Carolyn Smith, 80 of Vivian, died Friday, June 20 at Avera Maryhouse Hospice Suite. A prayer service will be held at 7:00pm, Tuesday, June 24 at the Vivian Lutheran Church. Funeral services will be held at 2:00pm, Wednesday, June 25 at the Vivian Lutheran Church. Burial will be in the Vivian Cemetery.
Born on December 13, 1933, to John F. and Pearl (Harlan) Hullinger, Carolyn lived her childhood years on the family farm south of Vivian and attended Vivian Public Schools until her high school graduation in 1951.
Post high school, Carolyn studied at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD, and at a vocational school in Omaha, NE. She then taught at the Swinson School in rural Lyman County and worked in the South Dakota Department of Health in Pierre, SD.
On February 4, 1954, she wed Lorne Smith, joining him at his farm near Vivian and beginning their sixty-year marriage that welcomed six sons: Brad, Bern, Pat, Gordy, Harlan, and Marty.
Carolyn combined homemaking and parenting with church and community work. As a member of the Vivian Lutheran (ELCA) Church, she taught religious education classes, led Luther League groups, and spearheaded building the sanctuary addition dedicated in 1997. During the 1980 and 1990 decades, Carolyn completed EMT training in support of the area’s ambulance volunteers and directed local actors in plays that served as Vivian-community fundraisers. In 2003, she produced and directed Lyman High School’s drama class performance in Presho, SD.
Besides family, church, and community activity, Carolyn traveled with her husband throughout North America. In their motor home (RV), they rode on a train flatcar through Copper Canyon in Mexico and traversed the length of Baja. They drove the RV along the Alcan Highway after ferrying to Alaska and toured forty-five of the “lower forty-eight” USA states. Leaving the continent, they visited the islands of Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii.
In addition to her husband Lorne, Carolyn’s surviving family members include five sons and their families: Vivian resident Brad, his wife Deb and daughters Celese and Keera; Pierre-SD resident Bern, his wife Judy and sons Spencer, Alex, and Sam; Vivian resident Pat, his wife Dawn and sons Cody and Jeff and daughter Arielle Michael and son-in-law Nick Michael; Deadwood-SD resident Gordy and his wife Mary; Minneapolis-MN resident Marty, his fiancé Michelle Sears and sons Ben and Charlie and Michelle’s daughter Matilda.
Other survivors are siblings Clifford Hullinger of Chicago, IL; Margaret Rohde of Kennewick, WA; Doris Hulce of Waitsburg, WA; Virginia Hullinger of Presho, SD; sisters-in-law Audrey Hullinger and Eunice Hullinger, both of Vivian; brothers-in-law Dick Smith of Vivian; Lyle Smith of Sioux Falls, SD. Eighteen nephews and fourteen nieces also survive her.
Carolyn and Lorne’s son Harlan died in 1967 at the age of five. Others who preceded Carolyn in death are her parents and her siblings Maribee Erikson, Ellis (Red) Hullinger, John (Jack) Hullinger.
Our beloved aunt Carolyn Smith has passed away. She was a wonderful person. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.
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