Ramona A. Gluhm, 99, of Holabird, passed away Saturday, October 30, 2021, at the Highmore Health in Highmore, SD.

A graveside service will be held in the spring at the Highmore City Cemetery.

Ramona Ann Gluhm was born at home in Hughes County, South Dakota to Samuel and Mary Dancey on August 18, 1922.  She was the oldest of five siblings: brother, Charles “Bud” and sisters: Marylou “Dude” (Gregg), Katherine “Kay” (Peterson), and Virginia “Ginger” (Kusser).

Mona’s youth was very reminiscent of what you may have learned about reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie”.  Mona’s family lived in and around Highmore while she was growing up, finally settling in Holabird. She often told stories of the times when her father would hitch up “the horses” to pull a sleigh around the prairie pastures at Christmas time or take her with him to trade horses for the cavalry with the “Indians” on their reservation.  She would also get to and from school with a horse team pulling a wagon across the open prairie. Mona attended Loomis School, a one room schoolhouse with her siblings, and graduated from St. Mary’s Academy (high school) in O’Neill, Nebraska in 1940. The story she’d share from her time at St. Mary’s over and over was the time she slid down the banister right into Sister Antonella, the principal. Needless to say, Mona had several hundred Hail Mary’s to complete that evening.

After graduating from St. Mary’s, Mona returned home but not for long. She caught a train to Chicago, Illinois off on an adventure of a lifetime. She joined the forces of women that went to work in factories as part of the war effort, replacing men who were drafted to fight in World War II. She welded for Piper Cub in the Pullman Railroad Car Seat Factory which had been converted into an aircraft plant to make parts for transport and fighter planes. She returned to South Dakota in 1951 when her parents asked her to come home to help them run a diner in Holabird at the Dancey Station with her sister Kay.

While attending a local dance one Saturday night in Holabird or Harrold, (the stories of dances got a little mixed up over time) Mona met her husband, Clarence Gluhm (Harrold). They were married in April of 1953 in a double wedding ceremony with Mona’s sister, Kay, and Lee Peterson. The newly married Gluhm’s purchased their own farm south of Holabird and became parents to two children through adoption: Penny Donata in 1959, and Dennis Theron in 1961, making their family complete. In March of 1963, they sold their farm and moved their family to a farm near Loveland, CO.  In 1970, they moved one last time into a home they built in Loveland, where Mona lived for the next 49 years.

Throughout her years living in Loveland, Mona worked as a waitress at Johnson’s Corner, Nickerson Farms and was a cook at Winona Elementary School.  She finished her career, (retiring in her mid-70’s), waitressing at The Normandy Inn in downtown Loveland.  Everyone in town knew Mona and she knew what her customers would order as they walked in the door.

Mona and Clarence were active members of the Loveland Foot and Fiddle Square Dance Club from 1977 to 1995, serving as club President and Treasurer.  They danced locally with a variety of square dance clubs and traveled to regional festivals and conferences. Las Vegas, Nevada and Branson, Missouri were their favorite places to square dance, attend NFR Rodeos and see country western stars perform! There wasn’t a weekend where they weren’t dancing and enjoying the camaraderie square dancing brought to their lives.

After Clarence passed away in June 2003, Mona continued to live in her home with her son and went to Stepping Stone Adult Day Care from 2018 to 2019 due to her progressing dementia. It had been her wish to return to South Dakota when she was no longer able to live in her home independently.  After Denny passed away suddenly in October 2019, it was time for Mona to move back to Highmore and into Highmore Health nursing home, where she lived two very active, happy years before her death the morning of October 30. Her sister, Kay, was at her side holding her hand as she peacefully reunited with Clarence in Heaven.

She leaves behind her daughter, Penny (Ross) Alexander; three granddaughters: Kenna, Eve, and Ila; a great granddaughter, Eden; her sisters:  Kay Peterson and Ginger (Phil) Kusser; her sister-in-law, Ila Gluhm; many, many beloved nieces, nephews, as well as many great and grand nieces and nephews; and she also leaves behind a very special friend, Marge Hoefker, who’s been one of her most treasured friends since the early 1980’s when they worked together at The Normandy Inn.

Mona was preceded in death by her husband, Clarence Gluhm; her adopted son; parents: Sam and Mary Dancey; brother, Charles “Bud” (Betty) Dancey;  sister, Marylou “Dude” (Scott); brother-in-law, Lee Peterson; two nephews: Dan Peterson and John “Jack” Peterson; and many family members, in-laws and a lifetime of friends that loved her very much.

In Lieu of flowers and cards please consider donating to the Alzheimer’s Association at https://www.alz.org/ or St. Mary’s Church in Highmore. Masses are being said at St. John’s Catholic Church in Loveland for Mona, where she had been a member of from 1963 to 2019. As Mona’s life has come to an end, so does this with her famous farewell family and friends know so well, “So long… love you all to pieces!!”

Luze Funeral Home of Highmore has been entrusted with Ramona’s arrangements.

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