Funeral services for Judith H. Longwood, 96 of rural Perkins County, SD will be Saturday, December 9th at 1:00 p.m. at the Rosebud Lutheran Church, south of White Butte, SD. Rev. Marjorie Hershey and Judie's son, Merle Longwood will officiate and burial will follow at the Rosebud Cemetery. Visitations will be from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4 at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon and one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday afternoon. A Family Service will be held at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening at the Funeral Home in Lemmon.

Judith Helen Kilness was born April 28, 1910 at Lily, S. Dak., the fourth of nine children in the family of the Rev. J. B. and Julia Kilness. Although the family had been in America for several generations, they spoke Norwegian at home and Judie, as she was known, did not learn English until she went to school. The Lutheran pastor's family moved often, living in Westby, Mont.; Sacred Heart, Minn.; Hemingford, Neb.; near Faith and in Meckling, Strool and Lemmon, S. Dak.; and Hettinger, N. Dak. Judie graduated from Hettinger High School in 1928 as valedictorian of her class.


With the exception of a new baby, the entire family contracted the flu in 1918. All survived.


The Kilness girls loved to dance, defying their strict father's opposition. Once Ruth and Judie were dancing at a party in a friend's home when someone spied the Rev. Kilness approaching. By the time he knocked on the door, the girls had crawled out the window, run home and climbed into bed wearing their clothes. Later, during the Great Depression, dancing was the sole entertainment for Judie and her husband, Walter, and their friends, as they enjoyed "Hard Times Dances" in one another's homes and garages. They brought their children and made their own music.


Judie earned a one-year teachers' certificate from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, in 1929 and taught school for the next six years in Perkins County. While Judie was teaching at the Johnny Butte School, Esther Longwood invited her to the Longwood ranch for dinner, where she met her future husband, Walter Longwood. They were married August 28, 1934 in a ceremony conducted by the bride's father at her parents' home in Sioux Falls. Judie took a break from teaching while raising her family, returning to teaching when her youngest son, Lester, started first grade. She taught for another 18 years, furthering her education through summer school sessions at Black Hills State Teachers' College (now Black Hills State University), Spearfish, S. Dak. She retired in 1972. She also taught Sunday School when her children were young, and has been a member of the Rosebud Church and Ladies' Aid for many years.


Walter managed the Williams ranch near Murdo, S. Dak., from 1938 until1943, when he brought his family back to the Longwood ranch, which had been settled in 1902 by Walter's parents, W.D. and Hilma Longwood. Judie and Walter had cared for his mother in her last years, and Judie nursed Walter in the illness that claimed his life in 1986. After Walter's death, Judie continued to live on the ranch with assistance from family and friends until her death December 4, 2006.


As a widow, Judie traveled with her family to Hawaii, Norway, Sweden, England, and many points in the United States, including a vacation on Martha's Vineyard.


Judie's family remembers her outpouring of love for each of them, evidenced in countless ways, including making quilts for each of her 18 grandchildren and Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for the younger grandchildren as well as children of nieces and friends. She was an avid reader and enjoyed teaching parts of speech by diagramming sentences.


Survivors include her six children, Shirley Harris, Lemmon and the ranch; Marlene Morton (William), Denver; Merle Longwood (Jean Hynes), Schenectady, N.Y.; Mary Ellen Jibben (Robert), Minneapolis; Carol Martin (Daryl), Mesa, Ariz.; and Lester Longwood (Sharon), who lives on the ranch. Also surviving are her former daughter-in-law Marvine Longwood; 18 grandchildren; 25 great grandchildren; one great-great grandson; her brother, Luther, Rapid City; and sister, Sylvia Kochenderfer (Maurice),
Sioux Falls. Predeceasing her are her parents, two brothers, four sisters, one son-in-law and one grandson.


Memorials have been
established to the Rosebud Lutheran Church and the American Cancer Society.