Mass of Christian burial for Opal A. McDermott is at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 11, 2017, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. Visitation will be 5 to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 10, 2017 at Rude’s Funeral Home.
Opal Adeline Hanson was born in her family’s home in Highmore on Dec. 5, 1913, to Louis and Julia (Arneson) Hanson. She died on March 7, 2017, in Brookings. She was 103 years old.
There was not a finer woman. Opal lived her life with grace and that grace lifted the lives of those she touched. Opal was as generous, kind and patient a human being as one will ever meet. She will be dearly missed by all fortunate enough to have crossed her path. Opal had a wonderful life filled with the best that life offers–family, friends, travel and her faith.
In 1981 the State of South Dakota recognized Opal for what her family always knew–she was the South Dakota Mother of the Year. Opal was honored for her lifetime of personal, family and professional accomplishments.
Opal attended country school in rural Hyde County, when she lived on a farm with her parents and siblings. She later moved to Highmore and attended school there.
The start of Opal’s elementary school education was delayed for two and a half years when, in 1918 at the age of 5 years old, she contracted a severe case of encephalitis, which almost ended her young life.
Opal attributed her survival to the decision of her beloved father, a trained pharmacist, to surround her with a bed of ice for weeks to reduce her temperature.
Opal proceeded to excel academically through Highmore High School, from which she graduated as valedictorian in 1931. She next attended Chillicothe Business College in Chillicothe, Missouri and South Dakota State University in Brookings.
Following college, and during the Depression, Opal worked for the County Agent’s Office in Highmore and the Agricultural Conservation Service in Brookings and Huron.
She and her husband of 65 years, Bill, met in Huron and married Nov. 7, 1941. They lived in Huron until 1946, when they moved to Merced, California. They missed South Dakota and returned a year later.
In 1950 Opal and Bill purchased the Highmore Herald newspaper and moved to Highmore. During their 18 years in Highmore they lived in a house that Opal’s parents had moved into Highmore from their farm in Hyde County.
Opal and Bill co-owned and co-published the Highmore Herald. While working at the newspaper Opal also gave birth to and raised, along with Bill, their five children.
Although busy with her job, husband and five children, Opal also lovingly cared for her elderly parents for many years in Opal and Bill’s Highmore home.
In 1968 Opal and Bill sold the Highmore Herald and moved their family to Brookings, where Bill had accepted the position of President of the South Dakota Press Association. They loved the Brookings community and lived there in retirement and until their deaths. While in Brookings Opal was an active member of the St. Thomas More Catholic Church and Guild.
Opal enjoyed being a member of the PEO Sisterhood in Highmore and Brookings. She cherished her friends in her bridge club.
When asked to describe her hobbies, Opal said “first my family, and then sewing, knitting, crocheting, bridge and traveling.”
Opal’s travels were a highlight of her life. Thanks to her daughter Mary’s time as a flight attendant for Pan Am Airlines and her son Terry’s decision to move to Europe following dental school, Opal and Bill crisscrossed the world many times.
Opal loved these trips and particularly enjoyed visiting her ancestral country Norway.
Opal is survived by her children, Terry (Elizabeth) McDermott and family of Zurich, Switzerland; Mary (Harlan) Goodman and family of Ridgefield, Washington; Kevin (Debbie) McDermott and family of Nashville, Tennessee; John (Pam) McDermott and family of Englewood, Colorado; and Bill McDermott, Jr. of Los Angeles, California; eight grandchildren, Christina (Steven) Wander and Patrick (Julia) McDermott, Matthew and Jeremy (Taryn) Goodman, Kevin (Lauren) and Conor McDermott, Kelly and Ana McDermott; and two great-grandchildren, Julia Wander and Liam McDermott.
Opal was preceded in death by her parents, Louis M. Hanson and Julia A. Hanson, husband Bill, and siblings Merritt, Virgil, Geneva, Louise, Fern, Onalee, and Alvina.
Rude’s Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
Condolences may be sent to the family through www.rudesfuneralhome.com.
