Agnes Rachel Enander, age 87, of Huron, passed away on Thursday, February 12, 2015, at the Huron Regional Medical Center. Her funeral service was at 11 AM, Monday, February 16th at the Bethesda Church with Rev. Roy Burket, officiating. Burial was in the Ebenezer Cemetery, rural Doland. Memorials may be made in Agnes' name to the Bethesda Church 1530 Frank Ave. SE, Huron, SD 57350.
Agnes Rachel Kleinsasser was born May 29, 1927, on the family farm near Frankfort, South Dakota, to the late Barbara and Mathias Kleinsasser.
After attending a country grade school, Agnes graduated from Frankfort High School in 1945. From there, she went to St. John's School of Nursing in Huron, South Dakota, graduating, in 1948, as a member of the inaugural class. Her love of nursing brought her to Midway Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she worked until 1965. She then moved to Stanley, North Dakota, to care for her sister, Lola. In 1966, she married Ruben Enander.
In 1969, Ruben and Agnes moved with their daughter, Helen, and their son, Glen, to South Dakota to revive the family farm. During her South Dakota years, she was an active member of Ebenezer Mennonite Brethren Church where she enjoyed teaching adult Sunday School classes. After Ebenezer Mennonite Brethren Church closed in 1994, she joined Bethesda Mennonite Brethren Church in Huron, South Dakota and continued to teach Sunday School from time to time. In 2011, she moved with her husband to an assisted care facility in Huron.
She leaves a legacy of resiliency and service for her family and friends to cherish. She loved education, and took the opportunity to obtain a degree in nursing. She then lived the life of a professional woman in the Twin Cities for almost twenty years. When she left her nursing career, she did so to care for and comfort her sister, and to create a new family. As a farming woman, she was an equal partner with her husband, doing the physical work of a farmer while at the same time keeping precise records of the farm's operations. To her children she passed on a love of reading and a curiosity about the world. She always encouraged them to pursue their education and to never stop learning.
She was preceded in death by both of her sisters, Lola Kleinsasser Enander in 1966 and Gladys Kleinsasser in 1987.
She is survived by her husband, Ruben of Huron; one son, Glen and his wife, Mary Enander of New Ulm, Minnesota; one daughter, Helen Enander of Lansing, Michigan; one brother-in-law, John and his wife, Gloria Stanley, North Dakota; three sisters-in-law, Ruby and her husband, Don Walters of Mohall, North Dakota, Luella Bean of St. Paul, Minnesota, Inez Simpson of Albany, Oregon; and many nieces and nephews.