensen at Mitchell. Leslie grew up in the Alpena area and attended all 12 grades at Alpena. While in high school, he participated in basketball, track, yearbook and class officer. In track, he pole-vaulted at the State Track Meet for several years, including the year he had to hitch hike to the meet.

Les continued his education at Blair, Neb., where he played basketball for a short time.

He was a proud Marine, as he served his country from July 31, 1956 to July 30, 1958, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. One job there was to drive people around, which included Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke.

On Jan. 27, 1963, Les married Mary Louise Elliott at Woonsocket. They made their home at Alpena, where they raised their family for 60 years.

Leslie played with the Alpena Amateur Baseball team and later managed the team. He also played with the Alpena Independent Basketball team, played slow-pitch and bowled.

Professionally, Les was a truck driver, livestock producer, corn sheller in all weather conditions, bonded cattle order buyer sitting for hours at sales, and partner in owning Jensen Grain.

Les and Mary Louise enjoyed traveling 35 states, following their grandchildren’s activities, watching basketball, and watching the birds and squirrels out the window. He had an extensive collection of red birds, moose and hats. Les was famous for his statement “sleep on it.”

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Mary Louise; two daughters, VaLynda (Todd) Weller of Aberdeen and Brenda (Alan) Schmidt of Huron; one son, Leo (Annette Bowen) Jensen of Alpena; three grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; two bonus children, Kyle Uttecht and Kelly Uttecht; and many nieces and nephews, including greats, great-greats and great-great-greats.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Clifford and Nellie Jensen; siblings and their spouses, John and Barbara Jensen, Lloyd Jensen, Marian and Martin Andersen Jr., Ardis and Les Grace, Nellie Jensen at birth, Willis Jensen, Betty Jensen, Bobby Jensen; his parents-in-law, Orval and Sarah Elliott; and brother-in-law, Charles Elliott.

Memorials may be directed to the United Parish of Alpena.

Dr. Janice M. Ebersdorfer, 92, of Mitchell, died Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at Firesteel Care Center in Mitchell. 

Mass of Christian Burial was held Wednesday, March 22, 10:30 a.m., at the Holy Family Catholic Church; burial was in Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Parkston. Visitation with a Rosary was held on Tuesday, March 21, at Will Funeral Chapel. Family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of donations to the scholarships in Jan’s name at the USD foundation.

Dr. Janice Margaret Ebersdorfer was born on July 13, 1930, at the family farm west of Parkston, to John J. and Martha (Nipp) Ebersdorfer.  She graduated from Parkston High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in education from Black Hills State College; her master’s degree in Special Education from Northern State and her Doctor of Education degree from Indiana University, earning majors in administration and early childhood education. While at Indiana University, she was a U.S. Office of Education Doctoral Fellow for three years and completed an administrative internship in Washington D.C.   

Dr. Ebersdorfer began her career teaching in a rural one-room school. Her career had a varied and extensive educational journey, including elementary, secondary and special education teaching, federal project coordinator, consultant, and a university professor at USD for 24 years.   

In 1973, she was appointed by Governor Kneip as the first Deputy Secretary of Department of Education and Cultural Affairs, and later, she joined the state legislative research council as director. She held offices at state and national levels. She was a recipient of numerous honors.

She retired from USD in 1996 and moved to Mitchell in 1998. Dr. Ebersdorfer enjoyed traveling, reading and enjoying time with family. Her life was focused on faith, family, friends and cherished students.

Dr. Ebersdorfer is survived by her nephew, Jeff (Molly) Ebersdorfer of Artesian; and nieces, Connie (Rod) Vermeulen of Mitchell and Jodi (Keith) Theisen of Clear Lake; nephew-in-law, Douglas Wudel; and many great-nieces and great-nephews.

She is preceded in death by her brothers, Francis and Donald (Agatha); her parents; and niece, Bonnie Wudel.