In the opening round of boys' basketball region play the Blue Dragons traveled to Sioux Falls Christian to take on the #1 Team in Region 3A and the #2 Team in Class A Basketball.
The Blue Dragons started off on the right foot as they did a nice job staying with the state powerhouse in the opening quarter.
Unfortunately, the team just couldn’t maintain that high level of play for an entire 4 quarters of basketball as the visiting team was defeated 34-83.
The Chargers came out red hot from behind the arc as they hit for a school record with nineteen 3-pointers when the final horn sounded.
Brecken Weir
“The 3 seniors asked their teammates prior to the game to play mentally strong, have fun, and just go out and play the game basketball, which is what we felt the kids did all night long,” stated Heitkamp. “The kids played with effort and never gave up, which shows a lot character that will make these young men successful in life long past the game of basketball.”
Ramsey Schweitzer led the way with a double/double for the Blue Dragons with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Blaine Trower played one of his best games of the season with 9 points, while Ian Buettner and Sam Schleuter (2 steals) rounded out the scoring with 8 and 5 points each.
"The coaching staff once again wants to thank the three seniors (Sam Schleuter, Matthew Gilbert, and Dylan “Nelson” Jessen) for their commitment and leadership displayed all season long," said Coach Heitkamp. "We also want to thank the families, friends, and fans of the Garretson Basketball Program, as you have always been there for us…no matter what happens!! Thanks!!"
The Lady Dragon basketball season came to an end last Thursday after a hard-fought game where the team made a strong comeback play in the final two minutes of the game. Ultimately, they lost to Red Cloud 58-63 in the SoDak 16 game, the first ever played by the Blue Dragons girls' basketball team.
"The post season for the Lady Dragon basketball team was a fun one," said Head Coach Matt Schrank. "All 3 games we played were separated by 5 or fewer points.
Sydney Olson (photo by Angela Bly)
"In our first game with Dell Rapids, they gave us a good run for our money. We almost made the game 15 points, but they made some shots and forced us into some turnovers to take a lead. Our girls really didn’t panic at all and took care of business," he continued. They ended the quarterfinal game 58-53.
"In that game, we lit up the stat columns. Logan Bly had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals. Reagan Altman had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Sydney Olson also had 12 points, and Jordyn Williams had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists."
"In the semifinal game, we hosted West Central. Another barn-burner! The game was back and forth for the entire 32 minutes. After being down late in the game, we had 2 straight possessions when we scored and took the lead," Coach Schrank said. Garretson overcame West Central by one point, 44-43, sending Garretson to the SoDak 16.
Coach Schrank continued, "After 3 straight stops, the game ended with a Sydney Olson rebound, and we were headed to the SoDak16 for the first time since its inception."
Teamwork was the name of the game for the Lady Dragons this season, with all players giving their all each and every game, interacting as a tight group and no one player above another.
Kylie Christensen (center) works to keep the ball away from Red Cloud’s Jewelia LeBeau. (photo by Angela Bly)
"We were gifted again with balanced scoring by the entire team," Schrank said. "Leading scorers were Jordyn Williams with 10, Sydney Olson and Reagan Altman with 8, Logan Bly with 7, Tayler Benson with 6, Kylie Christensen with 3, and Adi Fink with 2. Logan had 9 rebounds and Kylie had 7."
Even though it was the final game of the season, the Lady Dragons had come to play and showed the Blue Dragon spirit to the west river team. Red Cloud was seeded #4 in Class A, while Garretson was seeded #13, and the two teams traded off in quarters.
"In the SoDak16 game, we were off to Winner to face the 19-2 Red Cloud Crusaders. We were very excited for their matchup, we thought they were similar to West Central with their athleticism and quickness," said Coach Schrank. "The game is a tale of 'quarters'. They outscored us 24-14 in the 1st quarter, we outscored them in the 2nd 18-11, they came out in the 3rd with a 21-5 scoring advantage, and we outscored them 21-7 in the 4th."
The Blue Dragons may have had some great scoring in the fourth quarter, but they still found themselves down 16 points with just two minutes left in the game. Undeterred, the team regrouped, shook off the missed baskets they'd been seeing in the first 2/3 of the quarter, and made a comeback play. They reclaimed 11 of those points in less than 120 seconds, the buzzer sounding with the Dragons only 5 points behind the Crusaders.
Adi Fink (photo by Angela Bly)
Red Cloud would be advancing to the Class A State tournament, which starts today (Thursday) in Watertown. Other nearby Class A teams that advanced to State were Flandreau (19-4) and Sioux Falls Christian (22-2).
