B. Eldora Licking

B. Eldora Licking age 91 of Buffalo, died Saturday July 25, 2009 at her home west of Buffalo, surrounded by her family. The funeral service will be held 1pm Monday August 3rd, 2009 at Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche. Visitation will be held 3 to 6 pm Sunday at the funeral home and interment will take place next to her husband Lawrence, in Buffalo Cemetery on Tuesday at 9am. Bertha Eldora Culver was born November 22, 1917 near Twilight, SD. She was the daughter of Todd and Bertha (Keegan) Culver. Eldora attended rural Butte County schools and graduated from Newell High School in 1936. The next two years were spent furthering her education in Minnesota, working in a hospital in Spokane, Washington, and getting to know Lawrence Licking, a government trapper from Nebraska. She married Lawrence on December 17, 1938 in Hyannis, NE. They moved from South Dakota to the Nebraska Sandhills in August, 1939. This was the start of her involvement in the ranching business which continued for the next 70 years. While living in Nebraska, three sons were born to Lawrence and Eldora. In October, 1956, the family moved to a larger ranch located west of Buffalo, SD. Eldora spent her life caring for others … raising three sons, caring for her elderly father until his death, for Lawrence during the last ten years of his life when he suffered from difficult health problems, and for her mother who lived to be 102 years old. Eldora is survived by her 3 sons, Larry (Debra) of Camp Crook, Leonard of Newell, Gary (Dana) of Buffalo; 6 grandchildren, Michael (Bonnie) Licking, Rebecca (Tony) Ortiz, Tamara (Duane) Lei, Lori (Brian) Raber, Garrett (Michele) Belden, and Sterling Brown; 6 great grandchildren; and 3 great great grandchildren. She is also survived by her 2 sisters, Florence Howard of Custer, Ora Lee Ackerman of Fredrick, Maryland. She was preceded in death by her parents; and husband Lawrence Licking in 1974; 2 brothers; and 3 daughters-in-law.