Obituary of Anna Mae DeJong

Anna Mae (Dennis) DeJong, 82 of Yankton, SD passed away February 9, 2014 at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton. Funeral Services will be 11:00 AM, Friday, February 14, 2014 at the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Chapel, Yankton, with the Rev. Ron Johnson officiating. Burial will be at the Platte City Cemetery in Platte, SD. Visitation will begin at 5:00 PM, Thursday, at the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory, Yankton, with the family present from 6 to 8 PM. Visitations will resume one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Immediately following the funeral service, lunch will be provided at the Funeral Home. Following lunch the funeral procession will travel to Platte, leaving at 1:45 p.m. for a graveside service and burial at the Platte City Cemetery. Graveside service will be conducted at approximately 3:30 P.M. Anna Mae Dennis was born in 1932, to Wilbur E. and Ellen Marie (Petersen) Dennis Sr. in Minatare, NE. She graduated from high school in Merino, CO in 1950. During high school, Anna, to help in support of her family, worked in the school cafeteria to earn lunch money for her and several siblings. After high school, Anna's first job was defusing bombs and gun shells at the Sioux Ordinance Depot in Sidney, NE. During the 1950s, Anna held positions working at a grocery/gas station taking inventory, stocking shelves, selling groceries, cashiering, and pumping gas for customers. She also found herself driving a logging truck from the forest to saw mills in the Black Hills. Anna was hard working and conscientious, often working two jobs. She worked as a receptionist for an optometrist and waitress at a restaurant. She also found employment doing bookkeeping for an accountant and again worked a second job as hostess at a restaurant. On May 14, 1960, Anna married Lawrence DeJong, thus becoming a military wife and as time went on, the mother of three sons, Kent, Bruce, and Paul. Anna was an exceptional mother and wife, rearing three great children with her husband and keeping her house, home and family running smoothly, especially when alone during times her husband was deployed on military duty. Anna volunteered supporting school activities, served as leader in the Cub Scouts and encouraged and supported activities with the Boy Scouts. She was a full time mother and wife, devoted to her kids and husband. When her youngest son started school, Anna went back to school too, serving 19 years with South Sarpy School District 46, Springfield, NE as an aide with special education students in the school library, or the office as assistant to the secretary. Anna was baptized as a young woman in the Baptist faith and stated her readiness to meet her Lord and Savior. She was a loving, dedicated, and faithful wife for more than 53 years and a loving mother and grandmother. She is survived by her husband, Lawrence; her sons: Kent DeJong (Tony Valenzuela) of Baltimore, MD, Bruce (Tami) DeJong of Papillion, NE, and Paul (Barbara) DeJong of Ft. Worth, TX; five grandchildren; a brother, Wilbur Dennis of Ft. Morgan, CO; sister, Mary (Ronald) Mills of Newcastle, WY; and nieces and nephews. Anna was preceded in death by her parents and seven siblings. Memorials may be directed to one of Anna's favorite charities. These include the Heartland Humane Society, 601 Burleigh St. Yankton, SD 57078; the St. Labre Indian School, Ashland, Montana 59004; or the Boys and Girls Club, 1804 Broadway Ave. Yankton, SD 57078; or in her honor, to the charity of your choice.