Gloria Tillemans

Gloria Tillemans, age 88, of Milbank, SD, passed away on Sunday, May 25, 2025, at St. William’s Care Center.

Funeral Services will be held on Monday, June 2, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at Mundwiler Funeral Home in Milbank, SD. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Rev. Dr. DeVern Schwenn will officiate. Burial will be at St. Lawrence Catholic Cemetery. 

Gloria Mae Tillemans was born on April 26, 1937, on the family farm in Grant Center Township, just west of Milbank, South Dakota, to Paul and Mabel (Liebing) Tillemans. When Gloria was just 15, her father passed away, and she went on to live with her mother and grandmother.

She attended Grant Center #1 country school through the eighth grade and helped care for the household alongside her mother and grandmother. Around the age of 16 or 17, Gloria began sewing as a business, working as a seamstress and repairing clothing for others. She also worked as a tailor at Linda’s Fashions in Milbank for a time. Sewing was one of the many ways Gloria expressed her love for people. Her work allowed her to be part of some of the most important days in people’s lives: wedding days, proms, graduations; but also, the everyday moments that matter just as much. Whether she was tailoring a wedding gown or mending work clothes, she put her heart into every stitch.

In 1997, at the age of 60, Gloria moved to Pheasant Valley Apartments in Milbank. More recently, she resided at St. William’s Care Center in Milbank. She enjoyed attending Central United Methodist Church in Milbank.

Gloria had many passions, including sewing, gardening, and growing flowers and plants. She often crafted flour sack towels as thoughtful gifts for others. Gloria never owned a television and refused to get one; she preferred listening to the radio or catching up with loved ones over the phone. One of the simple pleasures she always looked forward to was the newspaper. She would often cut out articles of people she knew and keep them, another heartfelt way she kept up with what was happening in her community. Her warmth, kindness, and unwavering friendship made her a truly special person. She was a great and cherished friend who will be deeply missed.

She is survived by her cousin, Aaron Knaus of Milbank, SD; many other cousins; nieces; nephews; many friends; and dear friend, Denise Samson of Wilmot, SD. She was preceded in death by her parents: Paul and Mabel Tillemans; and her maternal and paternal grandparents.