"Even though our season ended with the 63-58 loss, we had a lot to be proud of in the end," said Coach Schrank. "When most teams see they are down 63-47 with 1:57 left on the game clock, they start to 'pack-it-in'. Thoughts go through your mind, 'well, at least we made it this far.' This group showed how much this season meant to them, how much they cared for each other and this school."
The team will graduate only three players, Raegen Altman, Anna Jones, and Logan Bly, leaving the core available to come back next year and vie for the State tournament again. In all, the season saw the team win 14 games and nearly punch their ticket to State.
Coach Schrank was congratulatory towards the team, acknowledging their great season.
"As coaches, we were real emotional for the loss," he said, "but more emotional because of the character the girls showed throughout the game that night. Congratulate them on a heck of a season, and for showing true pride in being a Garretson Blue Dragon."
Garbage-N-More has a new owner, though former proprietors Jeff and Julie Schreurs aren't retiring quite yet; Garretson Youth Wrestling will be sending 32 to Regions after qualifying at Districts; the Girls' Basketball Team came within five points of punching their ticket to State; South Dakota received $14 billion in pandemic relief, and much more!
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Garbage-N-More has a new owner, though former proprietors Jeff and Julie Schreurs aren't retiring quite yet; Garretson Youth Wrestling will be sending 32 to Regions after qualifying at Districts; the Girls' Basketball Team came within five points of punching their ticket to State; South Dakota received $14 billion in pandemic relief, and much more!
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Whether or not the Garretson School District implements an opt out for next year rests in the hands of the voters, an election that will be held on March 21.
Superintendent Guy Johnson speaks to the audience about the funds used by the school.
To help voters understand why the school is requesting to opt out from property tax limits, the school held an informational session followed by a question-and-answer time on Monday. The meeting, which was attended by just over a hundred people, lasted for an hour and a half. And while a portion of the Q&A session was termed a "kumbaya moment" by audience participants as they shared the positives of the school, audience members were not afraid to pose the hard questions to Superintendent Guy Johnson and School Board President Shannon Nordstrom.
Nordstrom opened the meeting acknowledging that it's a decision that's best put to the taxpayers.
"I think the community needs to speak, and they need to decide what they think is in the best interest of the community," he said, pointing out that he wants everyone looking at the long-term future.
"We've got a lot of things going on in the community," he continued, pointing out the expansion of Blue Dragon Academy.
He also acknowledged the downward change in student numbers over the past three years, noting that they (the school board and administration) knew the reasons for that trend, including a higher number of students choosing to homeschool post-Covid.
"There's things we could do, probably, we could skinny up, skinny up, down to a really bony structure... but what can we do to make this a strong school, a healthy school, ready for what's ahead?" He pointed out the influx of young families to the area, the improvements in infrastructure and housing that have been made, and the bright outlook for the community.
Supt. Johnson opened by explaining the four different funds that are operated by the school. Those funds are the Special Education Fund, which pays for special education needs and personnel; the Enterprise Fund, which pays for the food service and preschool; the Capital Outlay Fund, which pays for building repairs and improvements and curriculum; and the General Fund, which pays for staff, teachers, administration, and the on-going daily needs of the school.
Johnson pointed out that it was important to know that the General Fund does support any overages in spending in Enterprise Funds, and up to 45% of Capital Outlay Funds can be transferred to support the General Fund. However, he said, any monies taken from Capital Outlay impacts building repairs and curriculum options.
The opt out, Johnson pointed out, is only for the General Fund, 81.2% of which goes towards salaries. He explained that the levies and the amount of monies given to the school is set each year by the legislature, and is determined by a formula that maintains a strict ratio between ag land, owner-occupied land, and other/commercial land. He stated that when the initial student funding formula came about in 1995, it wasn't designed around the actual needs of the school, but around reducing property taxes. After it was modified in 2016, the formula ended up making most schools appear as though they were over-staffed.
The pandemic brought in extra federal funding to the school, which paid for classified staff to maintain their positions while the school building was closed and extra sanitation supplies. Those funds also covered staffing to reduce learning loss during the pandemic and increased mental health support, along with new math, phonics, and reading curriculums. The final pieces the funding covered were new furniture for the new programs.
