ABERDEEN, SD – Dorothy Seward Bierwagen, 96, of Aberdeen, SD and formerly of Pierre, SD died Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at Angelhaus Senior Care in Aberdeen.

Funeral service will be 11:00 AM on Friday, April 4, 2025 at Feigum Funeral Home in Pierre. Visitation will be for one hour prior to the service.

Burial will be in Onida Cemetery at Onida, SD.

When people met Dorothy for the first time, there were two things that stood out…her short stature and her smile. However, those of us who knew her well know that there was a lot more stored in that small package.

Her stature and smile perhaps disguised the formidable and dedicated qualities that made her and those around her succeed . Her courage was displayed early in her life with her decision to go to Northern State Teachers College in 1947 versus accepting a local job recommended by her father. Her generosity was evident in opening her home to family members in need, friends, as well as several foreign exchange students and teachers. She was fiercely devoted to her 4 children and helped shape them as well as dozens of other kids through her years of 4-H leadership, teaching in a rural school in Harrold, SD and in Ft. Bragg, NC, as well as substitute teaching at the Agar Schools.

These experiences certainly steeled her for further challenges to come such as being widowed at the age of 52 while still raising a teenager, dissolving Seward’s Grocery, moving from her home in the Agar area of 55 years, and then being widowed again. Throughout these challenges she demonstrated the value of family, discipline, having hope in the future and being generous with talents and worldly goods. She moved from Agar, SD to Ft. Pierre, SD in the mid 1980s where she continued working for the US Postal Service until her retirement after 32 years. She then moved to Parkwood Senior Apartments in Pierre, SD until the passing of her second husband. From there she moved to Greeley, CO to be closer to family where she eventually moved in with Lori’s family for several years and then moved to Enders, NE with them. Her final move was to Angelhaus Assisted Living in the fall of 2022 in Aberdeen, SD where Mary lives.

Her proudest legacy is her family. She was born and raised in Sully County near Agar in rural South Dakota to Phyllis and Ralph Wagner alongside five brothers (Charles, Clarence, Marlin, Lyle and Arlo). She attended all of her schooling in Agar and married her high school sweetheart, Sherman Seward, June 19, 1952. From there they moved to Ft. Bragg, NC where they made their first home and had their first child, Mary. After Sherman’s discharge from the Army, they moved back to Agar where they raised 3 more children (Shelly, Kerry and Lori). After 29 years of marriage, Sherman passed away. Their time together was filled with running Seward’s Grocery and the Post Office,attending their children’s events, many trips to the Sully County and SD State Fairs, and yearly family trips that spanned both coasts. Dorothy was also very involved in the Legion Auxiliary, the Methodist Church and 4-H Leadership. She remarried after moving to Ft. Pierre, SD during which time she continued to do extensive traveling with Norman Bierwagen by RV during their 25 years together. She made sure to leave us with stories about her early life and her travels to all 50 states and Europe. She faithfully attended Faith Lutheran Church during the time she lived in Ft. Pierre and Pierre SD. With others, she proudly shared the accomplishments of her four children, her eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ralph and Phyllis Wagner, her brothers Charles, Clarence, Marlin and Lyle, her first husband, Sherman Seward and her second husband, Norman Bierwagen.

She is survived by her brother, Arlo Wagner, of Agar, SD, as well as her four children and their families: Mary (Preston) Schultz of Aberdeen, SD, Sheldon (Dru) Seward of Greeley, CO, Kerwin Seward (Penny Hubble) of Katy, TX, and Lori (Dave) Ripley of Enders, NE.

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