Vi Lillestol | 1934 - 2024
Obituaries-Mobridge / Posted Jan 20, 2024 | 8:10 AM / 183 views
Funeral services for Vi Lillestol, 89, of Mobridge will be at 10:30 AM, Friday, January 26, 2024, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mobridge. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge Visitation will start at 5 PM with a prayer service at 7 PM Thursday at the funeral home. Vi passed away Thursday, January 18, 2024, at the Oahe Manor in Gettysburg.
Violet Lorraine Middlestead was born on January 20, 1934, to John and Emily (Schneck) Middlestead on a farm near Merricourt, North Dakota. Vi was the tenth out of thirteen born to John and Emily. Vi was born with club feet. Somehow the local welfare agent, A.O. Brown of Hettinger who was living in Ellendale at the time, heard of this. He was a Shriner and came and took Vi to the Shriner’s Hospital where surgery was performed on both of Vi’s feet. The surgery was a success but she had to wear casts for five years. John and Emily did not own a car so the welfare agent took Vi to Fargo frequently to have her casts changed. The welfare agent, Alfred Brown, and his wife Ada, taught Vi the English language, as the Middlesteads spoke only German at home.
When Vi started to walk, she wore out the bottom of her casts faster then they needed to be changed. Mr. Brown took her to a shoe maker in Ellendale and they fastened leather soles to the bottom of the casts. Most of the time Vi stayed with Alfred and Ada and their son Lincoln, who was attending college in Ellendale. Then Mr. Brown was transferred to the Washburn office and Vi returned to the Middlestead farm. Alfred must have missed Vi as he sent word to son Lincoln to bring her to Hettinger for Christmas. Vi was about three then and continued to live with the Browns in the winters, going home to the farm in the summers. Vi started school in Washburn. In 1943 Alfred returned home to Hettinger to run the Hettinger Candy Company as his boys were either fighting in WWII or working in the defense plants in California. Vi moved with them and continued her schooling in Hettinger, graduating from Hettinger High School in 1952. In High School Vi participated in band and was the Majorette. She was also a baton twirler and a cheerleader.
The Browns tried to adopt Vi, but Emily had said no. Vi turned 18 in January of her senior year of high school. Alfred asked her if she would like to be adopted then. She said yes. So Vi came to be known as Violet Lois Brown. (The Browns had had a daughter named Lois who had died of crib death.)
After High School, Vi went to Minneapolis to attend The Gale Institute, an airline school. Upon graduation she turned down a government job offer in Washington, D.C. Vi worked at a loan company, Northwest Phone Company, and The Dunwoody Industrial Institute as a receptionist and switchboard operator. While working in Minneapolis, Vi met Richard Lillestol. They were married October 23, 1954.
In 1958, Dick was offered a job at the Hettinger Candy Company so they moved to Hettinger, ND. In 1959 Dick and Vi decided to strike out on their own and started the Mobridge Candy Company. Vi was the bookkeeper. They moved to Mobridge on January 5, 1959.
Dick and Vi had three children: Cynthia, Rondi and Jason.
Dick and Vi joined Trinity Lutheran Church in 1959. Vi was a Sunday School teacher, Bible School teacher and was a Church Work Group Coordinator at Trinity for more than 30 years. Vi was also involved in many things including a Brownie Leader, Jayceets, election board, bowling, dance club, sewing club, a member of the Eastern Star, the American Legion Auxiliary, the Yeldez Women’s General Auxiliary and the Hi Low bridge club. Vi enjoyed many hobies including knitting, crocheting, sewing, golfing, reading, gardening, making quilts, making candy, and baking.
Vi is survived by her daughters Cindy (Tom) Dafnis of Mobridge; Rondi (Don) Aberle of Promise; son Jason (Kristin) Lillestol of Brandon; grandchildren Michael Aberle of Mobridge, Katie (James) Hagen of Gettysburg, Jaymie (Duane Mutziger) Lillestol of Salem, Jennifer (William) Wiedmer of Timber Lake, Ethan Aberle of Timber Lake, and Drew (AJ) Lillestol of Brandon; five great grandchildren: Ashton and Makia Aberle of Mobridge, Remi, Cora and Wilson Wiedmer of Timber Lake; sister Bertha Hoffman and sister-in-law Jeannine Lillestol; Goddaughter Twyla (Randy) Laufenberg; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Vi was proceeded in death by her parents John and Emily Middlestead, step father Adolph Middlestead, and adoptive parents Alfred and Ada Brown; her husband of 64 years Dick Lillestol; brothers Daniel, Harold and Melvin Middlestead, A.O. Junior “Buster”, Gerald, Lincoln and James “Jack” Brown and sisters Ruth Brandenburger, Martha Scheneman, Edna Hoff, Ellen Kupfer, Clara Fiechtner, Viola Lukacik, Delores Brown, Darlene Fregien, and Lois Brown, nine sisters-in-law and 12 brothers-in-law.