Myrna Gergen

Funeral services for Myrna Gergen were held on Saturday, October 5, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gregory, SD, with Father Ron Garry celebrant.

Cantor was Anita Messerschmidt, lector was Patty Connealy, and altar servers were Ian Opp and Gabe Ekroth.

Music was provided by the St. Joseph Choir, accompanied by Mary Beth Gergen, pianist.

Rita Grim and Bev Heck were in charge of registration. Casket bearers were Jeffrey Gergen, Stuart Gergen, Tyler Gergen, Stephen Madsen, Corey Axtell, and Christopher Madsen. Interment was in the St. Augustine Catholic Cemtery in Dallas, SD. Kotrba-Smith Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Myrna Lois (Axtell) Gergen was born in 1942, in Chadron, NE, to Clara (Seder) and Gilbert Axtell. Her parents lived on a small farm on Cuny Table in the Badlands of South Dakota at the time. After WWII, the family moved to a farm near Wewela, SD, where she grew up with three siblings.

Myrna decided to live away from home to attend high school in Springview, NE, living with her parents’ close friends in preparation for college. She attended a secretarial school in Denver, CO, in 1960. Myrna learned typing, shorthand, and began working for bankers in Burke and Colome as a young woman.

When her brother Lowell came home from military service, he introduced her to his friend, Bernard Gergen, who was farming near Dallas. The two were married in the Catholic Church in Colome in 1964. She and Bernard started a life together milking cows and raising hogs. Myrna was a very devoted mother, gardener, and farm wife. She sewed all their children’s clothing when they were young. She had chickens, helped Bernard with milking, canned, and cooked for her family. The house had running water only at the kitchen sink and the wash tub in the back porch. In 1972 they moved to a farm in Tripp County and continued dairy and hog farming while raising three children. She played the piano; as did her mother, so encouraged both her daughters to learn and prioritized money for them to have lessons and all her children to pursue music interests.

By 1980, they had added two more boys to the family and Myrna experienced the challenges of doing part time work and raising a family. With older children grown and few employment opportunities, she decided to return to college and graduated from Sinte Gleska University in Mission and completed an associate’s degree. She worked as bookkeeper for many years at Mathis Implement in Winner and various other employers until her retirement.

Myrna was very active in Legion Women’s Auxiliary and enjoyed traveling to events and conventions. As a devoted Catholic, she was very much a helping hand with the Altar Society during her 60 years as a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gregory. An accomplished seamstress, she sewed quilts in her later years and had a green thumb in the garden, with the best tomatoes and cucumbers. Myrna’s canned peaches and homemade peach ice cream were family favorites. She cooked three meals a day for her family every day until cancer debilitated her to care at Rosebud Country Care Center. She passed on October 1, 2024, at the age of 82.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her older brother Lowell. She is survived by her husband Bernard of 60 years; her five children: Trudy (Stephen) Madsen of Sioux Falls, SD, Monica (Stephen) King of Klamath Falls, OR, Stuart (Andrea) Gergen of Port Orchard, WA, Jeffrey of Dallas, SD, and Tyler of Dallas, SD; siblings: Charles (Beverly) Axtell of Wewela, SD, and Aleta Amon of Fairborn, OH; six grandchildren: Jeffrey Jr., January, Katie, Christopher, Stevie, and Kyle; and three great-grandchildren.