The Mass of Christian Burial for Martha Jean (Ginther) Peterson, age 92 of Lemmon, will be celebrated at 10:30am Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lemmon. Fr. Tony Grossenburg will officiate with burial in Greenhill Cemetery at Lemmon.

A Rosary/Vigil service will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lemmon.

Serving as Active Casketbearers are Mike, Ryan, Bo, and Quirt Beer, Weston and Dylan Ginther. Honorary Casketbearers are Jeanna Kohn, Alexis Ginther, Jessie Ginther, Karlee and Ryan Haberkern, Bobbi Jo, Bailie and Blaze Beer, Shelby, Brady, Anna, and Cord Beer, Tayte, Allie, and Jordyn Kohn, Tristan Ginther, Jaxon Ginther, Daniel, Dawson, and Brylee Dho.

MARTHA JEAN RICK was born July 29, 1921 in Eau Claire, WI to Lawrence and Marquerite (Jordan) Rick. She attended grade school in Milwaukee, WI and in 1934 moved with her family to Strool, SD southwest of Bison where they operated the grocery store for Ben Strool. She enjoyed working with horses to be used as calvary remounts on the Hans and Lena Fogh Ranch in the Slim Buttes. Martha Jean graduated from Lemmon High School in 1939 and attended Spearfish Normal School for one year. She returned to Lemmon and began working for the draft board and stayed with Art and Elizabeth Rolien.

In April of 1944, Martha Jean was united in marriage to Pete Ginther. They began their life together on the Ginther ranch northeast of Lemmon where she welcomed visits from scores of friends and relatives providing first horseback rides to many. They raised Registered Galloway Cattle and Registered Quarter Horses. She worked side by side with her husband on the ranch spending many hours riding the range checking cattle and doing chores by horseback.
Following her husband Pete's death in March of 1988, Martha Jean continued to live on the ranch. In 1992, she married Blair Peterson and they moved to the Peterson place south of Lemmon. They spent the winter months in Hereford, AZ until the fall of 2010 when their health began to fail. They then moved into Lemmon and Blair passed away in 2011.

Martha Jean passed away on Friday, March 21, 2014 at the West River Regional Medical Center in Hettinger.

She was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, the Altar Society, Adams County Welfare Board, and was a Girl Scout Leader, and Den Mother. Martha Jean had fun with her membership in the International Association of Turtles; are you a Turtle? She was a member of the Dakota Horse Lovers Riding Club, for many years rode in the Horse-a-thon Cancer Drive and many parades. She and Pete belonged to many dance clubs. She enjoyed attending her grandchildren's sporting events.

Grateful for having shared in her life are her 5 children and their spouses, Karen and Fred Beer, Lemmon, SD; Jim and Rhonda Ginther, Tioga, ND; Meg and Dave Schell, Meadow, SD; Beth and Fred Haberkern, Los Osos, CA; and Mike Ginther, Lemmon, SD; 8 grandchildren and their spouses, Mike (Danni) Beer, Ryan (Jackie) Beer, Jeanna (Ryan) Kohn, Alexis Ginther, Dylan Ginther, Weston (Katelin) Ginther, Jessie Ginther, Karlee Haberkern, and Ryan (Tanja) Haberkern; 17 great grandchildren, Bobbi Jo, Bo, Bailie, and Blaze Beer, Shelby, Brady, Quirt, Anna, and Cord Beer, Tayte, Allie, and Jordyn Kohn, Tristan Ginther, Jaxon Ginther, Daniel, Dawson, and Brylee Dho; step-children and their spouses, Daryl and Jackie Peterson, Diane and Dale Aspengren, Greg and Cathy Peterson; step grandchildren and their spouses, Karrin and John Mayer, Kirsten Aspengren, Erik and Joanna Aspengren, Daren and Kami Peterson, Todd and Genevie Peterson and Stephanie and Gregg Brown; step great grandchildren, Chase Branson, Sebastian Peterson, Nickolas Brown, Cooper Brown, Kylee and Emily Peterson; one brother, Lawrence ""Skip"" (Kathy) Rick, Rapid City, SD; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Martha Jean was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Pete, her daughter-in-law, Kay Ginther in 2011, and her husband, Blair.

A memorial has been established.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday from 1:00 to 5:30pm at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon.