February 2, 1935 – September 12, 2021
Mass of Christian Burial for Mary Anne Biegler, 86, of Timber Lake will be at 10:30 a.m. MT on Friday, September 17, 2021 at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Timber Lake. Burial will be at the Timber Lake Cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge.
Visitation will start at 5 p.m. with a prayer service at 6 p.m. Thursday at the church.
Mary Anne was born to John S. and Magdalene (Keller) Schweitzer near Glencross, on Groundhogs Day, February 2, 1935. She was the second child of 10 born during the Great Depression.
At the age of 2, Mary Anne moved with her family to Berlin, ND, and when she was 5, John and Maggie and their five kids moved back to Glencross to pursue a life of farming. Mary Anne grew up working outside with her father, driving tractors and milking cows. She attended school in Glencross and Timber Lake.
Glencross held a special place in Mary Anne’s heart, especially the Sacred Heart Catholic Church where she was baptized, had her first communion, was confirmed and married.
On November 3, 1953, Mary Anne married Emil Biegler of Timber Lake. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Wichita, KS, where Emil worked for Boeing. After moves to Timber Lake, Ft. Pierre, and back to Timber Lake they settled on Emil’s family farm, raising five children.
In 1978, Mary Anne and Emil moved to Timber Lake, always returning to the farm to help out.
Mary Anne’s passions were camping, fishing, fish frys, bowling, playing cards, raising a big garden, canning, raising chickens, helping at her brother’s butcher shop and baking lots of cookies, turtles, and sticky buns.
Mary Anne passed away peacefully on September 12, 2021, at Mobridge Regional Hospital after a bout with Alzheimer’s.
Mary Anne is survived by two sons, Alan (Cindy) and Jiggs (Janal) Biegler of Timber Lake; three daughters, Susan (Kelly) Dahl of Mt. Vernon, Bitts (Tim) Schweitzer of Glencross, and Nancy (John) Skosky of Kansas City, MO; 11 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; one brother, Val (Sheila) Schweitzer of Timber Lake; two sisters, Marge (Ed) Volden of Forest Grove, OR, and Phyllis Cook of Plainview, TX; sisters-in-law Mary Biegler and Betty Schweitzer and many nieces and nephews.
Mary Anne is preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Emil, on August 6, 2020; her parents; sisters Cecilia (Roy) Linderman, Martha Schweitzer, Kathleen (Wallace) Wortman, and Harriet Schweitzer; brothers Dean and Dwight Schweitzer; brothers-in-law Ed Cook, Alfred Biegler, and Pius (Marie) Biegler; and sisters-in-law Phyllis (Walter Grage) (Joe) Martian; and Martha, who died in infancy.
(Alan Biegler’s address is PO Box 188, Timber Lake, SD 57656.)