Erma Lavonne Draine

Erma Lavonne Draine was born June 1, 1934, in Chance, SD, to Clifford and Estella (Knittel) Reese. She was the youngest of three children. Erma grew up on a homestead in the Maurine area.

Erma graduated from Faith HS, and shortly thereafter married Robert Emo Draine on January 24, 1953. To this union, three children were born; Gerald in 1954, Debbie in 1955, and Doug in 1961. They lived in Mud Butte where they ranched and raised their family until her husband, Robert, passed in 1986. When her brother, Harold, passed in 1997, she moved back to the homestead to be with her mother. In 2006, Estella and Erma moved to Sturgis, where she resided until her passing.

Erma, 85, Sturgis, died Thursday, August 22, 2019, at Garden Hills Assisted Living in Spearfish.

Erma is survived by her sister, Ellen Price; her children, Gerald Draine, his wife, Beverly, and their children, Heather, Nicholas, and Jillian Kennedy (Kyle); Doug Draine, his daughter, Megan Watson (Evan), and their children, Finley and Estella Raye; and Debbie Richards, her husband, Rick, their children, LaRae Hanson (Chad), and their children, Aspen Swan (Tyler), and Hunter, and Lonnie and his children, Justin, Daycie, and Brodie; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Robert, and his parents; her brother, Harold Reese; brothers-in-law, Harley Price and Bobby Andersen; and sister in-law, Gertrude “Sis” Andersen.

Funeral services were held Wednesday, August 28, 2019, at First Presbyterian Church in Sturgis with Rev. Paul Henschen and Pastor Harold Delbridge officiating. Burial followed at Pine Slope Cemetery in Belle Fourche.

A memorial has been established in her name to Hospice of the Northern Black Hills.