Sandra L. Larson

Sandra L. Larson, age 68 of Belle Fourche, died Sunday May 13th, 2012 at the Rapid City Regional Hospital. A memorial service will be held 2pm Friday May 18th, 2012 at Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche. Kim Bachman will officiate the service. There will be no visitation. Sandi was born April 11, 1944 in Belle Fourche, SD, the only child of Rodney and Marge (Saunders) Larson. She attended country school at Fruitdale, SD through the eighth grade then transferred in-town, graduating from Belle Fourche High School in 1962. In high school Sandi was active in Jobs Daughters and in the production of the high school yearbook and the newspaper, an interest which would develop into a career later in life. Following high school graduation, Sandi attended a year of business school at National College of Business in Rapid City, SD. Sandi worked several jobs in her life but was best known for her many years of service to area newspapers. She held a lead production position at the Daily Belle Fourche Post for many years typesetting all the legal notices, obituaries and town and area news stories. She also held the same position at the Meade Co. Times/Tribune in Sturgis, SD for a few years, returning to Belle Fourche when Allison Publishing purchased the Belle Fourche Post and Weekly Bee in 1988. Sandi was an avid reader her entire life and left the newspaper business for a few years to work at Northwest Regional Library, the mobile rural library for Butte and Harding counties, working as a librarian and part time bookmobile driver. She enjoyed this work as it combined her love of reading and her enjoyment of visiting with people. During this time she was also an active volunteer for the literacy program through the local public library sharing her love of reading with those who couldn't read. In addition to reading, Sandi's other interests included bowling, playing bridge, crocheting, collecting cookbooks and playing bingo. She was a member of two bridge clubs and a bowling league for many years, Eastern Star, and also a proud member of Black Hills Pioneer Society, serving a term as president. When the newspaper switched to computers, Sandi got on board and learned the new technology. She was so proud when she purchased her first computer in her favorite color, a purple iMac. She spent many happy hours on her computer but also helped several organizations and businesses with their projects. Prior to her illness, Sandi was cheerfully volunteering her time and talent to help organize her 50th class reunion. Her personal goal was to be well enough to attend this July event. She will be greatly missed by all her classmates. Sandi was a "people person." She was a great conversationalist and had incredible recall of names, dates and facts. She seemed to know everyone, who they were married to and when they got married; how many children they had; their names and birth dates and so on. A conversation with Sandi could be a delightful education. With her sunny personality, she had many, many friends, all of whom will miss her. As was her wish, Sandi was cremated and will be scattered over the ranch outside of Fruitdale, SD where she spent her childhood. Sandi was preceded in death by her parents and grandparents. Left to remember her are her second cousins: Scott (Angela) Reder of Fruitdale, Jim (Deb) Scheele of Belle Fourche, Barbara Scheele of Scottsdale AZ, Charlotte Grubl of Rapid City, Rita Morris of Buffalo WY; her many friends, and her beloved companion of the last 13 years, Sarah Cat. Memorials have been established to the Butte Co. Ambulance Service and the Belle Fourche Volunteer Fire Department.