Connie ChristiansonCOLERIDGE, Neb. — Connie

Christianson, 72, of Coleridge,Neb., died Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011,at the Park View Haven NursingHome, Coleridge.

Funeral services are pendingat Wintz Funeral Home, Co-leridge.

Mary Lou KostelMary Lou Kostel, 62, of Yank-

ton died early Sunday, Oct. 2,2011, at Avera Yankton Care

Center, Yankton. Arrangements are pending

under the care of Opsahl-KostelMemorial Chapel, Tabor.

Leroy BackhausVERMILLION — Leroy George

Backhaus, 82, of Vermillion diedFriday, Sept. 30, 2011, at SanfordVermillion Care Center.

Funeral arrangements arepending with Kober FuneralHome, Vermillion.

Monday, 10.03.11ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net

NEWS DEPARTMENT: news@yankton.net 3PRESS DAKOTANthe region

OB ITUAR I E S

Are you struggling with grief or loss or helping someone through dark times? Learn more about the grief process during this 4 session educational program.

Everyone Welcome! No cost to attend.

Presented as a community service by:

Wintz & Ray Funeral Home in Yankton Wintz Funeral Home in Hartington,

Coleridge and Crofton, NE.

Presenter: Sheila Kramer, Aftercare Coordinator Sheila is the aftercare coordinator for the Wintz Funeral

Homes. She received her Master’s Degree in School Counseling with an emphasis in Community Counseling and has over

21 years of counseling experience.

!Foufs!uif!Kpvsofz

www.wintzrayfuneralhome.com

4:00-5:30pm

The Learning Center at the Msgr. Werner

Activities Center, Hartington, NE

Session Topics: Oct. 11 • Expectations on the Journey Oct. 18 • No formal session – we encourage

people to attend the grief seminar presented by Alan Wolfelt to be held at the Avera Pavilion.

Oct. 25 • Exploring the Grief Nov. 1 • Embracing the Uniqueness

of Your Grief Nov. 8 • Experiencing Life Beyond

6:30-8:00pm

Wintz & Ray Funeral Home 2901 Douglas Yankton, SD

W INTZ & R AY FUNERAL HOME and Cremation Service, Inc. 605-665-3644

W INTZ FUNERAL HOME INC.

Hartington, Coleridge, Crofton 402-254-6547

Sessions will be held at:

HEATING & COOLING 920 Broadway • 665-9461

for a more efficient furnace or AC

change your filter once a month.

It’s the first of the month...

$2.00 Off your Aprilaire Filter

Octobe r S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Asthma/Allergy Relief Is a Phone Call Away! SIOUX CITY ALLERGY & ASTHMA

ASSOCIATES, P.C. For Appointments Phone:

(712) 274-6884 Satellite clinic

in Yankton on the 3rd Thursday of each month .

• Same Day Skin Test Results • Treatment of Asthma, Cough & Sinus Problems

The Yankton County 4-H Of-fice will host an Ice Cream Socialopen to people interested inlearning more about 4-H on Oct.6 from 4-7 p.m. at the YanktonCounty Extension Office (901Whiting Dr., Yankton).

Youth ages 5 and up are en-couraged to attend with theirfamilies. 4-H members and fami-lies will be on hand to answerquestions about 4-H programsand opportunities. Free ice

cream cones will be providedto all.

“4-H is a unique organizationin the sense that it engagesyouth in positive and purposefulprogramming that it’s memberscan’t get through any other or-ganization. We’re excited to openour doors to the Yankton CountyCommunity and show what 4-Hcan do for them and their kids,”says Lauren Fosheim, YanktonCounty 4-H/Youth Development

Program Assistant. For more information on this

Ice Cream Social or any ques-tions regarding Yankton County4-H, contact Fosheim at 605-665-3387 or atyankton.pa@sdstate.edu.

4-H is an international youthorganization that empowersyouth leadership through hands-on learning and research-basedprograms. It focuses on threecore areas of programming-- Sci-

ence, Citizenship and HealthyLiving-- and allows members tochoose projects that fit their in-terests, ranging from leadershipdevelopment and communityservice to environmental and ani-mal sciences. Members can alsoparticipate in group activitiesand events such as camps andconferences that provide addi-tional opportunities and learningexperiences.

Mental Illness Candlelight Vigil TonightThe week on Oct. 2-8 is Mental Illness Awareness Week. To com-

memorate the event, the public is invited to a Candlelight Vigil at 7p.m. tonight (Monday) at Trinity Lutheran Church, 403 BroadwayAve., hosted by the National Alliance for Mental Illness.

