Vivian A. Kaufman

Vivian Kaufman, 91, of De Smet, SD, passed away on Monday, January 17, 2022, at Jenkins Living Center in Watertown, SD. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 Saturday, January 22 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in De Smet.  Father Richard Baumberger will be the celebrant.  Music will be provided by Brenda Hanley as organist and Vickie Fuller as soloist.  The Mass will be live-streamed via Facebook live.

Visitation will be at St. Thomas from 5:00-7:00 on Friday, January 21, with a 7:00 Rosary.

Burial will be at St. Thomas Cemetery in De Smet.  

Vivian Alice Spader was born June 3, 1930, on a farm in the Drakola Community near Oldham, SD. She was the oldest daughter of John and Catherine (Reichling) Spader. She attended the country school through 8th grade and graduated from St. Agatha School in Howard, SD. In her youth she was active in 4-H and was awarded a trip to the Chicago National 4-H Congress for the highest state record in the canning project.  She married Laverne Kaufman of rural Canova on September 21, 1950, at St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church in Oldham. They farmed in the Canova and Howard areas before moving to the Drakola Community, where they continued farming until Laverne passed away in 1993. They were blessed with 7 children.

She loved the farm life from an early age. She enjoyed raising chickens, gardening, canning, sewing, baking which included hundreds of apple crisps and thousands of chocolate chip cookies. She had a servant heart which was shown by her many hours of volunteering with the Laura Ingalls Wilder pageant and museum, Blood Drives, Good Samaritan Home, Altar Society, Meals on Wheels, and Right to Life. She was the recipient of several Volunteer of the Year Awards.

Her passion and legacy were making and giving away the crazy and T-shirts quilts she made. All of her children and grandchildren treasure the quilts she crafted for them.  She made well over 1000 quilts, including baby quilts up to king size. Besides family and friends, others who benefited were immigrants and the homeless.

Survivors include her children: Debbie (Harold) Eggert of Howard, SD, Sandy (Tom) Hammrich of Brooklyn Center, MN, Ron (Kathy) Kaufman of Oldham, SD, Nancy Sangl of Brownsburg, IN, Connie (Berny) Korf of Watertown, SD, Dale (Jennifer) Kaufman of Hudson, WI, Linda (Ken) Timmerman of Robbinsdale, MN; 20 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, siblings: Donna Mae (Donnie) Neises, Donelda (Leon) Lauer, Darrel Spader, Darlene (Dick) Bartscher, Delphine Shire, Duane (Elaine) Spader, Dennis (Elizabeth) Spader, Dean (Vikki) Spader, Dorenda (Dave) Anderson, Doyle (Chris) Spader, Dann (Char) Spader, and Dallas (Cris) Spader.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Laverne, son-in-law, Terry Sangl, parents, John and Catherine Spader, brothers: Clarence, Vincent and Donald Spader, parents-in-law, John and Monica Kaufmann; brothers-in-law: Don Shire and Gilbert Kaufmann; sisters-in-law: Mary Spader, Joan Spader, Alice Kaufmann and Darleen Kaufmann; and several nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in De Smet, Good Samaritan Home in De Smet, or Jenkins Living Center (Reflections) in Watertown, SD. 

Arrangements by Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel                www.crawfordosthus.com

Watertown, Hayti, De Smet, Bryant

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