Frances Mae Poste, age 96, of Littleton, Colorado, formerly of Wall, South Dakota, died on Friday, July 26, 2024 at the MorningStar Assisted Living and Memory Care in Littleton.
A visitation will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Tuesday, August 13, 2024 at Rush Funeral Home in Wall.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at the United Methodist Church in Wall with Pastor Justin Trent officiating.
Burial will be follow at 2:30 p.m. at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis.
Frances Mae (Guethlein) Poste passed away on July 26, 2024 in Littleton, Colorado, surrounded by her family. She was born to John and Emma (Peterson) Guethlein at their homestead in Peno Basin near Quinn, South Dakota on March 7, 1928. She was a lifelong resident of Wall, Philip, and the surrounding area. The youngest of five girls, she was often referred to as “Babe” by her family, and the name stuck even after a baby brother arrived several years later.
Frances grew up during the depression and learned the value of hard work at a young age. All the Guethlein daughters helped with milking, separating cream and collecting and selling eggs and other things from their family farm. She loved the tile barn her father built in 1925 and told stories of her father harvesting ice blocks from a local dam to store under straw in the barn so that the family could make ice cream throughout the summer. When she was three years old, she followed her sister Maxine up the spokes of a wheel to climb into their Pa’s wagon. Frances was younger and smaller than Maxine and fell under the wheel as it moved forward. The loaded wagon rolled over her torso, nearly crushing her, but she eventually recovered.
She attended the Rickard School for elementary grades, then completed her schooling and graduated from high school in Quinn. After receiving her teaching certificate from Black Hills Teachers College in Spearfish, she taught in rural schools until she married Max W. Poste June 1, 1949. They lived for a short time in Philip when Max served as the Director of Equalization for Haakon County and Frances assisted him in the office. They later settled near Grindstone and maintained a house in Wall so Frances could work in town and their children could attend school. Frances worked for West River Rural Electric Association for 25 years until she retired in 1994. She wrote for the Wall Courant for many years, sharing local happenings.
Frances loved to travel, something she started when she and her sister Maxine traveled to Cuba for a teachers’ conference in 1947. Other trips with her sisters took them to Branson and to New England to see the fall foliage. In later years she accompanied her granddaughter Shelly (Michelle) to Alaska, New England, France, Switzerland and Italy as well as to see family in other states.
She was an active member of the Wall United Methodist Church and its choir, enjoyed playing cards and attending the quilt show held each spring at her church. After she retired, she began painting and gifted each of her children with a vintage crock painted with the likeness of her father’s tile barn. She played the piano, sewed, knitted blankets and made beautiful cross stitch pieces for herself and her family. She was an avid baker and cook, constantly trying new recipes and sharing them with friends and family. Frances and her sister Maxine served jointly as South Dakota’s “editors at large” for Taste of Home magazine for several years.
Frances was survived by her brother, John “Jack” Guethlein of North Plate, NE, her sons Barry (Terry) Poste of Littleton, Colorado, Randall (Violeta) Poste of Wall, Mark (Darlene) Poste of Rapid City and daughter Tracy (Rick) Seutter of Peoria, Arizona; grandchildren Michelle, Elizabeth, Danielle, Ashley, Sara, Chris, Cheryl, Jasmine, Renedel, Amanda and Kristina, several great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and extended family.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Max W. Poste; a son in infancy, Bradley Gene Poste; a daughter Penelope June Penney, and her sisters Helen Rittberger, Margorie Willuweit, Dorothy Burch, and Maxine Smith.
Arrangements are with Rush Funeral Home of Wall.
