Signe N. Anderson, age 96, of Brookings, died Friday, June 14, 2019, at the Brookings Hospital.   Funeral services will be at 11:00 AM Wednesday, June 19th, at First Lutheran Church in Brookings.  Visitation will be immediately prior, beginning at 9:30 AM, at the church. Burial will be in First Lutheran Cemetery in Brookings.  In lieu of flowers, Signe's family asks that memorial contributions be made to their family, so that they may support Signe's favorite charities.

Signe Noreen (Vedvei) Anderson was born May 5, 1923, on a farm three miles west of Hetland, South Dakota to Norwegian immigrants, Samuel and Andrina (Russett) Vedvei. The second of four children, she and her siblings attended a one-room schoolhouse, and even though the family moved three times in the next eight years, each farm remained within District 44, so she attended that same rural school for her entire elementary education. All the while, she walked to and from, occasionally riding a horse when bulls threatened near the path. Signe was in First Grade when her parents lost all their hard-earned savings. Just the day before the stock market crashed in October of 1929, Sam's banker friend talked him out of withdrawing, and then it was gone. The family endured many hardships during the ensuing Great Depression, but they persevered through an extended and severe drought, and found ways to conserve and survive. This included Signe and younger brother, Vernon, walking cattle a long distance to and from water at a nearly dried-up slough, now better known as Lake Preston.

Some winter days were bitterly cold and her father came after the schoolchildren with horse-drawn sleigh - the kids snuggling down in straw covered with thick wool blankets. She was an excellent pupil; she loved most everything about school and treasured her teachers and fellow students who shared her passion for learning. High School was in Hetland. Times improved a bit enough for Sam to afford a Model A Ford so that Signe and her sister, Bea, a senior at the time, could drive themselves the 2-1/2 miles to and from town – except in winter when the girls were forced to board in town. During her sophomore year, Signe got to take over the wheel, and in the muddy spring frequently had to get out and push - along with her freshman brother, Alec - jumping into the moving vehicle as it became unstuck, and celebrating their arrival into town by pulling the choke lever way down to cause loud backfires. Fun-loving and at the same time serious about her studies, she graduated Salutatorian and set her sights on becoming a teacher by borrowing money and enrolling at Eastern State Teacher's College (now Dakota State University) in Madison. Signe and six new friends rented three rooms in a home with no refrigerator, a two-burner stove on a shelf in a closet, and cardboard wardrobes for two. She did housework to cut expenses and often hitch-hiked to and from home on weekends. Like grade school and high school, college was a joy and a pleasure for Signe.

Campus life changed dramatically on December 7, 1941, when the United States entered World War II. Only one male student remained. Many staples were rationed. Signe and her friends wrote letters to soldiers and studied hard. She won a scholarship to go another year, but couldn't accept because of meager savings. Besides, women teachers were desperately needed so she took a job for $80 per month at a rural school north of Arlington. She had 12 students in five grades, failing two, and thinking she maybe should have held back a couple more. After another year there she had a choice of joining the WACs or returning to college. She chose the latter, mostly because the scholarship she was forced to turn down two years earlier was made available to her again. She did very well with her coursework, joined in many activities, and forged a number of lifelong friendships.

She spent the summer of 1944 working in the sausage department of John Morrell Meat Packing Co. in Sioux Falls, and kept chipping away at her school loan by working part-time in the college Art and History Departments. She earned her State Teaching Certificate in the spring of 1945 and took a job teaching third grade in Brookings, but alas never returned to receive her degree - an unfortunate consequence of circumstances for someone so academically minded.

Signe taught third grade in Brookings for four years, doing her own music, art, gym, etc. She developed close friendships with fellow unattached female teachers, none of whom had a car; and many of whom dined out together because their boarding rooms had no kitchens. Signe had a third grade student named Karen Hoglund whose parents were boarding a fellow who had recently joined the Economics Department at the College in Brookings. Encouraged to make Signe's acquaintance by Karen's ravings, Art Anderson met Signe Vedvei at an Old Time Dance at the city armory, and so began their lives together, he 15 years her senior. In the spring of 1949, Signe signed a contract to return for a fifth year of teaching, but had to break it – at a cost – as she and Art decided to marry, and back then married women were not allowed to teach.

Signe and Art were married June 29, 1949, at the famed Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. Among Art's relatives, Signe had only met his sister, Alice, on a weekend trip to Minneapolis a year earlier, and she met the rest along the way back from a three-week honeymoon to Minnesota and up into Canada immediately after the wedding. They traveled in style too – a brand new black Pontiac Chieftain.

Back in Brookings, Art and Signe rented a basement apartment from Rev. Onerheim of First Lutheran Church, and thus began her 70-year association with this Brookings institution. Shortly after moving in, Mrs. Onerheim suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed. Like Art, the reverend was quite a bit older than his wife, so Art and Signe took over maintaining the yard, gardening, shoveling snow, etc. – helping out wherever they could. Indeed, Signe honored a personal pledge to care for Margaret Onerheim the rest of her life, which culminated some 35 years later.

