Obituaries

Ione Bauer

Funeral services for Ione Bauer, age 80, of Mobridge will be at 10:30 AM on Friday, October, 24, 2008 at the First Baptist Church in Mobridge. Rev. Gary Street will be officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery in Herreid under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge. Visitation will be on Thursday from 2-6 at the Funeral Home with a prayer service at 7:30 PM at the church. Mrs. Bauer passed away Monday October 20, 2008 at the Mobridge Regional Hospital.

Ione (Vilhauer) Naasz Bauer grew up during hard times.  She was born in 1928 on a farm 10 miles east of Herreid, SD, to Jacob and Katie (Quaschnick) Vilhauer.  Her parents were farmers who worked hard but had little money.  In spite of the hardships, she never forgot the values they instilled in her – their Christian faith, respect for others, being honest and kind, and being thankful for what they had.   

Ione attended the Byrne Country School in Campbell County until her 8^th Grade graduation.  A good student, she earned good grades and often helped her brothers with their schoolwork.  She would have loved to go on to high school, but her parents couldn’t afford the fees for room and board, so she wasn’t able to continue her education.  She had a lifelong love of reading and at one point, while living in Roscoe, SD, she had read all of the books in the local library.  She also loved music and singing.  Ione never had any music lessons, but learned to play the piano by ear and also played the banjo.  She and her brothers often sang and played at family gatherings and at church, and occasionally sang on a local radio variety show.  She also sang with friends at gatherings and at funerals.

Her strong faith in God began when she was a child and she was baptized in 1947.  She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Mobridge.  Ione was active in the church, singing in the choir, serving on many committees and Ladies Aid groups.  She also assisted with Sunday School, BYF youth group activities and summer Bible School.  Ione wrote, “My strength for living through many tough times came from the help of God.”  She had many favorite Bible verses, and ended every day by reading her Bible before going to bed.

Ione moved with her parents from the farm into Herreid when she was 18 years old.  She worked briefly as a switchboard operator in the telephone office, then as a household helper for a local family.  Ione met Walter Naasz of rural Mound City at a gathering at an aunt’s home soon after moving to Herreid.  They dated for two years, then were married on June 13, 1948 in the First Baptist Church in Herreid.  They farmed and lived with Walter’s parents until their first child, Jim, was born in 1949.  They then moved to a small farm one mile south of Roscoe, SD, where they lived for eight years.  Their daughters Linda and Becky and their son Mark were born while they lived near Roscoe.  Ione and Walter moved their family to Mobridge in 1957, where Walter worked first with Holzwarth Brothers and later with the Milwaukee Railroad.  After moving to Mobridge, they added three more children to the family, sons Dan and Tom and daughter Michelle.  Walter died unexpectedly in 1980, and eight years later, Ione married Fred Bauer.  She was married to Fred until his death in 1994.

Ione loved to cook and bake, becoming very well known for her raised doughnuts and kuchen.  She was an excellent cook, often making the family’s German favorites of cheese buttons, strudels and dumplings.  Although she was a busy homemaker, she also did the baking for a local grocery store owned by her sister and brother-in-law, Lydia and Otto Berreth, providing them with a weekly supply of rolls and kuchen.  When the children were older, she worked at the nursing home as a cook.  In later years, she did in-home care for elderly people. 

One of Ione’s greatest joys in life was family.  She was very proud of her large family of seven children, and treasured each of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  She was also very close to all of her brothers and sisters and their children.  She was an inspiration to all who knew her and a source of strength to anyone in need.  She loved family gatherings, and everyone was welcome at her home.  Every 4^th of July she enjoyed having all of her brothers and sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews who were in the area come to her home for a family picnic. Her potato salad was a crowd favorite, and was always requested. 

Ione loved the holidays, especially Christmas. Her home was decorated with treasured ornaments, including a few that had belonged to her mother.  One of the most precious was a small celluloid doll that had been given to her by her first teacher.  It was the first store-bought doll she had ever had.  She loved giving gifts to all of her family and friends, not only for Christmas, but for birthdays and other occasions.  Whenever her grandchildren came to visit, before they left she prepared an “Over the Bridge Bag” for each of them.  These were small bags of treats and toys that they were not supposed to open until they had crossed the bridge outside of Mobridge on their way home. 

Ione’s hobbies included reading, crocheting and embroidery.  She also made several unique jewelry pictures, which were displayed for different holidays and seasons.  She had a large collection of angels, almost all of which were given to her as gifts by family and friends.  A very special part of the collection was a trio of singing angels that was a gift from her daughter Linda.  Ione loved traveling to visit her children and usually spent several weeks each year with each of the ones who lived out of state.  She also enjoyed trips to Oregon, Washington, California and Tennessee.  One of the most memorable vacations she ever took was a trip to Hawaii with her son Mark and his family. 

Ione’s health began to fail and a broken arm in June of 2007 led to other health issues.  She was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in June of 2008, and was a resident of the Golden Living Center in Mobridge at the time of her death. 

She will be deeply missed by her children, Jim (Julie) Naasz of Bemidji, MN; Becky (Gary) Fischer of Aberdeen, SD; Mark (Kathy) Naasz of Worland, WY; Dan (Georgia) Naasz of Billings, MT; Michelle (Wayne) Sandmeier of Glenham, SD; and Tom (Janet) Naasz of Hot Springs, SD; her son-in-law Tom (Bones) Keller of Mobridge, SD; 17 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; sister-in-laws, Lil (Floyd) Vilhauer of Aberdeen, SD, Ella (Rheinhold) Kuebler, Martha (Labolt) Berndt, Nettie (Cornell) Oschsner, Violet (Alvin) Schmierer, and Loretta (Norman) Opp; brother-in-law, Chester (Betty) Naasz and many nieces and nephews.

 Ione’s parents; her husband, Walter Naasz; her second husband, Fred Bauer; her daughter Linda Keller; five brothers, three sisters, one sister-in-law and one brother-in-law preceded her in death.

Organist will be Marge Bearsheart. Congregational hymns were “The Old Rugged Cross” and “Amazing Grace”. The Grandchildren sang “I’ll Fly Away” and  “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.”

Casketbearers were Steve Vilhauer, Darvin Vilhauer, Mitch Vilhauer, Dean Vilhauer, Norman Schaeffer, and Ruben Schaeffer.

Honorary bearers were all of Ione’s nieces and nephews and the staff at the Golden Living Center in Mobridge.