Marilyn M. (Sisson) Schmidt passed away peacefully on Friday, May 29, 2026, at Community Memorial Hospital, Redfield, SD, at the age of 102 years.

Visitation will be from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 5, at Hyke Funeral Home in Redfield. A prayer service, Order of the Eastern Star service, and time of sharing will begin at 5:30 p.m.

Marilyn’s funeral service will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 6, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Redfield. Reverend Keith C. Kraft will officiate. Burial will follow at Greenlawn Cemetery in Redfield. After the committal service, lunch will be served in the church hall.

Both the prayer service and funeral service will be live-streamed through a link on the funeral home’s website, below Marilyn’s obituary in the funeral service panel. Arrangements have been entrusted to Hyke Funeral Home (www.hykefuneralhome.com).

Marilyn was born September 30, 1923, the second oldest of nine girls of Virgil O. and Gladys W. (Watkins) Sisson, rural Zell, SD.

Through her Christian upbringing and life experiences, including the “Dirty Thirties,” WWII years, etc., she was truly a representative of her “Greatest Generation” heritage; resourceful, hardworking, determined, frugal, and, above all, faithful.

She attended country school through the 8th grade, and then graduated from Redfield High School with Honors in 1941. While in High School, she worked for her board and room at private residences and also worked part-time at the school principal’s office.

Upon graduation, she worked at the Hand County ASC Office in Miller, SD, until she married August H. Schmidt on January 14, 1941, and they established their home on the farm in Hand County, West of Cottonwood Lake. August was drafted into the Army in the fall of 1941 and Marilyn stayed with his parents on the farm while he was in the service.

Marilyn was the mother of three children, first a daughter, Veryl Ann in 1944, and two sons, Kendall August in 1946 and Ronald Victor in 1950. As one who was experienced in farm life and taking care of little sisters, she was very hard-working and resourceful and a very good mother.

Marilyn always had a huge garden, and in the fall her cellar and 2 large freezers were stocked full of quarts and pints of vegetables. August, an avid hunter, also provided an abundant amount of all kinds of meat. Marilyn was an excellent cook, and as she assumed the role of a farmer’s wife at 18 years old, she didn’t encounter much that she hadn’t experienced as she was growing up. Being the second oldest in a large family, she learned how to do all kinds of things-cooking, sewing, cleaning, canning, and gardening. Her mother was an excellent teacher.

Marilyn joined the Wheaton Congregational Church in April 1936 and, when the church closed in 2005, she was the oldest continuous member of that church. She taught Sunday School and Bible School for many years, sang in the choir, and was the church clerk and/or church treasurer for 50 years. She was a very active member and one of those hard workers in the Wheaton Missionary Society.

Marilyn was often a Wheaton delegate to association meetings and State Conference meetings. She was elected to serve on the State Board of Directors of the Conference for two terms and then as vice moderator and moderator. She was usually the one at Wheaton who prepared and moderated special programs and celebrations, such as 50th, 75th, and 100th Anniversary celebrations, Church Women United observances, etc. She was occasionally called on, as a layperson, to lead a service and preach a sermon. She even filled the pulpit at the Redfield First Congregational UCC and at the Tulare United Church.

As a member of the Order of Eastern Star, Oasis Chapter #148, Tulare, SD, for over 70 years, Marilyn served as Worthy Matron, Conductress, and Grand Chapter Page.

Marilyn’s love of older people was very evident in her life. She loved her old Uncle Guy who came and lived with Marilyn and Gus in 1945 and lived with them until he died in 1964. She took care of her mother-In-law, Susie Schmidt, the last three years of her life. When Marilyn’s parents, Virgil and Gladys Sisson, became more aged, Marilyn was the one who was available to help them.

In 1965, with the two older children in college, Marilyn took an additional full-time job as a nursing assistant and then as a co-activity director at the James Valley Nursing Home in Redfield. An activity program in a nursing home was a new concept and Marilyn and her co-worker developed a wonderful program in the local nursing home. They also organized and served as the first officers of a State Nursing Home Activity Directors Association. They put on workshops in different parts of the state for others who were developing an activity program in their nursing homes. Marilyn retired from the nursing home in 1980.

After her husband August’s death in October 1979, Marilyn lived alone on the farm for eight years, but was praying for something to do to make her life more meaningful. She was on the Board of Directors of the Peterson Bahde Coleman Homes, Inc., and they were just beginning the building of the PBC Midrise apartments uptown in Redfield. She was offered the job as manager of the PBC Homes. She hesitated a while, thinking she wasn’t capable, but then thought perhaps this was the answer to her prayer. So, she accepted the challenge and again was working with older people. She moved into the new apartments in September 1987, enjoyed the new challenge for 17 years, and retired as the manager in 2004.

Marilyn became the repository of most of her husband’s family “Schmidt/Thomas” historical documents/photos, letters, etc., as well as her family’s “Sisson/Watkins” things. To preserve and pass on this information, she, son Kendall, and granddaughter Lori compiled and published a three-volume, over 1,000 page, genealogy/family history going back as far as the Mayflower. She also compiled an eighty plus page document of her life’s memoirs.

After “retirement” at age 81, Marilyn continued to be involved at the PBC Midrise in an advisory capacity, answering questions on maintenance, policies, a complicated heating and air conditioning system, and decorating. For a couple of years, she filled in as assistant manager during the regular manager’s absence.

In December, 2021, she moved to an assisted living apartment at the Eastern Star Home in Redfield and then, in April 2025, to the Nursing Home.

Marilyn fervently believed in the power of prayer, and she would constantly pray for family, friends, and others who were in ill health or having other needs. Her family can readily attest to her having prayers answered. Her children had over ten life-threatening surgeries/illnesses, each of which had positive outcomes. Additionally, she was asked to pray for a young couple, married for ten years and in their 30’s, that they might have a child, ten months later they had a beautiful and smart little baby girl.

In 1979, when her husband August passed away, she was left with considerable farm debt. She presented her plan to the farm loan officer on how she would pay it off. He asked her how she would be able to make it work – she answered “carefully and prayerfully”, and he replied, “I think you will!”

Several years ago, upon receiving a new large print Bible from her children for Christmas, she held it tightly to her chest and exclaimed “Oh, my very best friend!”.

Marilyn was also a life member of the VFW Auxiliary and a Legion Auxiliary member since 1952.

Survivors include her sons Kendall (Marie) Schmidt, Montrose, SD and Ronald (Alice) Schmidt, Huron, SD; 6 grandchildren Jackie (Allen) Davis, Fargo, ND; Carrie Schick, Las Vegas, NV; Kathie (Brian) O’Dell, Wahoo, NE; Susan (Gary) Bartlett, Ashland, MT; Marcus (Kathy) Schmidt, Kansas City, MO; and Joshua Bohl, Sioux Falls, SD; 15 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren. Survivors also include her sisters Sharyl Prince, Casper, WY and Jerrilyn (Tony) Brunette, Spearfish, SD.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, August; daughter, Veryl Ann (Floyd) Boeckel; granddaughter, Lorelle (John) Buck; and 6 sisters: Floriene, Chloris, Arland, Marlyce, Donna, and Virgie and their husbands; and special friend Don Strivens.