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Johnson then moved into an explanation of the Capital Outlay (CO) Fund, which pays for larger projects, ongoing building maintenance, busses, and curriculum. The recent projects of replacing half the building roof, changing out the heating and cooling system, and changing out the lights to more energy-efficient LEDs was paid for out of the CO Fund. The CO Fund is paid for solely with local funds, and varies significantly among districts. While up to 45% of the CO Fund can be transferred to the General Fund, Johnson said it was not a good idea to rely on it too heavily, as it means those larger needs suffer.
He next explained how the opt out process came to be as a way for the legislature to say there was a mechanism to fund "extra" teachers or programming. Due to the way the ratios of teachers to students were set, 42% of schools in South Dakota had a need to opt out in 2022.
"In schools, programs are people," Johnson said. "It takes people to do the work."
The Garretson School salary average for 2022 was $67,714 when benefits are taken into account, and salary cost increases have outstripped the legislature's formula for funding over the past several years.
"We have to keep up with folks around us as far as competition for teachers," Johnson said. "Salaries increased last year by about $250,000. Aid from the state with respect to funding simply has not kept pace."
Student number trends have not helped, as the "sweet spot" for efficiency is approximately 20-25 students per class, and many of Garretson's grades are currently between 27-34 students. However, Garretson is still in the top third of schools with regards to efficiency. As far as administrative costs go, Johnson stated that GSD, when put in a line with the next 10 largest schools and the next 10 smallest schools, ranks 9th, and spends $58,000 less than the average from all those schools combined.
For the past three years, extra federal funding has padded the school budget and helped pay for those necessary projects and programs listed above, but state law does not allow for a large reserve and required those funds to be spent. This year, the district expects to overspend allotted funds by approximately $600,000, reducing the General Fund to less than $600,000 in reserve.
Supt. Johnson then pointed out what would happen if the opt out passed or didn't pass. If it passed, programming and staffing would be able to remain where it is, and the district could continue to make smaller cuts where possible. If it doesn't pass, staff would have to be reduced, likely by combining the smaller grades into one class of 30-32 students instead of two classes of 16-18 students. He stated clearly, though, that no firm decisions have yet been made as to what positions would be eliminated.
At that time, the floor was opened to the audience.
Dan Steen asked about depreciation schedules for repairs and maintenance, ensuring that funds are set aside each year for those projects, to which Supt. Johnson responded that they were. Steen, along with Neal Albers, were concerned about the substantial increases in property valuations that have impacted pocketbooks over the past few years.
"Have you taken into consideration the extra monies that will be allotted to your school?" Steen asked. Johnson was not able to give a firm answer to that question, but said that in the past, the state has decreased levies when valuations go up.
Nordstrom likened it to a bucket, stating that the bucket of money to the school isn't increasing.
"The formula is driven by the number of students in our district," Johnson said. "There's a certain amount of local money that is generated through our local taxes through the levies the state sets. If we have 30 more students next year, our general lead goes up but our local money stays the same, so the state backfills [our budget] a little more. It's not like they maintain a ratio between state funds, and local funds, and everybody has 30% local money, 60% state money, and 10% federal money. They set the levies across the board, and the number of students determines how much money we get."
Steen also asked about advanced programming options that are offered at the school, such as calculus. Johnson responded that they've had calculus when there's enough interest in it, but that there are now options for higher-level and dual credit courses available through the state's university system that weren't available in 2016. Unfortunately, he lamented, some options, such as a half-time Spanish teacher, has not produced any applicants. The school district does not have enough student interest in that class to fund a full-time teacher, and the teacher-sharing program implemented with Baltic a few years ago fell through when Baltic was able to afford the teacher full-time.
Dale DeBoer asked about the substantial reduction in students that has been seen since 2019.
"I'm still amazed we've lost as many students as we have in the past 3-4 years," he said. He asked if "post-employee"-style surveys were taken from those students who had left.
"We normally know why they've left," Johnson responded.
Nordstrom then stated that of the students who left between last school year and this year, three-quarters had families that moved.
"I know what you're getting at Dale, is there something going on where kids don't want to be here?" Nordstrom said. He said that yes, there were a few students who left because of differences. On the other hand, he said, Garretson gained several students for the same reason.
DeBoer stated that he no longer heard people say that Garretson was a great school district with great athletics, and also reiterated a concern about property taxes going up along with everything else, which is difficult for people on a fixed income.
"You make a valid point, Dale, and nobody wants increased costs," Nordstrom responded. Later in the meeting, he and Johnson acknowledged what they were asking of the community in terms of increasing costs even more.
