AMY (JACOBS) STAEFFLER, age 97, of the Rushmore area, died Sunday, June 15, 2014, at Prairie View Senior Living in Tracy.  She was born on Feb. 14, 1917 in Stockholm, SD, the eighth child of Hannah and Jens Peter Jensen.  Hannah died a week later.  At the age of two weeks, Amy came to live in Albert Lea, MN with her mother's sister Laura and husband George Holst who later adopted her.

Raised as a Danish farm daughter, Amy started cultivating corn at the age of 12 with a team of horses, and helped with haying and milking chores.  She explored every nook of the farm, gathering wild flowers, frogs for fishermen friends, and trapping gophers, earning a penny per gopher.  There was hardly a tree she didn't climb, sometimes to gather apples or catch a roosting chicken, but most often for sheer fun.

Amy was active in 4-H and won awards, including one for bread baking.  Her grandchildren could always count on having "grandma's buns" when they visited.  Jars of sweet pickles were targeted by grandchildren who explored the basement pantry.  Her homemade pies were simply the best.

Amy enjoyed school and graduated from 8th grade at the age of 12.   She was kept at home for a year before starting high school in Albert Lea, boarding in town during the winter months and working for room and board, graduating in 1934.  She was a member of the Honor Society.  Having no money for college, she was resigned to staying at home to look for a job.  Two days before college was to begin she met her high school Latin teacher, who upon learning about the situation, opened doors for a scholarship that would pay for a year's tuition.  Amy sold her 4-H lamb for $10 and set out for Winona a day after school had begun with $5 for the bus trip and $5 in case she had to come home again in the event she didn't find work to pay for room and board.

Upon receiving her diploma from Winona State Teacher's College and completing five years of teaching, Amy was awarded a Life Time Teaching Certificate.  Her first position was in a two-room school in Myrtle, MN and later in Rushmore, MN where she met and married Walter D. Jacobs on Mar. 17, 1942.  They farmed near Rushmore, Adrian and later Reading before retiring in Rushmore.  They had three children, David, Barbara and Elaine.

Amy returned to teaching in Rushmore in 1956, retiring in the mid 70s.  Walter passed away June 6, 1985.  Amy married Robert Staeffler on May 14, 1988, moving to Ellsworth, MN, then Worthington and Tracy.  Robert passed away Jan. 22, 2006.

Amy was an industrious homemaker, outstanding cook and seamstress.  After retiring she sewed a quilt for each child and grandchild.  She was an active member of the Presbyterian Church, first in Rushmore and later in Reading and Ellsworth before becoming a member of Westminster Presbyterian in Worthington.  She was a lifelong student and encouraged her children and grandchildren in that endeavor.

Amy became a resident of Prairie View Senior Care in Tracy in 2005 and passed away at the age of 97 on June 15, 2014.

Amy is survived by three children, David (Luella) of La Crosse, WI, Barbara (Robert) Purves of Tracy, Elaine (Bill) Feikema of Faribault; stepdaughters, Linda Boyken of Watertown, SD and Marcia (Don) Linssen of Worthington; six grandchildren, Laura (Joe) DePoorter, Nathan (Lynn) Jacobs, Jason (Danielle) Jacobs, Sarah (Craig) Resch, Mark (Irena) Purves, and Patricia (Lance) Hammer; eight great grandchildren:   Alex, Megan Amy and Amber Resch, Jacob and Janell Hammer; Matthew, Evan and David George Jacobs, five step grandchildren and nine step great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands Walter D. Jacobs and Robert Staeffler; granddaughter Janelle Feikema; step son-in-law, Harry Boyken; brother, Howard Holst, sister, Sylvia Johnson and her Jensen siblings.

Funeral will be 2pm Friday at the Dingmann Funeral Home, in Worthington, officiated by Pastor Dave Erickson. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home on Friday. Burial will be in the Sunset Rest Cemetery in Rushmore.

To view an online obituary, sign a virtual register book or order flowers, please visit www.dingmannandsons.com

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