A funeral service for Gretchen Idell Hausmann was held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, October 1, 2026, at Fairfax City Hall, in Fairfax, South Dakota, with Fr. Ron Garry officiating.
Mya Koenig was the lector, and Joni Laska gave the eulogy. The guestbook attendant was Mary Schumann. Randy Anderson, Kay Don Jons, and Joel Jons provided the music.
Marc Hausmann, Austin Hausmann, Jerod Hausmann, Jason Hausmann, Joey Hausmann, and Masen Hausmann were casket bearers.
Interment was at Highland Cemetery in Fairfax. Clausen Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. Gretchen Idell Hausmann was born on April 7, 1934, at the family farm home four and a half miles southwest of Fairfax to Gus and Lizzie Kehn. She passed away peacefully on September 23, 2026, at the Good Samaritan Home in Atkinson, Nebraska, at the age of 92 years.
Gretchen was a loving, caring wife, mother, grandmother, greatgrandmother, and friend to many people. She will be missed by all who knew of her wit, charm and conversations.
She graduated from Butte High School in 1952 and was married to Joe Hausmann in that same year at Camp Rucker, Alabama, where Joe was stationed in the Army. To this union four children were born: Jerry, Gary, Terry, and Tracy.
Throughout her life she was a hard worker, loved the rural life, and always had a strong love for all animals, much like her father, Gus. Gretchen enjoyed her horses, especially her recently acquired buggy horse, Buster.
She served on the school board for the Butte Public Schools for several years, including as president of the board. Her music skills were also obvious as she played organ for years at the Saint Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Butte. She was also very talented at refinishing antique furniture in her “spare time.”
Gretchen was born, grew up, and raised her children on the family farm. She used to tell her children that when she was younger she would cry while carrying feed to the cattle and hogs because they would knock her down and she would spill the feed.
She is survived by her children: Jerry (Sharon) of Lincoln, Nebraska, Gary (Renee) of Blair, Nebraska, Terry (Donna) of Butte, Nebraska, and Tracy (Rex) of Bonesteel, South Dakota; sister-in-law Coreen Hausmann; 10 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren;and several other family members and friends.
Gretchen was preceded in death by her parents Gus and Lizzie Kehn, her husband Joe, her brother Don Kehn, her sister Mary Ellen Peterson and special friend Glenn Burke, and four great-grandchildren.