The superintendent hadn't yet replaced her by the time school began again in the fall, so Signe was asked to return temporarily to her third-grade teaching job. That six-week stint was followed by some substitute teaching, part-time spelling and English instruction for a group of seventh graders, and a special request to tutor the son of a lawyer. Signe tutored this young man's three brothers too, and ultimately well over 100 more students. That first private student of hers became a naval commander, and dozens of others she helped through the years became successful community leaders. She never charged more than $7.00 per hour for her services.

Art and Signe's first of six children, David Arthur, was born August 4, 1950. Marilyn Jean came just a year and 12 days later. Their basement apartment was no longer large enough, so in the summer of 1953, they bought a home at 1024 Second Street in Brookings – their residence for the next 44 years. Steven Samuel was born in September of that year, and Ronald Paul two years later. Art traveled a lot for his job, sometimes leaving Monday and coming home Friday. Laundering, alone, seemed like a full-time job for Signe, as she used a ringer washer and clothesline for all the diaper years. Still, she made time for First Lutheran Circle, 49ers Extension Club, Faculty Women, and Economics Wives – and of course, private tutoring in their living room. Signe also had a large backyard garden, tending to flowers and canning much of the produce.

Twin daughters, Beth Marie and Bonnie Margaret, were born in April of 1958. Six children just seven years apart in age meant long days of toil for a stay-at-home mom, and yet she still found time to be a Cub Scout den mother, a 4H leader, Sunday School and Confirmation teacher, Vacation Bible School leader, and Church Council member – all the while continuing with tutoring. When the swinging door to her "classroom" - the home's dining room - was closed, her children got the message: "Do Not Disturb", and "Be Quiet".

When the twins reached middle-school age, Signe was asked to help with Seventh- and Eighth-Grade reading instruction at Brookings Middle School. That evolved into a Sixth-Grade Title 1 teaching contract that lasted 15 years. She enjoyed it, and received great satisfaction in making a profound difference in the reading enjoyment and abilities of adolescents. At the same time, she and Art recognized the value of exercising one's body as well as mind, and so became inaugural co-Presidents of the then-fledgling Brookings Swim Club. 45 years – and hundreds of young swimmers – later, the Club is still going strong.

All six children graduated from Brookings High School and went on to earn Bachelor's degrees at SDSU and go on to receive graduate degrees there or elsewhere across the country. Art had been asked to be a marshall at Beth's graduation, but he become hospitalized after a heart attack, so Signe took his place of honor. 2012, Signe attended Beth's inauguration as only the fourth female to be inducted Distinguished Engineer at SDSU. Signe's photograph associated with this document was taken when Beth was further inducted into SDSU's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.

Art had quadruple bypass surgery in 1981, and with Signe's tender loving care, gained a renewed lease on life. They enjoyed traveling throughout the US, and whenever possible, rendezvous with their children along the way. Signe retired from Brookings Middle School in 1988. They continued their involvement with Sons of Norway, VFW, and Volunteer Service Bank - transporting patients to appointments for chemotherapy, dialysis, and other treatments – often to Sioux Falls. They also delivered Meals on Wheels for the Brookings Hospital Auxiliary, and in the process, came across an 8-unit apartment building just one block from First Lutheran Church that they liked. They put their names in for a ground-floor unit, and moved there in 1997. 'Great neighbors and comfortable; it was just right!

In 2005, Art got an infection that put him in and out of Brookings Hospital for several months. When it developed into a staph, he was admitted to Brookview Manor. After a couple months there, he returned home to Signe's care. He was happy to be home with her, and for a while his health improved. However, after a series of light strokes, and falls, he required more care than she and occasional nurses could provide. He passed away after two more months in the Manor at the ripe age of 98, Signe by his side.

Signe continued her many volunteer and service activities, surviving Art by a dozen years. Brookings Area Retired Teachers Association (BARTA) was among her favorites, as was Mission Quilting. Incredibly, over her 30-year tenure, she and her fellow quilters at First Lutheran hand-crafted and donated over 8,000 quilts to needy recipients around the world. And her gifts keep giving. Signe and Art's endowment in Ag Business has awarded aspiring SDSU Sophomores and Juniors over $15,000 in scholarships, with annual disbursements in perpetuity. A tireless volunteer and lifelong educator, Signe was recognized for outstanding community service with the Gip Nolan Award from the Brookings Chamber of Commerce.

Survivors include her three siblings: Bea Krahn of Arlington, Alec (Helen) Vedvei of Lake Preston, and Vernon (Joanne) Vedvei of Hetland; six children: David of Salt Lake City, Utah; Marilyn Johns of Westminster, Colorado; Steven (Joyce) of Watertown, South Dakota; Ronald (Mindy) of Broomfield, Colorado; Bonnie (Curtis) Rons of Rosemount, Minnesota; and Beth (Thomas) Kaspar, of Odenton, Maryland; 11 grandchildren; and many nephews and nieces. Her parents and husband, Art, preceded her in death.