PIERRE, SD – Georgia Angela LaBoda was born in Colome, SD, on June 29, 1930, to George and Angela (Bermel) LaBoda. She enjoyed going to school in Colome and graduated from Colome High School. She was the editor of the Annual and participated in the Pep Club and the Mixed Chorus, and she was pleased to be awarded membership in the National Honor Society. In first grade, she and Billy London were in the Homecoming Parade dressed as future Cowboy Queen and King. She also enjoyed playing the piano and performing in grade school plays, especially as Becky Thatcher in Huckleberry Finn. Georgia also helped out in her parent’s grocery store, the Colome Cash Store. Her interest in birds started when she rescued a baby sparrow that had fallen out of the nest. She named him Elmer after a comic strip at that time, and raised him in the house. He was so tame that he flew back to her even when he flew outside.

Georgia met her future husband, Thomas “Tom” H. Pozarnsky at a dance in Colome, and they were married in Colome on February 14, 1950. He was 11 years older than Georgia and was a graduate of Utah State University and a veteran of World War II. Tom served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946, first driving amphibian vehicles “ship to shore” on D-Day, then marching through small towns in France to liberate them from the Nazis. He was then sent to Okinawa to fight in the jungles while awaiting an invasion of Japan, and he was glad that the war ended without that invasion. Georgia was proud of his service to our country and has kept his five medals and Bronze Service Star since his death in August 1987 from complications from an aneurysm and surgery.

After their marriage, Georgia and Tom lived in Mission, where he was a Range Conservationist for the Soil Conservation Service. They were happy to have three sons and a daughter born to them while in Mission, but unfortunately two of the sons were born premature and only lived for a short time. While living in Mission, Georgia was active in the American Legion Auxiliary while Tom was Commander of the American Legion Post. As part of the Civil Air Patrol, she spotted all airplanes and reported them, and she served as County Chairperson of the American Cancer Society and belonged to the Homemakers Extension Club.

In 1960, the family moved to Mobridge where Tom continued his career with the Soil Conservation Service, and they were blessed with two more children, a girl and a boy. Georgia attended everything the four children were involved in, and served as Den Mother for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies and Girl Scouts for many years. She also enjoyed playing the piano and organ.

The family moved to Pierre in 1975, and Georgia was active in the Christian Women’s Club, including serving on the Board and as ticket chair, and taking on other responsibilities as needed. She also hosted Bible Study and the Renew Study Group in her home for many years.

Despite no formal architectural training, Georgia drew architectural plans to scale for the new house they built in Mobridge and for the additions to their houses in Mission and Pierre. She also designed and assembled the kitchen cabinets, and stained and varnished all the woodwork. In 1980, she did research on solar energy and had three solar panels installed in the house.

Georgia was active in the Catholic Church wherever she lived, including singing in the choir (and being a soloist in Colome), donating homemade rolls, casseroles and pies, helping the craft group make items for the Bazaar in Pierre, and volunteering for other projects. She also visited the sick and helped others in need by taking them to appointments and shopping, helping them pack and move, and even offering them an interim place to stay.

Family was very important to Georgia, and her children were the primary focus of her life. She loved sewing and made clothes for her children as well as most of the clothes she wore during her lifetime. She also enjoyed baking, including making and decorating special, unique cakes for holidays and birthdays.

Georgia passed away on April 19 at age 94. She was living at Avantara Pierre, where she received excellent care and especially enjoyed doing exercises with therapists, attending Bible Study, looking at the painting and photograph of horses in the hall outside her room, and watching the birds and rabbits outside her window.

She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her two infant sons, and her son-in-law, Gordon Olson. She is survived by her four children: Sylvia (Tom Riley) Pozarnsky, Darrell (Debbie) Pozarnsky, Janel LaBoda and Ronald Pozarnsky; five grandchildren: Jarrod (Brenda) Pozarnsky, Paul (Sarah Solis) Pozarnsky, Dylan Pozarnsky, Sarah Olson LaBoda and Scott Olson LaBoda; five step-grandchildren: Jamie (Rob) Brewer, Joshua (Jennifer) Gumina, Jeffrey (Elizabeth Tomlin) Gumina and Joseph Gumina; seven great-grandchildren (Orion, Xanthius, Antony, Vera, Lena, Lilith and Zed); five step-great-grandchildren (Layla, Robert, Evan, Maya and August); many nieces, nephews and cousins, other adult step-grandchildren, and Jacob (Jessica) Greenhagen, half-brother to Jarrod and Paul, who had a special relationship with Georgia.

Visitation will be at the Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 210 E. Broadway Ave., on Friday, April 25, from 9:30 to 10:30 am, followed by a memorial service from 10:30 to 11:30 at the Church. Everyone is invited to join the family for lunch after the service, followed by burial at 3 pm in the Colome cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Georgia’s memory may be made to The Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife or the National Audubon Society.

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