Jo Ann Sell

Jo Ann Sell, age 78, of Mitchell, S.D., died Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, at the Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell.

 

Jo Ann was born Jan. 15, 1939 to Helen Evelyn Hilton (Dunker) and Clifford Eugene Hilton in Wagner. She attended school in Belvidere and Interior. She graduated from the Pierre School of Practical Nursing in 1972. 

 

She married Larry Louis Lange in 1955. From this union, four children were born, Larry Joe Lange, Rita Renee Weatherbee, Carrie Neuschwander and Donna Lange.

 

In 1971, she moved to Fort Pierre. After graduating from nursing school, she met and married her life partner, Frank Sell. The couple married on April 27, 1973. From this union, their daughter, Melinda Sell, was born. They raised two grandchildren, Francis and Anna Lange. They resided in Blunt. Jo Ann worked for St. Mary’s Hospital for 15 years. They relocated to  Houston and then Round Rock, Texas, from 1980 to 1983, briefly lived in Rapid City, then relocated to Mitchell, where they have resided since. 

 

Jo Ann worked as an licensed practical nurse at Brady Memorial in Mitchell for 15 years. She later worked for Rosewood Assisted Living for five years. At the time of her death, she was enjoying retirement. 

Jo Ann most enjoyed cooking holiday meals and spending time with family. She loved to sew and making quilts was her favorite hobby. She gifted many of them to her children, grandchildren and other family members. She also painted, crocheted and cross-stitched. She was an avid gardener. She raised two families of children and especially enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren. Her family and friends will remember her most for her sense of humor and her generosity. 

 

Survivors include her husband, Frank, of Mitchell; four children, Larry Joe Lange of Scotland,  Rita Weatherbee and her husband, Al, of Rapid City, Carrie Neuschwander and her husband, Brad, of Rapid City, and Melinda Olson and her husband, Thad, of Mitchell; eight grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; four brothers, Billy Hilton and his wife, Deanna, of Rapid City, Russell “Benny” Hilton and his wife, Audrey, of Sturgis, Roger Hilton and Pete Dunker, both of Wall; two sisters, Marilyn Gartner and her husband, Ronnie, of Interior, and Lessie Schoenfelder and her husband, Chuck, of Boise, Idaho; and a host of other relatives and friends.

 

She was preceded in death by her mother, Helen Hilton Dunker and father, Clifford Hilton, stepfather, Bruce Dunker, daughter, Donna Lange, brother, Jerry Hilton, and granddaughter, Aimee (Lange) Palmer. 

Graveside services were held Tuesday, Jan. 31, at the Interior Fairview Cemetery, with Pastor Kathy Chesney officiating.

 

Arrangements were with the Rush Funeral Home of Philip.