Alice Harder

1916 - 2018

Alice Harder

Sioux Falls - Alice D. Harder, age 102, died on Sunday, April 1, 2018 at the Good Samaritan Society in Sioux Falls, SD. Her Funeral service will be 10:00 AM Saturday, April 7, 2018 at George Boom Funeral Home & Crematory, Sioux Falls, SD with Rev. Randy Tweeten officiating. Burial will take place at Hills of Rest Cemetery immediately following the funeral service. Visitation will be from 5PM to 7PM on Friday, April 6, 2018 at George Boom Funeral Home & Crematory, Sioux Falls. In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made to Rural Home Missionary Association or Crescent Project - Without Borders.

Alice Dorothy (Drake) Harder was born January 18, 1916 in Utah to Charles Oliver & Lisle Amelia Rohwer Drake. Alice passed away on April 1, 2018 having reached the age of 102 years, 2 months, and 14 days.

Alice accepted the Lord as her Savior in April of 1933. She graduated from high school in 1934 in Paso Robles, CA and attended B.I.O.L.A. college in Los Angeles, CA where she met and then married Leonard W. Harder on December 21, 1937 in Paso Robles, CA. They settled on Leonard's home farm near Whitewater, KS. They farmed there for 9.5 years and then followed the Lord's call to go into full time pastoral ministry. After Leonard graduated from Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, NE they pastored churches in Glendive, MT ('48-'55); Alsen, ND ('55-'59); Reedley, CA ('59-'66); Hesston, KS ('66-'78); and Butterfield, MN ('78-'83). They retired to Sioux Falls, SD in 1983. They continued to serve in ministry through two short term assignments with JAARS inc. in Waxhaw, NC. They served in Taiwan at The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) Center's guest house from January to May of 1988 and in 1990.

Alice had the gift of hospitality, caring for and entertaining many families, friends, missionaries, and guest speakers. Most years, she canned most of their family's food, sewed their clothes, and enjoyed knitting baby blankets and slippers for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She made quilts for her children and grand-children and knitted slippers by the dozens.

Grateful for having shared her life are her sons: Lloyd (Linda) Harder, Wayne (Beverly) Harder, and Dale (Sandi) Harder all of Sioux Falls, SD; one son-in-law Chuck (Connie) Myers of West Plains, MO, her daughters: Eloise (Edwin) Jordan of North English, IA, Edith (John) Klaassen of Baldwin City, KS, and Gladys (Stan) Friesen of Mountain Lake, MN; and one daughter-in-love Carla Yeh of Taipei, Taiwan, and 26 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren, and 13 great, great-grandchildren. She is also survived by two brothers, Charles (Roberta) Drake and John (Alberta) Drake both of California, one sister, Mary Mastagni of Idaho, and multiple nephews and nieces.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard, on March 31, 1990; oldest daughter, Pauline Myers; one granddaughter, Sheri; one sister Beth Thomas; one brother, Robert Drake; two brothers-in-law, Armond (Babe) Mastagni and John Thomas, and one sister-in-law, Amelia (Giacomelli) Drake, and her parents.