Lu Etta (Storm) Boeker, age 89, of Fountain Hills, AZ (formerly of Mitchell) passed away on February 29, 2016 in Phoenix, AZ after a long struggle with kidney disease. Celebration of Life services will be 10:30 AM Saturday, August 6, 2016 at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Mitchell, SD. Visitation will be one hour prior to the services at the church. Burial will be in Serviceman's Memorial Cemetery in Mitchell, SD.

She was born February 19th, 1927 to Ernest and Frieda (Triebwasser) Storm in rural Douglas County, SD, the 3rd of 5 children. She was raised on the family farm in Douglas County, SD and, as the oldest daughter, assumed a large share of household duties at a young age during her mother's long illness. Lu Etta attended Teacher's College in Yankton, SD, returned to the farm and taught at the nearby one-room Storm School.

Lu Etta married Leonard Boeker in 1949 and farmed in Davison County, SD. They moved to Stickney, SD in 1957 when Leonard became manager of the Aurora Co-op service center with Lu Etta doing the bookkeeping. Len's work took them to Madison, SD in 1965, Woodbury, MN in 1966 and Montevideo, MN in 1972. After retirement, the couple wintered in Texas until they moved to Mitchell, SD in 1994 and lastly to Fountain Hills, AZ in 2005.

Lu Etta worked at fabric and catalog stores, but her real career was that of a homemaker where she displayed boundless energy and creativity. She excelled at those applied arts long before Martha Stewart made them "cool". She nurtured wild flower and vegetable gardens well into her 60's, canning, freezing and making jam. Hardly a week went by that she didn't try a new recipe. She never hired a cleaning lady and rarely needed a dry cleaner. An accomplished seamstress, she sewed most of her own & her daughter's clothing. Lu Etta embroidered, crocheted, did counted cross-stitch and made quilts for many family members. She was an accomplished artist in oil and charcoal, decorating the home with numerous paintings and drawings, and creating her own Christmas cards. She was an attentive observer of nature, an avid bird watcher and a voracious reader. Len's career entailed lots of travel, so Lu Etta regularly mowed the yard, raked the leaves and shoveled the snow. Later in life, she compiled extensive records of the family's genealogy and military service and created short stories based on her and Len's childhood memories.

Lu Etta was preceded in death by Len in 2015, her parents and 3 siblings, Norman, Waldemar and Lyle. She is survived by her sister Arlene Garner of Hazen, ND; two children: Thomas Boeker ("Sam") of Lake Oswego, OR and Merry Silbaugh of Fountain Hills, AZ; three grandchildren & 3 great-grandchildren: David Boeker (Orlantha, Cayden & Kayla) of San Ramon, CA, Nick Silbaugh (Ashley) of Denver, CO and Trent Silbaugh (Krissy and Amelia) of Ann Arbor, MI.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Resurrection Lutheran Church, 4013 N Main St, Mitchell, SD 57301.