Speakers, spiritual reflections, refreshments and testimonialsare all a part of the agenda.

The public is asked to join in to symbolically shine a light hon-oring the challenges encountered by those facing mental illness, aswell as celebrating the recoveries others have embraced.

Trinity To Host ‘A Night In Africa’ Oct. 4Trinity Lutheran Church of Yankton and Jane Pugh present “A

Night in Africa” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4.The public is invited to come share Jane’s personal and spiritual

journey in Kenya and Tanzania. Her stories, photos and passion forAfrica will delight and uplift you.

African-themed refreshments and fellowship to follow program.Trinity Lutheran Church is located at 403 Broadway. See www.tl-

cyankton.com for more information.

Price Foundation Chapter Meeting Oct. 5The Yankton Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter will meet at

noon on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Avera Benedictine Center Con-ference Room, located at 1000 W. 4th Street in Yankton.

Mary Walkes will be speaking about the Gut and PsychologySyndrome (GAPS), a concept created by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, which promotes gut health and allows our bodies to healthemselves.

There will be a “Cod Liver Oil Tasting Extravaganza.” Samples ofcod liver oil will be available for tasting, using various techniques.Everyone is welcome to share, if you want, the hardest thing foryou to purge from your pantry.

The Weston A. Price Foundation is a non-profit organizationdedicated to providing information about restoring nutrient-densefoods to the American diet. A healthy diet which includes locallygrown produce and pastured dairy and meat can improve youroverall well being.

Bring a sack lunch, come when you can, leave when you must.For additional information, contact Judy Kappel at (605) 665-

4549.

Yankton Scrubs Camp Set For WednesdayThe Yankton Scrubs Camp will be held at the Avera Professional

Office Pavilion, 501 Summit St., Yankton, on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Thecamp opens at 8 a.m.

Scrubs Camps are free, one-day, hands-on health career campsfor high school students. South Dakota students will have the op-portunity to experience a wide variety of health careers throughhands-on activities and discussions.

For more information, contact Bart Hallberg at 605-655-1400 orbart.hallberg@yrahec.org, or visithttp://healthcareers.sd.gov/ScrubsCamp_Web_V3/pages/Yankton.html.

Pleasant Valley Soup & Pie Set For Wed.VERMILLION — Pleasant Valley Lutheran Church, located at

45918 308th St., Vermillion, will hold its annual Soup Supper onWednesday, Oct. 5, running from 5-7:30 p.m. in the church base-ment.

The menu includes chicken-and-dumpling soup; vegetable beefsoup; chili; taverns; ham sandwiches; pie; ice cream and beveragesfor a free-will fonation. There will also be a bake sale.

The public is invited to attend.

Shannon Trail Oct. Meeting Set For Oct. 5LINDY, Neb. — The October meeting of the Shannon Trail will be

Wednesday, Oct. 5, at Lindy Country Club, Lindy, Neb. All membersare welcome.

Neb. Youth Urged To Walk, Bike To School LINCOLN, Neb. — More than 1,000 Nebraska schoolchildren are

expected to use their feet to get to school on International Walk toSchool Day Oct. 5.

Parents, educators and community leaders are encouraged toorganize events at schools and in communities across the state sogroups can meet to walk or bike together on that day.

Safe Routes Nebraska offers resources for individuals andgroups that want to sponsor an International Walk to School Dayevent. “International Walk to School Day encourages kids to get inthe healthy habit of walking and riding bikes to school,” said An-gela Barry, project coordinator for Safe Routes Nebraska. “SafeRoutes resources help make it easier to plan successful events.”

The Safe Routes Nebraska website — SafeRoutesNE.com — of-fers an online planning guide with step-by-step instructions, andpromotional materials for students and parents. Organizers canalso register an event online and see which communities have al-ready registered events. The site includes safety tips and ways thatneighbors can work together to develop a plan for children tosafely walk or bike to school.

“Anyone can get involved in the Safe Routes Nebraska program.The only requirement is a commitment to helping children becomemore healthy and active by walking or biking to school,” Barrysaid.

The 2011 event marks the 14th International Walk to School Day.What started with one school in Chicago has grown to more than3,500 schools in more than 40 countries.

For information about planning walk-to-school events go toSafeRoutesNE.com, or contact Angela Barry, Safe Routes Nebraskaprogram coordinator, at (402) 476-7331 or abarry@sinclairhille.com

Unemployment Assist. Deadline ApproachingPIERRE — The Department of Labor and Regulation reminds

workers and self-employed individuals in Yankton County that thedeadline to file for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is Fri-day, Oct. 7.

