Fern Bovee Obituary, Death – On August 23, 2023, at the age of 96, Fern Laurene Bovee, who resided in Parker, South Dakota, died away in the Sanford Hospice Foundation Cottage in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A memorial service will be held at Hofmeister-Jones Funeral Home in Parker on Saturday, August 26, 2023, at eleven in the morning. Pastor Brian Mosmann will preside over the ceremony. After the memorial ceremony, there will be a time for visitation with the family present. Before the funeral ceremony, there will be a private burial for the family in the Rosehill Cemetery in Parker, South Dakota.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Main Street Living, located at 1400 South Duluth Avenue, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57105. Parker’s Hofmeister-Jones Funeral Home was in charge of making the necessary arrangements. On December 31st, 1926, in Madison, South Dakota, Fern Laurene Nelson was brought into the world by her parents, Gust Nelson and Signe (Gustafson) Nelson, who were originally from Lake Preston, South Dakota. She had her elementary through eighth grade education near Lake Preston at the Spring Lake #3 rural school before transferring to and graduating from Oldham High School in 1944.
Following her graduation from high school, Fern took a job as a sales associate at Bonde Store in Lake Preston, South Dakota, before enrolling at the South Dakota Beauty Academy in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In October 1946, once Fern completed her training at the academy, she relocated to Parker in order to begin working as a beautician for Maurine Michael. After Maurine reached her retirement age, Fern took over management of the Beauty Shop.
The wedding took place on September 10th, 1948, between Fern and Arnold Bovee. They welcomed a boy, Alan Lee, in addition to two daughters, Gwen Renae and Suzann Kay, into the world. Before constructing their current home on Second Street in Parker in 1984, they spent the most of their lives farming land to the north of Parker. After gaining experience as a waitress at the Kitchen Cafe and the Parker Steakhouse for a period of time, Fern went on to work with Arnold as a custodian at the Turner County Courthouse for a period of 10 years. After Arnold passed away from cancer, she worked as a custodian at the Parker School for a brief period of time, and then she worked as a clerk at the Parker Post Office for eight years before she retired. After some time, in 2005, she relocated to the Turner Village neighborhood.
Among other organizations, Fern was a part of the First English Lutheran Church, the First English LWML, the VFW Auxiliary, the SIS Club, and the Senior Citizens. She gave her time at the Turner County Fair for a number of years in the Church booth as well as the Open Class building. She loved spending time with her family and friends playing games like bingo, cards, and dominoes. In addition to gardening, Fern liked doing counted cross stitch, crocheting, putting together puzzles, sewing quilt tops with the ladies from the church, and watching the Minnesota Twins play baseball.
Before she passed away, Fern stated that she lived a nice life and is now ready to be at peace with herself and the world. Those who are thankful for the opportunity to have been a part of her life include her son Alan (Mary) Bovee, daughters Gwen Van Gerpen and Suzann (Tim) Matthies; three grandchildren, Nathan (Shanna) Bovee, Joshua (Erin) Bovee and Tyler Matthies; two great-grandchildren Claire and Connor Bovee; sister-in-laws JoAnn Nelson, Mary Ellen Nelson, Carol Dawson; and several nieces and nephews.
