Ida M. Novotny, 98 of Lake Andes
Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at St. Mark's Catholic Church in Lake Andes, with burial in the Parish Cemetery. Visitation will be Monday from 6 to 7 p.m. at the church, with the family present. There will be a 7:00 p.m. Rosary, followed by a time of sharing. Crosby-Jaeger Funeral Home of Wagner is in charge of the arrangements.

Ida Marie Novotny, daughter of Walter and Cornelia (Fenenga) Harrison, was born May 30, 1917 at Tabor, SD. She died peacefully Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at the Maryhouse in Pierre, SD. Ida attained the age of 98 years.

Ida was raised in her early years in Bon Homme County on the homestead awarded to her grandfather at the end of the Civil War. He served with the Wisconsin Infantry during that conflict. When she was just a little girl, the family moved for a brief time to Denver, where her father looked for work. But soon they returned to South Dakota where her dad resumed farming near Bonesteel. Her mother passed away when Ida was 9, and her older sisters stepped in to help raise her.  They all pitched in to help on the farm during those difficult dust bowl years.

Ida graduated from Bonesteel High School in 1935, and attended Springfield Normal College for one year to obtain her teaching certificate. Her first teaching job was in a one-room school several miles south of Bonesteel teaching grades 1-8. She later took a teaching position in Lake Andes where she met her future husband, A.M. (Pete) Novotny. They married in 1940 (a marriage that would last 66 years), and during the war years lived in Long Beach, CA, where they both worked in the busy shipyards. Two of Ida's older siblings also moved there to work in the shipyards during the war.

In 1945, after the war ended, they returned to Lake Andes where they purchased a small, shuttered gas station. After many months of refurbishing and remodeling with the help of friends and family, they opened a small combination café/service station called "Pete's Service and Café." Ida cooked hamburgers and Pete pumped and delivered gasoline - they made a wonderful team, both with hard work running through their veins. In later years, as the successful business expanded, Ida handled the bookkeeping duties, and like many other moms in the fifties, she assumed most of the household chores, and rode herd on three young boys.

After her three sons completed high school, Ida fulfilled an unmet need to continue her education; which she did at Southern State College in 1971. One of her proudest moments was when she received her diploma at the age of 54, coincidentally, on the same day as her son Roger, received his diploma from Northern State in Aberdeen. Ida wasn't able to attend her own graduation ceremony, choosing rather to celebrate together with her family in Aberdeen at her son's graduation.

Ida taught for many years in Armour, commuting each day for 13 years. Many of her students still remember her fondly with birthday cards or Christmas greetings.

Ida and Pete spent many years enjoying their friends and family gathered around the kitchen table, whether it was playing cards or enjoying a good meal and sharing stories. They cherished their time in Mesa in the winter, the summer in Lake Andes, South Dakota and many years of fun at the cabin on the Lake.

The last three years Ida and son Gene moved to Parkwood Apartments in Pierre to be closer to family and to enjoy the vibrancy and energy of her great grandchildren.

Thankful for having shared her life are her sons: Jerry (Mary) of Portland, OR; Roger (Nila) of Fort Pierre and Gene of Pierre; three grandchildren: Steven (Britanny) Novotny and Jill (Tom) Hart, all of Pierre and Cary (Nita) Novotny of Portland; seven great grandchildren: Ellen and Hadley Hart and Addison and Gavin Novotny of Pierre, and Tess and Neve Novotny and Makenna Carroll of Portland.

Ida was preceded in death by her husband in 2007; parents; and her siblings: Mable Lloyd, Lola Strait, Fran Harrison and Lloyd Harrison.

Memorials may be directed to the Pete and Ida Novotny Scholarship Fund at the Northern State University Foundation or the Lake Andes Cemetery Association.