Lois (Eidsness) Marlette Stemper, 94, of Redfield, SD, died on October 31, 2021, at the Redfield Eastern Star Home.  Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., with family present, on Thursday, November 4, 2021, at Hyke Funeral Home in Redfield.  A Prayer Service and Time of Sharing will begin at 7:00 p.m. with Pastor Lorah Houser Jankord officiating.

A Celebration of Life church service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, November 5, 2021, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Redfield.  Pastor Lorah Houser Jankord will officiate with the interment service following at Greenlawn Cemetery in Redfield.

Both the Prayer Service and Celebration of Life Service will be live-streamed to the funeral home's website, under Lois' obituary, for those unable to attend.  Hyke Funeral Home of Redfield is in charge of arrangements.  For service details, go to www.hykefuneralhome.com.

Lois was born on June 2, 1927, to Edwin and Ethel (Swope) Eidsness at the family farm home twelve miles southwest of Redfield, SD.  Raised during the Great Depression and Dirty Thirties, she and her five sisters and one brother attended a one-room country school through grade eight.  Lois then attended Redfield High School where she stayed in town with different families to earn her room and board.  She graduated in 1945 during the world madness of WWII.

Lois Eidsness married George Marlette in Redfield on May 1, 1947, and their love was blessed with six healthy children.  They farmed together ten miles southwest of Redfield until a car accident claimed the life of George on September 22, 1960.  Lois then sold the farm and moved, with her young family, into Redfield where she worked for several Redfield Main Street businesses.

Lois found love again and on November 27, 1963, she and Douglas Stemper, who farmed east of Zell, SD, were married.  Living in Redfield, but continuing to farm the land, they raised their six kids and enjoyed twenty-nine years of happiness together until Doug's winter storm death on February 27, 1993.  One of their most proud and significant achievements was to watch each of their six children graduate from college or vocational school.

Celebrating her legacy of life are her children:  Loren (Nancy) Marlette, Canton, SD; David (Corrine) Marlette, Sioux Falls, SD; Jodeen (Steven) Erickson, Stratford, SD; Steven (Janis) Marlette, The Villages, FL; Janel (Duane) Quiett, Gettysburg, SD; Jeffrey (Sandy) Marlette, Rapid City, SD; and her in-laws: Anna Mae Clausen, Laura Eidsness, Delores Conrade, James (Shary) Stemper; twenty grandchildren; and thirty-two great-grandchildren.

Lois was preceded in death by her: husband George Marlette; husband Doug Stemper; parents Edwin and Ethel Eidsness; stepmother Agnes (Hansen) Eidsness; brother Floyd (Tessie) Eidsness; sister Leila (Bernard) Jungwirth; sister Lucille (Wayland) Harr; sister Marion (Ray) Hansen; sister Irene (Clois) Nix; sister Ginny (LeRoy) Stapp; baby Georgina Marlette; grandson Chris Marlette; great-granddaughter Haddley Lems; great-grandson Will Carter; and many other beloved in-laws, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and friends.

Family prefers memorials given to Redfield UCC Church or Paul A. Schleher VFW Post #2755 in Redfield.

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Thank you to the participants in Lois Stemper's funeral:

Special Music ~ Diane Tipton and Dale Fiedler

Pallbearers ~ Grandsons

Honorary Pallbearers ~ Lois' Granddaughters and Lois' Card Club