Lola Hedstrom, age 70 of Bison, SD; passed away on Sunday evening, August 22, 2021 at the Sunset Care Home in Mandan, ND.

Lola J. Hedstrom

5/31/1951 – 8/22/2021

A get-together in Lola's memory will be held at the Bentley Building in Bison, SD, on July 30, 2022, at 1:30 pm.

When the Gertie and Hefty's second girl was born on May 31, 1951, she shared a birthday with one of Gertie's sisters, Lola, thus, her parents named the baby girl Lola in her honor.

Lola attended Fredlund School all eight grades, then graduated from Hettinger High School in 1969.

After high school, Lola started college at the University of North Dakota-Ellendale Branch. Unfortunately, two of the main campus buildings burned down in January 1970, and the branch closed in 1971.

Lola then attended Northern State University for a brief time working toward a degree in elementary education. She eventually moved back to Hettinger and worked at the Community Memorial Hospital. Her work was very confidential and one of the main events of her life occurred during that time, but her family did not know about it until a few years ago.

A gentleman posted a picture of himself on FB with the explanation that he was born in Hettinger and given up for adoption. He was looking for his birth mother. One of Lola's sisters saw the post and thought that the dates coincided with the time that Lola had worked at the hospital, so she tagged Lola.

Lola saw the post and realized that she was the person who held the baby when he was taken to the adoption agency in Bismarck. The gentleman eventually reconnected with his birth mother. Although he and Lola were never able to meet in person, he wrote a wonderful tribute to her after she passed away.

Lola eventually returned to college at Dickinson State University in Dickinson, ND, and graduated with a degree in elementary education. She started teaching as the kindergarten teacher in Bison, SD, taught second grade and first grade (sometimes two grades in the same room) for 37 years.

Lola was a multi-faceted faculty member, serving as the cheerleading advisor for many years and was able to watch her group perform in Texas at the national convention. She was one of the IT coordinators for the school and spent many hours ensuring that the school's technology was up to date. She was the head negotiator for the Bison Education Association as the school went through both good and tough times financially.

Most important, Lola was a generous, loving, good-humored person. In one of the entries on her obituary page, a mother wrote, in part, "She was the first-grade teacher for five of our kids and we had many good laughs together over the years. She also graciously allowed me to bring kids to her house after school and on weekends so she could pull loose teeth which grossed me out to have to do."

She and her long-time friend sold tickets for basketball games, and she was able to visit with adults during that time.  Lola loved to make scrapbooks and she and one of her sisters had a long-standing joke of who had the most paper, stickers, and materials with which to create the books.

Her high school class celebrated its 50 ^th reunion in 2019. The husband of one of her classmates drove to Bison and brought her to Hettinger for the banquet. She stayed until the very end and then he took her home. She had a wonderful time.

She cherished her family and friends, and we all miss her.