Nordstrom then spoke about how, when he was on the Commercial Club, he had always felt like Garretson was "one curve too many away from the energy and excitement," referring to the growth that has been seen to the south and west. He expressed his optimism that Garretson "will have its day and we've got to be ready for it."
"We just find ourselves in a district that's just a hard size for the consistencies for the way the state funds the schools," he continued. Referring to the population increase he's sure will happen, "I just want to see us get to that next step."
One attendee asked about the extra programming that was implemented with the additional federal funding, stating that he was hoping the school could continue offering it. Johnson concurred, stating that it has been making a difference for students.
Expressing his concerns of valuations going up, Neal Albers asked if the board had considered the opt out Minnehaha County was going to be incurring for the new juvenile detention center. Nordstrom said they had, but was hopeful the state might step up and provide funds for that so the county wouldn't have to request so much from its residents.
Albers ended by saying he believed Garretson had one of the best districts in the state, and High School guidance counselor Michelle Pliska spoke up to agree. Pliska also pointed out that Garretson does an excellent job of keeping children out of the detention center thanks to its programming and staff. She said the REACH program has also made substantial inroads for students, reducing suicide assessments from one to two a week in past years down to one a month this past year.
"We're saving lives here," she said.
However, not all attendees felt the school has been responsible in spending. One questioned the decisions of renovating the turf field and having so much money sunk into the bus barn, instead of "going back to basics" such as a grass field.
Supt. Johnson pointed out that those were past decisions that had been made by a different administration and a different board, and those were decisions everyone was going to have to live with. In regards to going back to a grass field, it wouldn't likely save significant funds. Taking out the turf would be an expensive endeavor, and it could even impact whether Garretson offers soccer as a sport. As is, the field is used quite extensively throughout the year, and is a point of pride for the community.
"People now, their choices on a school are a lot more fluid," Nordstrom added. He pointed out that families do "shop" schools, and the complex does attract them.
Oran Sorenson asked about open enrollment numbers, and how many students are still living in the district but have enrolled in other schools. Supt. Johnson responded that he didn't have the specific numbers on hand, but said that many of the open enrollments were due to program offerings provided by other schools that Garretson couldn't give.
Sorenson, while critical of the formula given by the state, questioned whether Garretson was "top heavy" when it came to administration. He said that tough questions had to be asked, and Garretson had to find a way to "live within its means."
He pointed out that last spring, a number of taxpayers had requested that the administration contracts not be extended past a year, so the school board could explore this question. He also asked why the school was pursuing an opt out now, when last spring, Nordstrom had stated at a school board meeting and in a private meeting that no opt out was being pursued.
"I'm just asking you guys to tighten where ever you can without hurting the kids," Sorenson said.
At the time of the writing of this article, the recording of the meeting was not posted. However, Supt. Johnson stated that he was open to all questions, and asked that voters be willing to reach out to him. He can be reached by phone at (605) 594-3451 or email at .
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FFA events mostly got canceled last week because of the storm, but the FFA breakfast went on as scheduled on Saturday and the FFA Animal Nursery hosted at the GHS FFA Barn was rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28. Above, middle schoolers and Blue Dragon Academy students alike enjoy meeting some baby goats.
Last week's winter storm, dubbed "Olive," dumped another 12.5-15" of snow in the Garretson area. The storm came in two bouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, and along with wind gusts that exceeded 45 miles per hour, the conditions made for near-impassable roads. School was called off for Wednesday and Thursday, and had a two-hour late start on Friday.
This has been a very snowy season, which started with heavy snow fall at the beginning of December and two blizzards before Christmas along with one right after New Year's Day. So far this season (November 1, 2022-Feb 27, 2022), meteorologists in Sioux Falls have counted 54.6 inches of snow.
The two days off school have made for 9 missed days since the beginning of December, though the final day of school has not yet been decided by the school board as some extra days had been built into the schedule.
SIOUX FALLS – Minnehaha County Commissioners denied three beer/wine licenses to Triple J, Inc. after the matter had been deferred from their Feb. 7 meeting.
While Triple J, the Alibi Bar and Grill, east of Sioux Falls on Highway 42, had no complaints or violations against it, the point of contention was that this was also the location given for a new medical marijuana dispensary awarded in 2021.
On Feb. 7, commissioners spent most of their meeting asking questions about a business plan for the alcohol applications, since the conditional use permit for the property said both the bar and dispensary could not exist at the same location.
At that time, the commission told the owners of Triple J to come up with a definite plan on what was to happen, and then deferred the issue until this week.
