Valeta Maxine (O'Dell) Roggenthen, 92, of Frankfort, passed away peacefully March 8, 2009, at the Eastern Star Home, Redfield South Dakota.

Her funeral will be held 10:00 a.m., Saturday, March 14, 2009, at Thelen Funeral Home, Redfield.

Internment will be in the Greenlawn Cemetery.


Closed casket visitation will be 1-8:00 p.m. on Friday, March 12, 2009 with the family present from 5 -7 p.m. to accept condolences, at Thelen Funeral Home, Redfield. (www.thelenfuneralhome.com)

Valeta Maxine O'Dell was born February 26, 1917, in West Point, NE to Fredrick Edward O'Dell and Nellie Lucinda (Wylie) O'Dell. She grew up in the Fremont, NE and Frankfort, SD areas where she attended school. She attended tailoring school in Seattle, and after graduation she worked in Seattle. One of her customers was the boxer Joe Lewis, who ordered two suits.

She married Leslie Roggenthen on June 8, 1942, in Newcastle, WY. In 1953, they purchased a farm three miles south and three miles east of Frankfort where they farmed and raised their boys. After Leslie's death in 1966, she continued to live on the farm until her health required a move to the Eastern Star Home.

Valeta will be remembered most for her delicate and beautifully crocheted doilies, tablecloths, placemats, and shawls, some of which won blue ribbons at the South Dakota State Fair. She also sewed, beaded and embroidered, and through the years, she presented her daughters-in-law and grandchildren with memorable birthday and Christmas gifts.

She enjoyed both vegetable and flower gardening in the summers, but especially loved to travel in the winter. Over the years, she visited her Aunt Mary in California, Bob, Debbie, Greg and Diane in Denver and Arizona; and Bill, Eileen and Mike in New Orleans, Princeton, Washington, DC and Keystone. She loved playing tourist, so all the trips entailed visiting the sights.

For 25 years, she was a member of her neighborhood Extension Club, serving in various offices.
She was a member of the Spink County Senior Citizens, serving as president for a term.

Valeta is survived by her three sons, Fred Faussett and Kaye Anderson of Frankfort; Bill (Eileen) Roggenthen of Keystone; Bob, (Deborah) Roggenthen of Tucson, AZ; grandchildren, Nick Fullmer of Aberdeen, SD; Mike Roggenthen of Spearfish, SD; Greg and Diane Roggenthen of Tucson, AZ.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her three brothers: Richard and William O'Dell and Ira (Sonny) Booze.

A memorial has been established to the Leslie and Valeta Roggenthen Scholarship, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.