Eunice Seffrood

Eunice Seffrood, 92, of Milbank, SD, passed away Saturday, November 11, 2023, at St. William’s Care Center in Milbank.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 20, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. at American Lutheran Church in Milbank. Rev. Justin Neugebauer will officiate. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. The service will be livestreamed and recorded and viewable at www.mundwilerfuneralhome.net. A Memorial Tree Planting will be held at Soaring Bird Orchard, Maple Grove WI, on Saturday May 25, 2024, and inurnment will be held at West Wiota Lutheran Church Cemetery, Wiota WI, on Trinity Sunday, May 26, 2024.

Eunice Rosalind (Lee) Seffrood was born March 21, 1931, to Alfred & Mamie (Midboe) Lee in Rice Lake, WI.  She graduated from high school in 1949 and attended nurse’s training at Swedish Hospital School of Nursing in Minneapolis, MN, becoming a Registered Nurse in 1952.

Her first job as an RN was in labor and delivery at Lakeside Methodist Hospital, Rice Lake, WI, from 1952-1956. She then worked for a private practice physician in Minneapolis, MN from 1956-1960.

In 1960, Eunice enrolled at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, where she worked in the college health service and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 1964.

She also was in the Air Force reserves, ultimately serving on active duty as a Captain until 1965.

Eunice worked at the University of Wisconsin as an RN in the university’s health services from 1964-1967, taking social work classes there in her spare time.

While she was at UW, she was recruited for a pilot PhD program in public health. However, in December 1966, before accepting her spot in the program, Eunice received a visit from former Luther College classmate Dale Seffrood. Dale was in his last year of seminary at the time. He took Eunice to dinner and said to her that being a pastor’s wife wouldn’t be an easy life. She asserted that she was up for the challenge, and they were married on Trinity Sunday, May 21, 1967. In lieu of a PhD, Eunice chose to devote her life to Dale and to creating a family together.

Dale’s first parish call was in Looney Valley, MN, from 1967-1973. Eunice & Dale’s 3 children, Paul, John, and Mary were born there. The family also served Lutheran parishes in Berthold, ND from 1973 to 1975, in Maddock, ND from 1975 to 1990 and in Curtiss & Medford, WI from 1990 to 1996.

While in North Dakota, Eunice worked as an RN in hospitals in Rugby and Devils Lake and was later a Health Care Coordinator for a home-based Head Start program in Towner.

After moving back to Wisconsin in 1990, Eunice worked in long term care facilities in Colby and Owen. Her final job was a home hospice nurse in Rib Lake before she and Dale retired to Wheaton, IL in 1998 to be near their son Paul and daughter Mary.

Eunice and Dale made their final move in August 2016, to St. William’s Care Center Nursing Home in Milbank, South Dakota, to be near their son, John and family.

Eunice was ever the nurse and caregiver – even up until her final days – still tending to Dale until his death in 2019. She kept the nursing home staff on their toes as she attempted to administer care to her fellow residents during her seven years there – she was known to make rounds with the med cart if staff ever looked away for a moment.

Eunice is survived by 3 children and 7 grandchildren: son, Paul & Dijana Seffrood & Jack, Zurich, Switzerland; & Olivia, Huntington Beach, CA; son, John & Annelies Seffrood, Twin Brooks, SD; & Sophia, Samuel, and Elsie, Bozeman, MT; and daughter, Mary & Dan Milinko, Max & Benjamin, Wheaton, IL.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Dale; her parents: Alfred Sr. & Mamie Lee; her sister and brother-in-law: Charlene & Kenneth Lehman; her brothers and sisters-in-law: Alfred Jr. & Frieda Lee, and Jake & Marilyn Lee; her niece, Gloria Schoenhals, and her nephews: Robert Lehman, Jeff Lee and Tedd Schoenhals.

In her memory, Eunice’s family requests that you visit your mother.