Cherry Lippert

Cherry Delsy Lippert, age 97, died on Thursday, June 13, 2024, at the Diamond Willow Assisted Living Center in Little Falls, MN. 

Her family will be present to greet friends for visitation on Tuesday, June 18, 2024 at George Boom Funeral Home in Sioux Falls, SD, beginning at 5:00 PM, with a time of memory sharing to begin at 6:00 PM. Her funeral service will be 10:00 AM on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at Sunnycrest United Methodist Church (4801 W. 41st St) in Sioux Falls, SD. 

Cherry will be buried at Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, SD at 2:30 pm (MST) on Thursday, June 20, 2024.

Cherry lived a life enriched by education, faith, family, service, creativity and community. 

She was born on January 21, 1927 in Watertown, SD to Ernest and Carrie Sample. The Great Depression played an outsized role in her earliest years, forcing her and her family to move several times within South Dakota and Iowa, before they eventually settled into a farmhouse near South Shore, SD. 

There, her love of education, nature and animals flourished. Despite the hardships and strain of farm life, she maintained a curiosity about the wider world, a characteristic that was encouraged by her mother. Cherry learned to make the most of what was on hand, developing her artistic eye in the richness of life on the prairie.

She attended high school in Watertown, SD, where she formed friendships that would endure for decades. The eldest of her siblings, Cherry developed her fierce independence during teenage years that were overshadowed by WWII.

Upon graduating from high school, Cherry attended South Dakota State College (now South Dakota State University), with the support of her father. 

The excitement and possibilities offered by her new campus community left their indelible mark on her life: a college diploma was at once a personal accomplishment that brought great pride, as well as a testament to the value she placed on learning and personal growth. At the same time, Cherry also met a very special classmate, her future husband, Herbert “Herb” Arthur Lippert.

She graduated with a Bachelor degree in Home Economics, and began teaching Home Economics in Egan, SD. Soon after, at a simple ceremony held over Christmas break in 1949, Cherry and Herb were married in Watertown, SD. 

Herb’s career in the SD Extension Service complemented Cherry’s community-mindedness. Although Herb may have been the official County Extension Agent, the two had a partnership that often saw Cherry and Herb working together in ways that strengthened their communities in Brookings, SD; Belle Fourche, SD; and eventually Timber Lake, SD, where they moved in 1953. 

Cherry and Herb were blessed with four children, Lenore ‘Lee’ [Larry] Monnens, Thomas [Linda] Lippert, Sandra ‘Sandy’ [Duane] Hoff, and Twyla Lippert. Herb and Cherry led by example, teaching their children the value of community service and education in all its facets. 

In addition to their efforts with the South Dakota Extension service, the two were fixtures in state-wide and local 4-H programming, their faith community and other organizations. The spark of curiosity and community burned bright in all they did, as did their belief in the promises offered by open-minded interactions with others who held different perspectives and beliefs. Cherry’s home routinely became ‘home’ to neighborhood children, exchange students and any child needing her care and support. 

As her children became more independent, Cherry continued her pursuit of education and service. She enrolled and graduated with a Master Degree in Special Education at the University of South Dakota, eventually taking a position as a Special Education teacher.

Cherry’s independence and adaptability met one of its greatest challenges with Herb’s cancer diagnosis. Knowing the importance of friends and family — not just medicine — in the fight against illness, they interspersed his treatments with trips to see grandchildren, travel and fulfill other dreams they had together. 

After the passing of Herb in 1988, Cherry lived independently in her home in Timber Lake. She gracefully cared for her relatives, Clarence and Regina Lippert, and her parents, until their deaths. 

In Timber Lake, Cherry’s creativity and love of nature found an outlet in gardening and crafting. Her backyard was a magical place, filled with flowers, vegetables and even a fish pond for her grandchildren to explore. 

She delighted in each of her grandchildren, and took them on trips that included South Dakota State Fair excursions, wagon train adventures, Niagara Falls, wolf conservation education, hot-air balloon rides and exploring ancient cultures in the Southwestern United States. 

Cherry enjoyed serving and learning from others, traveling to Russia on a mission trip after the end of the Cold War and making several trips to Mississippi with Habitat for Humanity.

In 2008, Cherry took charge of the difficult decision to leave her long-time home and community in Timber Lake. She moved to Sunnycrest Retirement Village in Sioux Falls, where she embraced the energy of new friends, group activities and finding ways to serve her new community. 

Her gardening skills only seemed to blossom, and Sunnycrest residents and staff could count on Cherry providing fresh vegetables and recipes for their preparation. She served in the Meals on Wheels program, as a resident assistant and on numerous other committees at Sunnycrest Village. Cherry’s apartment was easy to find, a visitor only had to look for the carefully crafted door decorations that changed with the seasons. She was quietly competitive as well, and enthusiastically took up Wii bowling in a league organized by the community. 

Cherry seemed to grow younger whenever she heard about the adventures of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Each birthday brought new family members into her life, including the spouses of her grandchildren and great grandchildren, and she encouraged those around her to continue learning and serving others. 

With her family’s support and assistance, Cherry moved to Diamond Willow Assisted Living in Little Falls, MN at 97 years of age. There, once again, her adaptability and grace flourished, as she set about creating connections and forming a new community, with courage, generosity and a smile on her face. Her faith, gracious acceptance of assistance and gratitude for the support and care of family and friends, both new and old, eased her transition from the independence she loved.

Grateful for having shared her life are her four children: Lenore “Lee” (Larry) Monnens of Hermosa, SD, Tom (Linda) Lippert of Royalton, MN, Sandy (Duane) Hoff of Glad Valley, SD, Twyla Lippert of Sioux Falls, SD and former son-in-law, Jeffrey Steinberger of Sioux Falls, SD; Grandchildren: Becky (Chad Wilkins) Monnens, Mary (Willi) Kurniawan, Matt (Cassie) Monnens, Ashley (Flinton) McCabe, Todd (Angelica) Lippert, Samuel Steinberger, Kellie (Jorge) Bernal, Marilyn (Mitch) Klein, Braden (Ambria) Steinberger; 16 great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Herbert A. Lippert; her parents, Ernest A. and Carrie D. Sample; her brother, Bruce Sample; grandson, Ryan Lippert; parents-in-law, L.C. and Madeline Lippert; brother-and-sister-in-law, Tom and Joyce Lippert; brother-and-sister-in-law, Lamar and Barbara (Lippert) Schoefield; niece, Berta (Lippert) Schroeder; and special relatives, Clarence and Regina Lippert.