HIGHMORE, SD –

Sharon Kay Runestad, 80, of Highmore, passed away on Monday, August 7, 2023, at her home.

Celebration of Sharon’s life will be held from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, September 16, 2023, at the Hyde County Memorial Auditorium in Highmore. Light refreshments will be served. Guests may come and go as they please and are encouraged to sit and visit as long as they would like, as Sharon always greatly enjoyed a good long chat with a friend and sharing memories with loved ones.

Sharon Kay Lingscheit was born on April 23, 1943, to Frank and Pauline Lingscheit. Sharon was the oldest of three girls and some of her favorite childhood memories were of riding horses on the prairie with her sisters, Norma and Sandy. She was an avid horsewoman from a young age after inheriting a love for horses from her father. As a child, Sharon hated cooking and doing housework, instead preferring to be outside working with animals. That never changed when she grew up.

As a teenager, she went to work at the Highmore sale barn with her dad. She started out waitressing in the café, but completely hated that job. She happily left waitressing behind when the opportunity to work in the pens sorting cattle on horseback arose. That work was right up her alley, and she often talked about the fun she had getting paid to ride her beloved palomino, Nugget.

As was customary in those days, Sharon went to country school near their home in North Hyde County and then boarded in Highmore to attend Highmore High School, which she graduated from in 1961. Following high school, Sharon entered St. John’s School of Nursing in Huron, SD and eventually moved to Denver, CO to finish her training. She graduated from St John’s a Registered Nurse in 1964. Sharon was a fantastic nurse and she dedicated herself to her career with the same can-do attitude that she approached everything with. During her nursing career, she worked at Hand County Hospital, Highmore Healthcare, and she was the school nurse at Crow Creek Tribal School, but she worked for many years at St. Mary’s Sub-Acute/Maryhouse Transitional Care Unit. She loved her work and her coworkers at TCU and only retired when she met her true nemesis there…computers.

Sharon met John Runestad when she started high school in Highmore, then promptly decided he was too wild for her liking and proceeded to ignore him for the rest of high school. That opinion changed when one night in 1964, she and her friends were looking for a ride to a dance in Ree Heights and John was happy to drive them. At the dance, Sharon finally talked to John. They danced the night away that night and they were married in that same gym on March 23, 1966. They went on to have three children: Justin, Jason, and Darcy, and they raised cattle and sheep on the Runestad Ranch, working side by side for 51 years until John’s death. Sharon also always had horses and if she wasn’t at work or taking care of critters she was riding. She broke her own horses to ride and drive, and always had a “project” in the corral during the summer. She enjoyed taking her kids on trail rides and riding her antique sidesaddle in area parades. If you visited the farm, you were probably going to get put on a horse or in the wagon and given a horseback tour.

Sharon loved dancing, singing, country-western music, and anything purple. She loved spending time with her sisters, dancing in the kitchen and laughing until the early morning hours. In later years she also loved gardening and sitting in her rocking chair with a cat on her lap. Sharon was one of the strongest women you could ever hope to meet. She had no fear of any human or animal. She could leap into any tense situation, be it an agitated patient or a mad bull, and resolve it with quick thinking and decisive action. She cared deeply for her loved ones and firmly believed that you can do anything if you try. Her strength, work ethic, and compassion were truly admirable and left a lasting impression.

Sharon is survived by her son, Jason Runestad; daughter, Darcy (Ty Murray) Runestad; and sister, Norma (Gene) Carey; as well as many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

In death, she is reunited with her parents; husband, John Runestad; son, Justin Runestad; sister, Sandy (John) Bremer; and her most beloved horses: Nugget, Spike, and Dude.

Luze Funeral Home of Highmore has been entrusted with Sharon’s arrangements. Visit www.familyfuneralhome.net

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