Emmet Reistroffer (right) explains his position with the cannabis dispensary license owned by Genesis Farms, and the Alibi Bar at 7605 SD Highway 42, Sioux Falls. Co-owner of Triple J, Inc., Chrissy Johnson (left), was denied three beer and farm wine licenses at Tuesday’s county commission meeting. (Photo by Dave Baumeister)
Upon originally winning the cannabis license in a lottery, Emmett Reistroffer of Genesis Farms said the dispensary would go into the current location of the Alibi Bar, and that the bar would relocate.
But questions arose when Triple J came back and now wanted three additional beer and wine licenses at the same location, begging the question, “What is going on with the dispensary?”
At the Feb. 28 meeting, Reistroffer was introduced by Triple J co-owner Chrissy Johnson to help explain the situation.
While he said that Genesis had applied for and received a building permit for the dispensary at the proposed location, he was unable to clear up questions surrounding the bar-dispensary dilemma.
Commission chair Jean Bender made it very clear that Triple J/Genesis was given three extra weeks to address the questions surrounding their business, but she felt they did not do this.
“It’s my understanding,” Bender said of the cannabis license, “they can’t use it anywhere else (other than the 7605 SD Highway 42 location).”
Reistroffer said he was willing to surrender the cannabis license to make everything work out with the Triple J owners, but Eric Bogue with the Minnehaha County State’s Attorney didn’t think that anything could be done “on the spot” at a commission meeting.
So, because of the unresolved questions, Commissioner Joe Kippley made the motion to deny the three permits.
Commissioner Dean Karsky was the lone vote against the denial, as, from his comments, he seemed to want to help work things out for Triple J.
However, the others felt that Tripple J had enough “bites at the apple” to get matters squared away and had not done so.
The motion to deny passed by a 4 to 1 vote. It was said that, depending on the course of action they were going to take, it would be between three months to a year before they could re-apply.
Commissioners also referred to the status of the cannabis license being in question, as too much time will have passed without them opening their business for it to remain in effect.
In other business…
Three county departments, the County Safety Committee, the Office of Equalization, and the Treasurer all gave their annual briefings to the commission.
Most of the questions, though, just went to Equalization Director Chris Lilla about assessments, housing prices and taxes.
Lilla gave a very thorough explanation of how the equalization process works, and how that may or may not affect people’s tax bill.
He said that when they do assessments, they must be between 85 and 100% of market value, and his office was looking at an average increase of 14.7% in the county.
That means, Lilla said, that if all housing prices increase at the average amount and the county budget stays the same, homeowners won’t see any increase in taxes.
Although, properties that go above the 14.7% could see an increase, while properties that don’t go up in value that much will see a decrease in taxes.
Lilla said that the previous year, housing prices went up 18%.
At the end of the meeting, several people again urged the commission to take action to stop the Navigator and Summit carbon pipelines from coming through the county.
Minnehaha County Commission delays action on PUC letter to strengthen wording of same
At their Tuesday, Feb. 21 meeting Minnehaha County Commissioners voted unanimously to defer action on a letter regarding the Navigator CO2 pipeline that could run from corner to corner in the county.
The original “letter of concern” was presented to them with the explanation that it was almost the same as the one the county sent to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission close to a year ago.
Commissioner Joe Kippley thought, with the knowledge about carbon dioxide pipelines they have gathered since then, more should be included in the letter.
The letter basically refers to the concerns of many Minnehaha County residents about safety issues, the use of eminent domain to acquire land, inadequate setbacks, etc.
The letter also reads: “The Minnehaha County Commission firmly concurs with these concerns…”
However, since Kippley felt many things had changed and they had more they should include.
While all the commissioners seemed to be in favor of the letter, they voted to defer acting on it until March 21 to add to it.
Gary Meyer of Hartford, a frequent commentor at these meetings, again addressed commissioners and said while he applauded them sending a letter, he had been told by Public Utilities Commissioner Chris Nelson that those letters just get filed away.
In saying this, Meyer suggested the county take more action on the matter, beyond just writing a letter.
He did not specify what action, but Meyer has spoken in the past about a moratorium on pipelines in Minnehaha County.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, March 7, at 9 a.m. in the third-floor meeting room of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
Dale F. Stoltenberg, age 89, of Garretson, SD, passed away at the Dow Rummel Village in Sioux Falls, SD on Saturday, February 25, 2023.
A funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at Palisades Lutheran Church, Garretson, Rock County, MN with Pastor Mark Eliason officiating. Burial with military honors will follow at Palisades Lutheran Cemetery.
Visitation with family present will be from 5 to 7 PM on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at the Minnehaha Funeral Home in Garretson, SD.
In lieu of flowers memorials are preferred and will be directed to Palisades Lutheran Church and the American Cancer Society.
Dale was born November 27, 1933, to Fred and Alma (Mundt) Stoltenberg, in Lyon County, IA. He spent his early years on a farm northeast of Alvord, IA, where he rode his Shetland pony named “Billy” for 1 ¼ miles to attend country school. In 1942, his family moved to a farm near Hills in Rock County, MN. He attended one more year of rural school before consolidation moved his education to town where he finished grade school and graduated from Hills, MN high school in 1951. After high school, Dale helped his father on the farm and worked at a service station in Hills.
On July 26, 1956, Dale married Marianne Thompson in Hills, MN. One month later Dale left for the service and served 2 years in the US Army, being stationed at Ft. Knox, Kentucky and Ft. Bliss, Texas. In 1958 with his wife and son, Ron, he returned to Hills, MN where he worked at the Skelly Service Station. With addition of a second son, Curt, in 1959, he and his now family of 4 moved to a farm 3 miles southeast of Garretson where they crop farmed and raised dairy and beef cattle along with pigs and chickens. They were also blessed with 2 more children, Cindy (1962) and Melanie (1966), completing the perfect farm family. In the early 90s, Dale transitioned from dairy farming to raising long-horn cattle. After Marianne passed in 1993, Dale continued to live on the farm until 2013 when he moved into Garretson.
Dale will be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, hardworking farmer, honest man, golfer, and fisherman.
Dale was a member of Palisade Lutheran Church, rural Garretson where he was active on the church council in various positions.
Dale is survived by his children Ron (Diane) Stoltenberg, Jackson, MN; Curt (Kari) Stoltenberg; Garretson, SD; Cynthia (Brad) Jurgensen, Garretson, SD; Melanie Hamelton, Greenville, SC; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; brother-in-law Harlowe Sundem; sisters-in-law Marcie Stoltenberg and Florence Stoltenberg, and many other extended family and friends.
Dale was preceded in death by his loving wife Marianne, his parents Fritz (Fred) and Alma Stoltenberg; Son-in-law Bruce Hamelton; brothers Daryl, Delbert, Delmar and Dean, sister LaVane Sundem, and sister-in-law Georgine Stoltenberg.
Joyce Evelyn Risty, age 95, of Garretson, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, on Monday, February 27, 2023, at Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls. Funeral services will begin at 10:30 AM Saturday, March 4, 2023, at Zion Lutheran Church, Garretson. Interment will be in the Brandon Lutheran Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7:00 PM Friday, at the Minnehaha Funeral Home, Garretson. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to your favorite charity.
Joyce was born on December 11, 1927, to Arthur and Effie (Fuqua) Benson in rural Rock County, Minnesota. She attended country school and graduated from Garretson High School. She attended Augustana College and received her teaching degree. She then taught at Letcher, South Dakota for one year. On June 5, 1948, she married Austin Risty at Palisade Lutheran Church. Together they celebrated 71 years of marriage on the Risty farm where they raised their family.
Joyce was a very active member of Zion Lutheran Church in Garretson, where she was active in the ZLCW and quilting group. Joyce loved her flowers and yard. Her kind, gentle, generous spirit was always on display. A great cook, her homemade pies always brought top dollar for area fundraisers. She loved playing cards and board games and had a very competitive nature. Hanging out with her family, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, were some of her most cherished moments. Joyce was loved by all of them and will be deeply missed by all who knew her.
Survivors include her children: Guy (Connie) Risty, St. James, MN, Mary (David) Stoterau, Sioux Falls, Bert (Barb) Risty, Sherman, John (Cheryl) Risty, LeMars, IA, Karen (Eldon) Kolander, Lakefield, MN, Sharon (Tom) Snyder, Aberdeen; 14 grandchildren; several great and great great grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Elaine Benson and Dorothy Risty; brother-in-law, Robert Waring, and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Austin on May 23, 2019, her parents; and her brothers, Nels and Norman Benson; sisters-in-law, Shirley Williamson, Betsy Shafer, Mary Datri, and Gertrude Waring; brothers-in-law, Perry Williamson, Herb Shafer, Joe Datri, and Matt Schon.
