HURON — LaVonne Nicholas of Huron and formerly of Watertown, passed away November 14, 2017, peacefully in her sleep.
A memorial service to celebrate her life will be 11 a.m., Saturday, November 18, at the Kuhler Funeral Home. Burial will be at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Mount Hope Cemetery at Watertown. Visitation will be from 1 to 7 p.m., Friday November 17, at the Kuhler Funeral Home with family present from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday evening.
She was born LaVonne Lilly Brugger in Tulare, April 21, 1920, to her parents George and Lillie. The fourth of six children she had wonderful memories of a loving and musical family. She learned at an early age to play piano, and as a teenager she was the church pianist and organist. At the age of 15, she entered a contest to compose a school song for Tulare High School. LaVonne won, and the song endured until consolidation of schools.
LaVonne aspired to do two things in life: Become a teacher or to rock babies in the hospital nursery. As her brothers were inclined to teaching, LaVonne gravitated toward becoming an elementary teacher. She attended Northern Normal School for teachers in Aberdeen where she received a teaching certificate. Later the school was renamed Northern State University where she graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree. For the majority of her years she served as a first-grade teacher in the Watertown School District nurturing the lives of hundreds of children. Education was the highest priority in her family, and her brothers pursued Master’s Degrees, Doctorate of Education, and a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University School of Law.
LaVonne met Oliver J. Nicholas (Nick) at a dance in Redfield in October of 1941. She loved the fact that he was a great dancer. They were married June 14, 1942, at the Methodist Church in Canton. LaVonne and Nick’s first child was daughter Dianne, and their second child was son George. Their marriage lasted a lifetime of 74 years. Their love of dance and music was a mutual bond which they shared with their closest friends in Watertown every Saturday night at Sunnyside Inn on Lake Kampeska. This passion for music and dancing was passed on to all of their family. They were also certified dance instructors who taught in both South Dakota and Minnesota, and they traveled anywhere in the U.S. where they could dance, traveling as far away as Hawaii to dance to Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians Orchestra directed by their personal friend Al Pierson.
LaVonne and Nick were faithful members of the Watertown Congregational Church where she taught Sunday school and was a member of the adult choir. In 1981, she and her husband moved to Huron to be near their two children and their families. Lavonne became very active in the Huron community. LaVonne was President of the Huron Symphony Board and had the honor of introducing Bob Hope at the S.D. State Fair. She loved to sing and was a member of the Tonettes and the First Presbyterian Church Choir. LaVonne was esteemed by her family for her culinary skills, her unlimited generosity, her compassion for the needy, and her divine loyalty to her family and friends. She was a devoted wife, loving mother and grandmother, and a friend to many. The void left in our hearts is as incomprehensible as the waning stars of the universe.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Nick; her parents; and brothers, Vernon, Walter, Orville, and Duane.
LaVonne is survived by her daughter, Dianne (Ivar) Kaardal of Sioux Falls; son, Dr. George (Barbara) Nicholas of Huron; grandchildren, Troy (Karen) Leonard of Sioux Falls, Kari (Mazen) Haj-Hussein of Colorado Springs, Colo., Drs. Christie (Andrew) Hentzen of Wichita, Kan., Drs. Robert (Elizabeth) Nicholas of Albuquerque, N.M., and Michael Nicholas of Medellín, Colombia; great-grandchildren, Christopher Leonard, Andra (Chad) Husman, Graham Leonard, Ava Leonard, Kaylor Scudder, Phillip Scudder, Malek Adair, Leyla (Tyler) Sparks, and Charlize Hentzen; great- great-grandchildren, Salea Sparks and Harrison Husman; one brother, Virgil (Avis) Brugger of Rapid City; and numerous nieces and nephews.
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