To be eligible for benefits, individuals must be unemployed orunable to do business as a direct result of the spring flooding thatoccurred from March 11-July 22, 2011.

To apply for benefits, call the Unemployment Insurance Call Cen-ter at 605-626-3179 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:20 p.m.Individuals should specify their claim is related to the DUA springflooding.

Individuals will need their Social Security number, copies of theirmost recent federal income tax forms or check stubs, or documen-tation to support they were working or self-employed when the dis-aster occurred. The first possible week of compensation for DUApurposes is the week ending March 19, 2011, and the last possibleweek of compensation is weekending Nov. 12, 2011.

Re-employment assistance is available through the Departmentof Labor and Regulation local offices. All programs and services areprovided at no charge. Detailed information is available at www.sd-jobs.org.

VERMILLION — Three distinguishedalumni from The University of South Dakotawill be honored with Alumni AchievementAwards during Dakota Days. Recipients willbe presented with their awards during thealumni banquet at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7at the Muenster University Center.

This year’s Alumni Achievement Awardrecipients were selected for their outstand-ing professional achievements and theirservice to the public and country. Honoredalumni this year are Marlon Young ‘77B.S.Ed., Col. Andrea L. Thompson ‘88 B.A.and Darcy Kuronen ‘82 B.M. ‘86 M.M.

Young, originally of Manila, Philippines,and Salem, is chief executive officer forHSBC Private Bank, Americas. After 27 yearsat Citigroup, where he was head of privateclient lending at its Smith Barney division,Young joined HSBC in 2006 as head of thecompany’s U.S. banking operation. He wasappointed to his present role in Septemberof the same year. He is a member of theHSBC Bank USA Executive Committee, andthe HSBC Global Private Bank ManagementCommittee.

Young also has extensive corporate bank-ing experience covering the commercial realestate, automotive and energy industries.Throughout this career, he has received nu-merous awards for his dedication and volun-teer work, including the U.S. President’sVolunteer Service Award. Additionally, he isan active volunteer in Junior Achievementand the Doe Fund. He is frequently invited tospeak on diversity and leadership by not-for-profit institutions, including: the Asia Soci-ety, the International Leadership Foundation(ILF) and Ascend. He has also served as

Chairman and Trustee of the U.S. Asia Insti-tute since 2003.

Thompson, originally of Sioux Falls, wasthe highest-ranking military intelligence offi-cer with the 101st Airborne Division in FortCampbell. During her two tours of Iraq, sheserved as the military intelligence task forcecommander in the 25th Infantry Division andas the senior intelligence officer (G2) of the101st Airborne Division.

Informed by her experiences overseas, in2008, Thompson co-authored “AchievingVictory in Iraq,” a detailed account whichexamines how the war evolved since itbegan 2003 and provides an outline for theway forward. The strategy she and her co-author describe relies heavily upon creatingan independent Iraqi security force capableof effectively meeting the insurgency, ratherthan winning over the civilian population orcrushing the enemy with military might.

In addition to Iraq, Thompson has servedin Germany, Honduras, Nicaragua, Belizeand Bosnia. Thompson’s awards include theBronze Star (with oak leaf cluster), Meritori-ous Service Medal (with five oak leaf clus-ters), Joint Service Commendation Medal,Army Commendation Medal, Joint ServiceAchievement Medal (with two oak leaf clus-ters), Army Achievement Medal (with threeoak leaf clusters), the Armed Forces Expedi-tionary Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal,Afghanistan Campaign Medal, HumanitarianService Medal, NATO Medal (with one star),Army Staff Badge and Parachutist’s Badge.

In 2009, Thompson graduated from theNational War College, earning a Master’s De-gree in National Security and Strategic Stud-ies. She then deployed to Afghanistan,

serving as the ISAF CJ2 Chief of Staff. Sheproudly took command of the 902nd MilitaryIntelligence Group in 2010.

Since 1986, Kuronen, originally of Sturgisand Rapid City, has worked at Boston’s Mu-seum of Fine Arts. As the MFA’s PappalardoCurator of Musical Instruments, he overseesone of the country’s oldest and most impor-tant collections of historical instruments,with examples from all time periods and re-gions of the world. In 2000, he organized thecritically acclaimed exhibition “DangerousCurves: Art of the Guitar,” celebrating the di-versity of guitar design over the past fourcenturies with 130 rare instruments fromprivate and public collections. He has alsowritten and published numerous articles,particularly about early American pianos,reed organs, violins and guitars.

