Ellen Tschetter, age 90, of Carpenter, South Dakota, passed away Thursday, April 18, 2019, at the Huron Regional Medical Center. Her funeral service was held at 11:00 AM Thursday, April 25th, at the Bethesda Church in Huron. Burial was in the Bethel Mennonite Church Cemetery, rural Yale. Memorials may be directed to Byron Bible Camp.
Ellen Mae Tschetter was the eldest of five children born to Albert M. Schmidt and Mary (Epp) Schmidt on June 3,1928, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Her family moved first to St. Catharines, Ontario, and in 1946 to Huron, South Dakota, where her father became the first minister of the newly formed Bethesda Mennonite Brethren Church. She was a charter member of Bethesda Church. She attended Huron High School. On March 27, 1948, she married Willard Tschetter and together they had two sons.
Ellen was meticulous in caring for her husband, family, and home; she was always a gracious, welcoming hostess to those who visited their farm near Lake Byron. Her long-time friends remember her as being elegant and tasteful in her dress and appearance, something that led to her being called on to model in local fashion shows. In the earlier days of her marriage, she used her considerable skills as a seamstress to fashion her own attire. She had a life-long love of music, singing in vocal ensembles and church choirs. As worship and praise music evolved to more contemporary forms, she brought her lovely voice and joined with musicians who were younger in years if not in spirit. Her creative sense extended to the visual arts and her photography was recognized at the South Dakota State Fair.
She was preceded in death by a brother-in-law, Ron Halstead.
She was cherished and will be missed by her husband of 71 years, Willard Tschetter; her sons, Gerald (Judy) Tschetter and Bradley (Brenda) Tschetter; her sisters, Marjorie Halstead and Dorothy Powers; her brothers, Dennis (Lorna) Schmidt and Robert (Nancy) Schmidt; her grandchildren, Nathan (Mica) Tschetter, Patrick Tschetter and Theresa (José Chua) Tschetter; and the many others whose lives she touched.