Aileen Fern Harp, 83, of Ash Flat, Arkansas, died Friday, April 6, 2012 at Fulton County Hospital in Salem, AR. Her funeral will be Friday, April 13, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. at Thelen Funeral Home in Redfield, SD. Reverend Stephen Perry will officiate. Burial will be in Greenlawn Cemetery in Redfield. Visitation will be Thursday from 2-8:00 p.m. at Thelen Funeral Home. www.thelenfuneralhome.com

Aileen was born April 11, 1928 in Redfield to Ralph and Bertha (Bice) Swope. She attended elementary country school and graduated from Redfield High School in 1946. She worked at the Farmers Union Co-Op in Redfield. Aileen married Vernon Dickey in 1948. They lived in Texas for several years before they divorced. Aileen married Joe D. Harp on June 21, 1957. He was a thirty year Air Force Officer and they lived in various communities all over the world including Japan and Italy. Aileen worked at the Air Force Post Exchange wherever Joe was stationed. They retired in Melbourne, FL. After Joe died in 1993, Aileen moved to Mesa, AZ where she met Frank Paul, her companion for the next ten years. They moved to Cherokee Village, AR in 2005 until she entered Ash Flat Health and Rehab Center in 2009.

Aileen in survived by her special friend and companion Frank Paul of Cherokee Village, AR, her sister-in-law Gladys Swope of Redfield; her nieces: Karen Cooper, Devonna Newman, Annabel Lange, Rosetta Dickerson and Valerie Clayborn; her nephews: Doyle Harms, David Swope, Alan Swope and Scott Swope.

She was preceded in death by her husband Joe Harp, her parents and her siblings: Thelma Harms, Armond Swope and Virgil Swope.