Margaret Ann Oberg

Margaret “Marge” Ann Oberg, age 86, of Colton, SD died Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at the Sanford Hospice Foundation Cottage in Sioux Falls, SD. Memorial services will begin at 10:00 AM Saturday, September 19, 2026, at the United Methodist Church in Colton. Private interment will be in the Colton Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7:00 PM Friday, at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Colton United Methodist Church.

Margaret was born October 14, 1939, in a farmhouse near Carthage, SD to Alfred "Joe" Eller and Dorothy "Tracewell" Eller. She graduated from Fedora High school in May of 1957. After graduation she moved to Illinois to work for the summer and moved back to South Dakota to attend Dakota Wesleyan University that fall.

Margaret met Jim Oberg on Halloween night, tipping over outhouses as a "trick". They were married in April of 1958. Margaret earned her Teaching Certificate and taught all twelve grades in a one-room country school. She continued to teach until their first child; Peggy was born in March of 1962. In January 1964 their son Steve was born. Marge went back to teaching and taught 1st grade at Colton school from 1966-1967.

In 1966 they built a house in Colton while they lived in a trailer on the same property. In order to save money, Marge stained all the woodwork. Jim was working away from home and Marge was teaching school, taking care of the kids, then back to working on their house at night. Marge thought she was done staining all of the woodwork and just then the builders brought her more doors to stain. Exhausted, Marge sat down on the floor and cried.

When Jim graduated from SDSU the family traveled with the Floyd Oberg and Sons Construction Company around the state of SD doing road work and demolition. Margaret was the bookkeeper for the family business and if need be, a truck driver, packer operator, and "gopher" for the company. Margaret, Jim and their little family had to live in old abandon farmhouses with no water or stove to cook on. The family business required them to travel all across the state to work on jobs they were awarded from bids they submitted. They even completed jobs on the reservations. On one job they rented the upstairs of an elderly woman's home. Steve slept in a dresser drawer. The elderly woman told Marge and Jim "the kids are too noisy and you have to go". Finally they bought a trailer house. Marge was so grateful, it had a toilet and everything!

In 1970 - 1976 Marge gave classes and taught many women to make ceramics in the basement of their Colton home. When she wasn’t working on crafts, Marge would race snowmobiles. Marge won more trophies than Jim! Jim and Marge and Marv and Phyllis Swier and friends would travel to snowmobile in Wyoming, the Black Hills, different parts of Minnesota, and locally around the area on their sleds. In 1976 Marge bought a craft store in Madison. Marge taught ceramics and other crafts there. In 1977 their 3rd child Wade was born and Marge sold her shop in Madison.

Marge loved making many different crafts: ceramics, porcelain dolls, silk flower arrangements, wedding flowers, driftwood Santa’s, old world Santa’s, nativity sets,air brushing ceramics, water-colored pictures of barns and old buildings, just to name a few. For several years, she talked her friends, Cheryl VanDuyn and Dorothy Jorgenson into accompanying her to huge shows in Minneapolis. Sometime later, Dad retired and they bought their first 5th wheel camper. They headed for South Texas in the winter and knew friends who were already at the retirement park. They enjoyed it so much that they upgraded their camper and continued to return every fall. They ended up buying a “park model” home. The camper was utilized in the summer and parked it at a park in DeSmet so they could fish, Marge enjoyed this very much. Next, they purchased a cabin on Waubay.

With health problems becoming worse, they sold both the cabin and the Park model in Texas in 2020.

From about 1972 - 1986 Marge and Jim along with her parents and Jim’s sister and brother-in-law would make the trek to Canada to fish for “bigger” walleye pike. Marge loved being outside and especially at night with a bonfire. She Loved Music…and listening to songs of all genres. She and Peg would stay up late listening to music, especially listening to her son Steve playing guitar and singing around the bonfire. In Marge’s own words, I can’t say it wasn’t an interesting life filled with lots of variety”.

Margaret is survived by husband Jim Oberg, daughter Peggy Lowery, Son in-law Paul Groos, son Wade Oberg, grandsons: Ryan Corrigan; Wes Lowery; Jack Oberg; Josh Lowery; Matt Lowery, and granddaughters: Tess Oberg, Meg Oberg, and many nieces and nephews.

Margaret was preceded in death by her parents Joe and Dorothy (Tracewell) Eller; Mother in-law Georgina Oberg, Father in-law Floyd Oberg; brother in-law Don Oberg; sister in-law Wanda Oberg; Brother in-law Howard Hoven and sister in-law Dian (Oberg)Hoven, son Steve Oberg; and brother Alfred Eller and sister in-law Irene Eller.