Funeral services will be 11 a.m. today at the Ree Heights Community Church with the Revs. Sheena Thomson and Brian Jones officiating. Burial will be in Morningside Cemetery, Ree Heights.
Stella Marie was the fourth child born to William and Stella Pearl (Hickcox) Voelker. She was born Oct. 25, 1916, in Ree Heights at the home of her grandparents, Noah Thomas and Nellie Phene (Talcott) Hickcox. Stella attended 12 grades of school in Ree Heights.
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Stella married Roy Hammill, of Ree Heights, Sept. 27, 1935, in Miller, one child, Jeanie was born to this union. Stella and Roy lived in town until March of 1940 and later moved to the Doc Paddleford place north of Ree Heights. They moved back to Ree Heights in 1943. In 1948 or 1949 they purchased a grocery store which they ran for 13 years.
Stella received an appointment as postmaster in Ree Heights Sept. 3, 1964, until her retirement on Oct. 26, 1984. Roy passed away Dec. 19, 1978. After retiring as postmaster she purchased the Blanchard home in Miller. At that time, leaving Ree Heights was a difficult decision, being born there and living there most of her life. Not used to do doing anything, she soon got involved in many things. She was always interested in the Ree Heights history.
For 25 years she gathered and wrote a vast amount as well as gathering old pictures. She literally obtained hundreds along with the history of most of them. She wrote the weekly column “KcaB gnikooL” for the Miller Press. She also wrote poems and looked up history articles for individuals. Jeanie and her husband, Gary, filled a storage building with newspaper clippings, pictures and everything of historical relevance she gathered for 25 years. In 2005 Stella completed her life’s dream and wrote a book, “Siding No. 4.”
Stella married Charlie Conerton June 18, 1988, in Miller. He passed away April 21, 1997. They hardly missed a dance if it was in driving distance and don’t think they missed too many auctions. After Charlie’s death, she decided to sell her big house and moved to Pierre. That lasted about two weeks when she decided she wanted to be with her friends and moved back to Miller, she lived there until October of 2008 when she moved to the Kelly Retirement Home in Pierre to be close to her family.
A lifelong member of Ree Heights Community Church (formerly the Congregational), she taught Sunday school for longer than 30 years. After she moved to Miller, she and her friends took turns driving to Ree Heights for church. Stella had been a member of the Maxwell Chapter No.133 Order of the Eastern Star. On April 14, 2008, she received recognition of faithful service for 60 years. Throughout her life, Stella attended several grand chapters, was past president of the Ree Heights Fire Auxiliary, Ladies Aid, Christian Parents, PTA, Helping Hand club, Women’s Club, Hand County Historical Society, Extension Club, Circle of the Presbyterian Church of Miller, National League of Postmasters, member of the Miller Hospital Auxiliary and chairwoman of the Hand County Democrats for four years. In 1998, she was awarded the Goldie Wells Memorial Award.
She was a true Democrat. We think she looked at the ballot, checked the Democrat box, and if you weren’t Democrat you didn’t get her vote.
She was a member of Business and Professional Club, survivor of cancer and always attended the annual cancer walks. Even at 90 she was determined to make one lap. She found time to take a basic social dancing class and was also a member of the red hat ladies. Yet she still took time to do her daily walking.
She was an extraordinary person and had many friends being in Eastern Star, postmaster and other organizations. She was proud of her family and often wished Roy was still here to enjoy them too. She and Roy enjoyed having granddaughters, Tammi and Renee, come to Ree Heights to spend time with them in the summer and take them on vacation. As sick as she was her last few days she still thought her great-great-grandchildren she called “those babies” could sit on her lap. When they were around she forgot the rest of the family.
Her memory will be cherished by her daughter, Jeanie (Gary) Hartman, of Pierre; granddaughters Tammi (Terry) Florentz and Renee (Harvey) Wald, of Pierre; great-grandchildren Samantha Watkins, Kirra Watkins, Tanner and Aubrey Wald; great-great grandchildren Jenna and Kennedy Poncelet; brother George (Bernita) Voelker, of Miller; sister Isabel Brindley, of Federal Way, Wash., and Leone Schultz, Tulare; sister-in-law Mildred Voelker, of Long Beach, Calif.; and several nieces and nephews.
Preceding her in death were her parents; husbands Roy and Charlie; brothers Ernest, Willmer, Marion, Raymond, and LaVern; sisters Evelyn, Inez Lawrence; sisters-in-law Lillie Voelker, Elsie Voelker, Betty Voelker; brother-in-law Harvey Lawrence and Marvin Schultz and a nephew, Harvey Lawrence, Jr.
Reck Funeral Home of Miller has been entrusted with Stella’s arrangements. Visit www.familyfuneralhome.
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