| Sources |
- [S888] Social Security Death Index 1935 - Current, (www.ancestry.com).
Name: Alvina Senner
SSN: 503-07-0934
Last Residence: 57103 Sioux Falls, Minnehaha, South Dakota
Born: 1 Nov 1911
Died: 28 Aug 2010
State (Year) SSN issued: South Dakota (Before 1951)
- [S927] Obituary.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:38 PM CDT
Alvina Senner
died 08/28/2010
Alvina Hieb Senner, 98, formerly of Freeman, S.D., passed away quietly in her sleep on Aug. 28, 2010, where she had resided at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Sioux Falls.
The funeral service will be held Thursday, Sept. 2, at 10:30 a.m. at Salem-Zion (North) Mennonite Church in rural Freeman. Visitation will begin at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at George Boom Funeral Home in Sioux Falls and one hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that Alvina's legacy of caring generosity be celebrated with contributions in her memory, for charitable projects of the Salem Zion Church Women group, 27844 443rd Ave. Freeman, SD 57029.In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that Alvina's legacy of caring generosity be celebrated with contributions in her memory, for charitable projects of the Salem-Zion Church women's group, 27844 443rd Ave. Freeman, SD 57029.
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Born to Stephan and Magdelena Hieb on Nov. 1, 1911, in rural Bon Homme County near Tripp, S.D., Alvina Hieb Senner enjoyed an extraordinarily productive life of almost 99 years - a journey marked by boundless energy, a quick wit, quiet persistence, hard work and gentle love.
She was baptized in infancy into the Friedens Reformed Church near Tripp and confirmed there in her Christian faith in June 1926. The youngest in a large family of nine children (two of whom died as infants), Alvina grew up with six siblings: one brother, Paul Hieb, and five sisters: Johanna Mehlhaff, Pauline Aman, Lousia Kirschman, Kathrine Gukeisen and Margaret Miller. All of this group lived long lives, and the "baby" of the group, Alvina, who had always cherished her older siblings and looked to them for leadership and example, was to be the last survivor and the one to reach the most advanced age.
Alvina's youth was marked by an endless array of tasks - the farm work that extended over her early years; her studies as she was schooled in Tripp; the variety of household chores for her parents in their large household; the frequent assistance to her older siblings as they started their own families; the jobs taken with local businesses in Tripp; and, later in nearby Mitchell, S.D., the full time household work she took on with the family of a local physician.
As the nation was coming out of the difficult years of the Great Depression, Alvina met her soul mate and love of her life, Eldon P. Senner, a young man from rural Freeman. They married in December 1940 and soon embarked on a long series of life adventures together, in a marriage which would endure almost 50 years.
Work opportunities took the couple to Sand Lake, S.D., and their first daughter, Doris, was born in Aberdeen. Subsequent relocation in South Dakota and later to central Illinois where Eldon took a job for the American Red Cross, saw the family grow with the birth of a second daughter, Joan, in Parkston, Ill., and a son, Eldon, in Champagne, Ill. Shortly after the war years of the 1940s, the family moved back to Freeman. Alvina's husband, Eldon, became an owner of the local International Harvester farm equipment dealership; the family joined and took an active role in the Salem-Zion Mennonite (or North) Church; the children began their educations and the family grew with the birth of a third daughter, Patricia.
Over the years, Alvina never did learn how to slow down or, more accurately, she simply chose not to. She supported her husband in his business enterprise and his extended public service as the town's mayor; provided care for her own aging parents; working part-time in her sister Margaret's market and then variety store and hotel; and, always most important to her, raising her own family. She particularly enjoyed gardening and preparing the traditional German, Swiss and Russian foods which she wanted to ensure her children knew and understood from their families' heritage.
It is no surprise to those who knew her well that Alvina also found the time to support important community and church initiatives. She was always active in the Women's Mission Society of her church, quietly providing her efforts and energy to many committees and charitable fundraising activities. She was one of the founding members of the Freeman Community Hospital Women's Auxiliary - again contributing her efforts and dependable enthusiasm to various fundraising and volunteer service work. One of her most unique and loving contributions - the knitting of delicate, warm baby caps for newborns at the Freeman hospital - continued over decades, in fact over virtually the entire period that the hospital handled the delivery of babies in the community. Her own estimate was that more than 400 babies and families took home this gift from her over the years.
In her more senior years, Alvina was counted upon annually at the Freeman community Schmeckfest celebration to demonstrate, in period costume and with almost endless cheer, her traditional handicraft skills in spinning wool into yarn and knitting the product into mittens, scarves, sweaters and pillow covers. Well into her 90s, though no longer able to do the detailed needle work she once did in the more complicated projects such as quilting, she continued to enjoy simpler crafts, producing an ample supply of embroidered tea towels and crochet-work pot holders-always eager to give samples to visiting family, neighbors and friends.
In about 1997, long after all her children had moved on from her Freeman family home to spots across the country to finish their educations and start their own careers and families, and several years after the 1990 passing of her husband and the loving as well as exhausting care she had given him over his final years of failing health, Alvina opened an exciting new chapter to her life. She became one of the original residents of the Freeman Community Hospital's then-brand-new senior apartments at Walnut Street.
Rejuvenated and refreshed by having fewer of her previous responsibilities, but at the same time having many new activities and a framework to deepen some long-held friendships, Alvina quite simply flourished. She enjoyed continued handicraft work, the daily breakfast with her neighbors, the piecing together of countless jigsaw puzzles with friends, and other activities with those neighbors - all things that brightened and gave vibrancy to her later years.
After more than seven years at Walnut Street, as she entered her 90s, time began to take its toll. Poorer health led, in 2004, to a brief period of recuperation in the Freeman nursing home and then to a move to the Greenleaf assisted living facility in Sioux Falls, very near the homes of her daughter Joan and several grandchildren.
As she gracefully moved through her mid-90s, Alvina became a bit less nimble in completing handicraft work; her daily walks became less brisk, but continued nonetheless with the aid of a walker. Her memories slowly faded, and a charming vulnerability began to sneak its way through her normal strong determination. To the very end, she retained the bright twinkle in her eye, her easy sense of humor and eagerness for a hearty laugh, and her readiness to sacrifice cheerfully in any way to express her deep caring for others.
After rebounding from heart attacks in late 2008 and early 2009, and struggling with congestive heart failure, Alvina passed away on Aug. 28. She was preceded in death by her husband, Eldon P. Senner, and by her son-in-law, Dennis Huffaker.
She is lovingly remembered and survived by her three daughters: Doris Tieszen, Mason City, Iowa, Joan Preheim, Sioux Falls and Patricia Huffaker, Kuna, Idaho; her son, Eldon Senner, Williamsburg, Va.; two sons-in-law: Jerry Tieszen, Mason City, and Rodney Preheim, Sioux Falls; daugher-in-law, Sally Preheim Senner, Williamsburg; 11 grandchildren scattered across the country; 11 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren; and by a multitude of nieces, nephews and dear friends.
- [S558] South Dakota Marriages, 1905-1949.
Name: Alvina Hieb
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Spouse: Eldon P Senner
Marriage Date: 9 Dec 1940
Marriage County: Hutchinson
County of Residence: Hutchinson
Post Office: Tripp
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1911 - 2010 (98 years)