Mary L. Rawstern | January 16, 1937 - October 2, 2022

Mary LaVon Rawstern, age 85, of Onida, passed away on Sunday October 2nd, 2022 at Avera Hospital in Pierre surrounded by her children.

Visitation will be held 5:00-7:00pm, Friday, October 7, 2022 at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Onida, concluding with a Prayer Service at 7:00PM. Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10:00am, Saturday, October 8th at the ABO School Gymnasium in Onida. Burial will follow at Holy Rosary Cemetery in Agar.  Mary’s Service will be available to view at the following link:

Clike HERE to watch Mary’s service.

Mary was born in Pierre on January 16th, 1937.  She graduated from school in Onida with the class of 1955. Mary was married to Wayne Rawstern on August 16, 1954 in Gettysburg, SD. They were married 58 years.

Mary spent her lifetime mostly in the Onida-Sully County area of South Dakota. She was raised on the Hillside Ranch in western Sully County with her seven brothers and one sister. Mary and Wayne lived in several places before coming back to Onida in 1960 to raise their family. Mary was a devoted mother to six children; Curtis, Dianne, Annette, Jeff, Karen, and Terry.

Mary worked a variety of jobs throughout her lifetime, on top of being an amazing homemaker for her family. She was a member of the St. Pius X Church. She was active in Card Club, Sully County Drifters, bowling league, and Quilt Guild at various points in her life. She spent many weekends with friends and family at the river camping. Mary was passionate during the summer months in her flower gardens and garden. In the fall, she would be busy with canning. Her grandchildren always loved her homemade salsa. Mary loved to watch her son Jeff and later her grandson Jordan race in Miller. Mary loved being social and welcomed visits from her family and friends.

Mary is survived by her children, Curtis (Diane) Rawstern of Selby, Dianne (Dale) Boschee of Aberdeen, Annette (Ric) Severson of Pierre, Jeff (Susan) Rawstern of Blunt, Karen (Rick) LaFurge of Onida, Terry (Ricki) Rawstern of Lakeville, MN; brother Bob (Betha) Zebroski of Denver, CO, brothers-in-law Eldon Rawstern of Miller and Leo Rawstern of Rapid City, sister-in-laws Marje Zebroski of Watertown and Carol Heintz of Fort Pierre. She was blessed to have shared time with her 14 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren(one on the way), along with the many nieces and nephews.  Mary was preceded in death by her husband Wayne, parents John and Florence Zebroski, mother and father in law Clara and Irwin Rawstern, brothers: Ray, Jim, Phil, Dick, John and Jerry Zebroski, sister Barb Rilling, sister-in-laws: Shirley(Jim), Madeline(John), Bev Zebroski, BennaBee Stewart, and JoAnne Rawstern, and brother-in-law Maynard Rilling.