MILLER — Bessie Aman, 88, of Miller, passed away Saturday, January 7, 2023, at Sanford Ava’s House in Sioux Falls.
Funeral service will be 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, at the First United Methodist Church in Miller, Rev. Teresa Whetsel, officiating. Burial will follow at G.A.R. Cemetery in Miller. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church.
There will be an additional Celebration of Life in Aberdeen in the spring of 2023.
Bess was born June 8, 1934, in Sully County to Walter and Inez (Burger) Fanger. On June 16, she was baptized at Harrold Methodist Church. She was the third child of six and was the last surviving child of Walter and Inez. In the early years, she loved riding horseback to and from Hilton School. She was a delegate to Young Citizens League from Sully County and marched in the Governor’s Parade.
She loved the ranch life, especially milking the cows and picking eggs. At age 14, she moved from the ranch and attended Miller High School, paying her own way through. There, she met and married her high school sweetheart, Larry Heinzerling, a farmer from northern Hand County.
During the early years, Bess was always taking lessons or courses of some kind, whether it was piano lessons, 4-H, or homemakers of America, just to name a few. She also took courses on sewing and upholstery in Rapid City and courses on nutrition in Brookings, which lead her to work for the Federal Government as a nutrition expert for alcoholics and addicts. She worked for Farmers Union Insurance state office in Huron, studied Real Estate and Insurance policies in her spare time and passed both board certifications and started her own business in Huron. After high school and during this period, Bess had and raised six children, four boys and two girls: Danny, Dana, Dillon, Dawn, Denise, and Dennis and for some reason decided they all had to start with a “D”.
On May 6, 1989, Bess married Rolly Aman of Aberdeen and moved her home and her life to Aberdeen. There, she set up her business in her home and continued her insurance business for several years until her retirement. Rolly had been involved in horse racing and Bess loved going to the tracks around the state with him. Bess immediately became a member of the Aberdeen community, joining the Dutch’s bowling league, the Newcomer’s group at the United Methodist church, leadership role in the Aberdeen Al-Anon chapter, hosting foreign exchange students ‘Pan’ and ‘OH’ and eventually joining a bridge club at the Ramkota and the Senior Center. She loved playing cards and knew just about any card game out there while showing off pictures of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She looked forward to her beauty shop appointments weekly. She loved crossword puzzles and reading, just to name a few things she loved to do throughout her lifetime.
Bess had a passion for Church, Christmas and singing carols. She loved interacting with people whomever that may be. Bess thought it was more important to listen more than speaking. She loved sending out cards, whether it was for Christmas, birthdays, thinking of you, just because, special occasions and thank you’s. Sometimes she’d call just to say “Hi” or to see how one is doing, always ending with “LOVE YOU MORE”.
She is survived by her husband, Rolly Aman; four children: Dana, Dawn, Denise and Dennis; 15 grandchildren; and 25 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents: Walter and Inez; siblings: Walter, Rose, Della, Warren, and Alice; two sons: Daniel and Dillon; and one great-grandchild, Simon.
Reck Funeral Home of Miller has been entrusted with Bessie’s arrangements.
Visit www.familyfuneralhome.net
