Rosemary Ann (Gerdes) Rasmussen, 71, of Kimball SD, after a long struggle with cancer, entered into eternal life on November 4, 2021 at Sanford Care Center in Chamberlain, South Dakota. She was born on March 4, 1950 to John Gerdes and Darline (Powers) Gerdes at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Mitchell, South Dakota.

Services will be celebrated at Saint Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church in Kimball, South Dakota.

Reverend Father William Hamak will be the presider.

The vigil services will be held on Monday, November 8, 2021 with visitation beginning at 5:30 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Catholic Church and music provided by the Grass Ranch Hutterite Colony Choir at 6:20 P.M.  The recitation of the Holy Rosary by the Court Saint Patrick Catholic Daughters of the Americas will be at 6:40 P.M. The wake service begins at 7:00 P.M. followed by reception with desserts provided by the current and retired Kimball School Teachers.

The Requiem Funeral Mass will be celebrated on November 9, 2021 at 10:00 A.M. with graveside committal at Saint Margaret’s Cemetery.  A lunch reception will follow in the church basement with service provided by the Catholic Daughters of the Americas.

As a young child, Rosemary lived a very nomadic life.  Her father, John Gerdes, was a truck driver for a highway construction company. As the road work progressed; the workers’ family camp would also move their trailer houses to the new site. The construction crew worked mainly in the Upper Midwest, but while the crew was working in Montana, Rosemary had her First Holy Communion at the local parish church.  Her Grandma, Mary Powers, came all the way from Kimball, SD by Greyhound bus to celebrate with her.  She attended classes at the school in the town neighboring the construction camp. During her elementary education the schools she attended could be as small as a one-room country schoolhouse or as large as a municipal city school. She made many good childhood friends along the way.  Her mother, Darline Gerdes, ran a bakery out of her home in which each of the Gerdes children had assigned duties to help with the baking and delivery of the baked goods to local townsfolk.  Rosemary learned how to check the car oil level from her Dad, and she loved to ride in the truck with him.

At the age of ten, in 1960, her parents moved to her mother’s hometown, Kimball, SD, and they built a house on Pine Street. Her father worked for the State Highway Department and her mother was the head cook at Chef Rudy’s Cafe at Skelly’s Midway Truck-Stop.  She attended classes at Kimball School and graduated from KHS in 1968. During high school and college she worked as a waitress and dishwasher at Chef Rudy’s Cafe. After high school, she attended Dakota Wesleyan University for two years, where she worked as a student switchboard operator.  She transferred to the University of South Dakota in Springfield and graduated with a bachelor of arts in elementary education in 1974. During her teaching career she taught at many different schools: Cedar Grove Hutterite Colony, Crow Creek Headstart, Smithfield Country School, Lyons Country School, Kimball School, and Grass Ranch Hutterite Colony. During her 30 years of teaching, she focused on teaching elementary students. She taught the lower grades (K-3rd) at the Grass Ranch Colony School for 20 years.  As a teacher, Rosemary loved to awaken the joy of creative expression and a love of learning in her students.

While attending a wedding dance at the Casino Dance Hall in Kimball, SD, she met the love of her life, Michael Rasmussen.  After dating for one year and three months, they were married at Saint Margaret’s Church in Kimball on July 7, 1972. Michael was employed as a farmhand by Virgil Viereck at the “Flying V Ranch” outside of Gann Valley, SD.  Michael and Rosemary lived their entire married life on the ranch. They raised three sons, Micky, Tony, and Alan. Family was always important to Rosemary; so much so that she took off 11 years from teaching to be a full-time mother and raise her family at home.

Her Catholic faith was very important to Rosemary.  Faith seemed to be in the very air you breathed in the Rasmussen household. Weekly Mass, Rosary, and night prayers with her family were all an integral part of her life. Rosemary was a strong believer in the power of intercessory prayer. She daily prayed: “May God’s blessings be on our children and our grandchildren. We pray for all of our friends, family, relatives, the poor suffering souls in purgatory, and for those that are dying this hour.”  Rosemary was an active member of Saint Margaret’s Catholic Church and the Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court Saint Patrick # 1699. She was also taught as a catechist at Saint Margaret’s Church.

 

She is survived by her husband of 49 years, Michael Rasmussen; three sons, Micky, of Sioux Falls, SD, Tony and his wife Rebecca of Kimball, SD, Alan and his wife Jodi of Mitchell, SD; a sister, Marlene (Gerdes) Kerner and her husband Richard of Burke, SD; a brother, John Gerdes and his wife Maureen of Kimball, SD; and 7 grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her parents, John and Darline (Powers) Gerdes, and her in-laws Raymond Rasmussen and Clara (Drafahl) Rasmussen-Clark.

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