Kuronen has been interested in musicfrom a young age, playing the piano, trum-pet, and double bass in a variety of ensem-bles and settings throughout his schoolyears. During his time at USD, he worked asa research assistant at the National MusicMuseum, where he assisted in laying out andrefurbishing the galleries, designing andconstructing display cases, and creating in-stallation fixtures for many of the instru-ments on view there today.

He is an active member of the AmericanMusical Instrument Society and the Interna-tional Committee of Musical Instrument Mu-seums and Collections. He also serves asvolunteer curator for the collection of his-torical instruments owned by Boston Sym-phony Orchestra. Kuronen continues toenjoy performing music of all sorts, both av-ocationally and as part of his current job.

Distinguished Alumni To Be Honored AtUSD’s Dakota Days Alumni Banquet

Yankton Area 4-H Hosting Ice Cream Social

Raymond KocerTABOR — Raymond C.

Kocer, age 85, of Tabor, passedaway unexpectedly Saturday,October 1, 2011 at the TyndallGood Samaritan Center, Tyn-dall, SD.

Mass of Christian Burial willbe 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, October4, 2011 at St. WenceslausCatholic Church, Tabor, withMsgr. Carlton Hermann officiat-ing. Con-celebrants are Rev.Joe Puthenkulathil and Rev.Joe Forcelle. Burial will be inthe parish cemetery.

Visitations will be 2 to 5p.m. Monday, October 3, 2011at the Opsahl-Kostel MemorialChapel, Tabor, and then at 6:00p.m. at the church with a wakeservice at 7:00 p.m. Visitationswill resume one hour prior tothe service at the church.

Pallbearers will be LarryKocer, Robert Kocer, KathyHiemstra, Ken Kocer, KarenRanek, and Kristi Kocer. Hon-orary pallbearers will be hissons-in-law, daughters-in-law,grandchildren and great grand-children.

Ray was born on January14, 1926, to Joseph and Cather-ine (Plavec) Kocer on a farmnorth of Tabor, SD. Ray wasbaptized and confirmed at St.Wenceslaus Catholic Church inTabor. On June 12, 1945 Raywas united in marriage to IreneCarda at St. WenceslausCatholic Church in Tabor. Rayand Irene farmed within theTabor area for several yearsbefore settling on the familyfarm in 1966, where they con-tinued to farm and raise theirfamily. In 1993 they retired andmoved into Tabor, but Ray con-tinued to be involved with thefamily farm for many moreyears.

Ray was an active memberof St. Wenceslaus CatholicChurch and Tabor Chamber ofCommerce. While farming wasa big part of his life, Ray alsoenjoyed socializing withfriends and relatives, playing

cards and playing softball. Heorganized the Tabor Jets soft-ball team in 1945 with farmers,neighbors, relatives andfriends. Ray remained the teampitcher and manager for over50 years. He enjoyed spendingtime with his family and at-tending his children and grand-children’s activities. Ray was agentle, quiet, and hard-workingman. He touched many people,changed some lives, and left alasting impression on all of us.

Thankful for having sharedhis life are his wife Irene ofTabor, SD; son Larry (Carol) ofTabor, SD; son Robert (Kathy)of Cedar Rapids, IA; daughterKathy (Craig) Hiemstra ofBartlesville, OK; son Ken(Rhonda) of Tabor, SD; daugh-ter Karen (Ken) Ranek of Tyn-dall, SD; and daughter Kristi ofTabor, SD: grandchildren Kim-berly Kocer, Brian (Jorjia) Fej-far, and Steve (Shelly) Fejfar;Julie Hall, Mike Hall, andSamantha (Christoph) Weis-mayer; Tyler (Stephanie) Hiem-stra, Brooke, Jonathan, Nathan,Preston, and Dillon Hiemstra;Mark (Leslie) Ranek, Scott,Kayla, and Lance Ranek: great-grandsons Andrew andMatthew Grassel: one brotherGeorge (Agnes) Kocer of Tabor,SD; many nieces, nephews andextended family.

Ray was preceded in deathby his parents; sisters Anna,Stella, Mary, Helen, Hattie, andAdeline; brothers Joe andMike; two nieces, twonephews, and one granddaugh-ter Susan Fejfar.

Memorials are directed tothe Alzheimer’s Association;South Dakota Office; 1000 N.West Ave #250; Sioux Falls, SD57104.

Yankton Press & Dakotan

October 3, 2011

Online condolences at: www.opsahl-kostelfuneralhome.com