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Joyce Olofson, 69, of Garretson, SD peacefully passed away on April 11, 2013. A celebration of life service will be held Monday, April 15, 2013 at 11 am at the United Church of Christ in Garretson, SD. A visitation will be held Sunday, April 14 from 4-7 pm at Minnehaha Funeral Home in Garretson. A private burial will occur at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been set up for Joyce's favorite charities.
Joyce Olofson was born on September 20, 1943 to Frank Jr. and Mildred (King) Bult. She grew up in Platte, SD where she married Paul Olofson on June 29, 1962. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in summer 2012 with an open house at the church followed by a dinner and party at the farm. After Steven was born in 1965, Joyce spent most of her time raising kids and helping Paul on the farm that they purchased in 1970 near EROS Data Center. Leon was born in 1969 and Karen in 1973. She and Paul travelled by car or pickup camper with the kids each summer to take them to several parts of the country. She was always prepared to get the camper ready on spur of the moment to go camping for the weekend at one of the State Parks or to pack a picnic to go fishing in Dell Rapids.
In 1985, after her kids were older, she worked at the Garretson Weekly for Margie Martens for several years writing stories about the goings on in town along with taking pictures. After her youngest, Karen, graduated high school, Joyce pursued her dream of providing a place where locals could gather, eat her Lena’s bean soup and sandwiches on sourdough bread, and display her 125 plus cookie jars that she has collected over the years. While owning the coffee shop, Joyce also provided educational tours to several hundred students of the historical Devil’s Gulch area and the Jesse James legend. The Cookie Jar closed in 2005, and the building was later turned into the Garretson library, which is enjoyed by many. She loved her flower garden, camping, dutch oven cooking, fishing, reading fiction books, and going to Texas to escape the cold SD winters. She enjoyed going for golf cart rides with her grandkids and granddogs at the wheel. Joyce was actively involved at the church teaching Sunday school, being the youth group leader, enjoying woman’s bible study, and organizing the Sunday school Christmas programs from time to time. Joyce was also involved in the Jesse James Players and even wrote a play they performed. She always looked forward to the conversation and activities with the Red Hat Ladies.
Joyce would always ask God what to do in difficult situations and would listen for his guidance. She is a faithful Christian and believed living her life as Jesus lived his life. Joyce always looked for the good in people and was a very patient and caring person to all she met. She also helped many people get their life back on track through nonjudgmental listening or providing a meal.
Survivors include her husband, Paul, and her three children, Steven Olofson of Londsdale, MN and his children, Colton and Jared; Leon (Michelle) Olofson of Sioux Falls and their children, Sydney and Hayden; and Karen (Gary) Weeden of Sioux Falls and their children, Allison and Easton. Other survivors include her sisters, Barbara (Al) Wilker, Carol (Tom) Gunn, Kathy (Mike) Kollar, Lori (Kenny) Troll, and Thersa (Woody) Lasiter, one brother Jay Bult, and her sister in-law Carol Harris.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Joyce Marie Olofson, please visit our flower store.
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