Arlue Thomas

Arlue Thomas, 90, died Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at Sanford USD Medical Center, Sioux Falls. Visitation will be from 4-7:00pm Sunday at the Sunnycrest United Methodist Church, 4801 W. 41st St, Sioux Falls with a Prayer Service at 7:00pm Sunday evening. Funeral services will be 10:30am Monday, May 2, 2011 at the United Methodist Church, Hurley with burial at the Hurley Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to the Hurley United Methodist Church or Sunnycrest Village. Arlue Nix was born on January 28, 1921 at Murdo, SD to Walter and Vivian (Cook) Nix. She attended Jones County Elementary, Pierre Middle School and graduated from Murdo High School. After receiving her teaching certificate from Wessington Springs Junior College and further education from Black Hills State, she taught country school near Murdo. On November 1, 1943 she was united in marriage to Roger J. Thomas at Murdo. They farmed near Murdo for a few years before Roger was ordained as an elder of the Methodist Church. They served churches for 35 years at Timber Lake, Kennebec-Reliance, Faith-Plainview, Alexandria, Onida-Agar, Hitchcock-Broadland, Davis-Hurley-Viborg, White Lake-Underwood, and Bowdle-Tolstoy. They retired to Hurley in 1988. Her husband was a master gardener and she canned, preserved, and froze volumes. She was a member of the United Methodist Church, United Methodist Woman, Eastern Star, Legion Auxiliary, and Federated Women’s Club. She was nominated for Mother of the Year in 2001. They moved to Sunnycrest Village in 2002 where she was active in the library among other things. Her husband Roger died in 2005. Grateful for having shared her life are her children, Kent (Connie), Tecumseh, OK, John (Lee), Eden Prairie, MN, Melvin (Nancy), Sioux Falls, Roger (Linda), Apple Valley, MN, David (Nancy), Sioux Falls, Mary (Mark) Tracy, Windsor, CO, and Gary (Carol), Brookings; 13 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren; 2 brothers, Richard (June) Nix, Murdo, SD and Paul (Ellen) Nix, Buffalo, MN; and a family friend, Jerry Walton, California.