Obituary of Lyndall E. Cornette

Lyndall Eunice King Cornette was born on February 7, 1935 to Colonel Norman David King and Stella Minnie Clark King in Cheyenne, Wyoming, joining two older brothers, Norman Richard and Gordon Norman (Bud).  Lyndall was a tomboy at heart and ran wild with the neighborhood gang of boys as there were no girls anywhere close to her age.  Her two older brothers were extremely protective of her and she always spoke fondly of those days.

When World War II began, Colonel King was called to serve and moved his family back to Alliance, Nebraska to be near family.  It was in Alliance as a freshman in high school in 1949 that Lyndall met John Cornette.  John was a sophomore and they were both attending a dance at the Presbyterian Church.  John calmly walked over to Lyndall and announced that she could dance with him.  She did, and he would become the true love of her life. 

Lyndall graduated from Alliance High School with honors in 1953.  The next year she attended Colorado Women's College.  While she was in school, John was in Korea in the Army.  After his honorable discharge in 1955 they were united in marriage on November 23, 1955. Lyndall worked while John finished his college education at Chadron State Teacher's College. 

Their first child, Kimberly Lyn, was born right after John graduated in 1958.   John began teaching English in Martin, South Dakota after college. The Cornette family had a second daughter, Ronda Lee in February of 1960.  Sadly, she was born premature and lived only one day.  Julie Kay was born in 1962.

The day after Julie was born, John announced to Lyndall that the family was moving to New York City.  He would be attending Columbia University to receive a Specialist's Degree in Guidance and Counseling.  The family spent the next school year in New York.  John and Lyndall loved the experience making lifelong friends and having plenty of adventures.  After graduation from Columbia, John was offered the job of Guidance Counselor at Yankton High School and the family moved to Yankton, making it the family's permanent home.  It was in Yankton that son Michael John was born in 1967. 

Like so many women of her time, Lyndall stayed home with her children while they were young.  When Michael started school, she began working part time at Yankton College in the Athletic Department as a secretary.   From there she became the manager of the college bookstore and then the manager of the entire Warren Campus Center.  When YC closed in 1984, Lyndall went on to work at the March of Dimes.  She was quite successful and raised a great deal of money for a cause that was near and dear to her heart, retiring in 1997.

Lyndall was a natural born leader and belonged to many organizations.  She was a long-time member and President for a time of the Women's Fellowship at the UCC church.  She was also the first Chairwoman of the annual Christmas Coffee at the church, holding that position for 15 years.  She was a member of PEO Chapter K for 43 years and served President of Chapter K several times as well as holding other offices.  Lyndall was a member of Beta Sigma Phi and Questers. 

She served on the Yankton Area Arts Council, Keep Yankton Beautiful, and the Riverboat Days Committee.  She and John were honored as Captain and Belle of Yankton Riverboat Days in 2004.  Her favorite pastime, however, was BRIDGE.  She belonged to many bridge clubs and played as often as possible.  She and John belonged to several couple's bridge clubs.  Lyndall taught bridge at the Yankton Federal Prison Camp, at the Yankton High School night time interest classes, as well as at Mount Marty College.  She absolutely loved bridge.  Even more than bridge, however, she loved being a grandma.  All her grandkids were special to her and she made sure they all knew it.

                Mom was a fantastic cook.  She made sure all her kids knew their way around a kitchen.  Christmas was her favorite holiday and she went all out decorating every single part of her house.  She collected bears and they tended to be all over the house when the Christmas decorations weren't.  Mom was a talented seamstress, had a flair for crafts, and loved flowers, growing them everywhere in her yard.  Her very favorite flower was a Gerbera Daisy. 

Lyndall is survived by her husband of 63 years, John Keith Cornette; daughter Kimberly Brown and her husband Steve of Georgetown, Texas; daughter Julie Jensen and her husband Wayne of Yankton; and son Michael and his wife Kristi of Sioux Falls, SD. She is also survived by grandchildren Jessica Mues and her husband Brad of Everett, Washington. Jessica and Brad have two boys: Kai and Nolan; Amanda Brown of Loveland, Colorado; Benjamin Jensen and his wife Maggie Ann Jensen; Matthew Jensen and his wife Kristen Leitru all of Yankton, and Cooper Cornette of Sioux Falls, SD. Also surviving her are sister-in-law Barb Cornette, and sister-in-law Rosa Lee and husband Gordon Hoff, all of Alliance, NE; sister-in-law Charlotte King of Topeka, KS and several nieces and nephews. She also has two beautiful cats she leaves behind, Maggie and Molly.

She was preceded in death by her parents: Colonel King and Stella (Mrs. Edward) Wait, her brothers, and her infant daughter Ronda.  Also preceding her were her in-laws Judson and Frances Cornette; brother-in-law Jim Cornette; and sister-in-law Mary Lou Cornette. 

Mom was very patriotic, very proud of the fact that her father, husband, and both brothers had served their country in the Armed Forces. Because of this, we ask that any memorials be directed to The Wounded Warrior Project. 

The family would like to thank all the people at Avera ICU and Avera Hospice that worked so hard to make Mom's last days as comfortable as possible.  You are truly special people.