Ethelle Bean

Ethelle Susannah Bean, age, 74, died on June 10, 2025, at Sanford USD Medical Center. Services will be 2:00 PM, Monday, June 16, 2025, at Ellsworth Funeral Home in Madison. Refreshments will be served following the service. She was born on November 12, 1950, in Rockville Centre, NY, and lived in Freeport, NY until she went to Stetson University in Florida then to Florida State University for a master's degree in library science. She moved to South Dakota in 1974, when she accepted a job at the Pine Ridge Reservation. She worked at the National Business College in Rapid City and then at Huron College, and Ultimately at the Karl E. Mundt Library at Dakota State University in Madison where she was the Director for many years.
Ethelle was passionate about Libraries and their places in society. She was on the forefront of the creation of the South Dakota Library Network of all kinds of libraries sharing information and material using computer technology. The South Dakota Library Association recognized her contributions to the professional awarding her the Librarian of the Year Award and the Outstanding Librarian Award.
An avid reader since childhood, becoming a librarian was not a difficult choice. She also appreciated the arts attending many plays and concerts in Minneapolis and Sioux Falls. She loved travelling, always choosing to go to an event or place to be educated in some aspects of that place.
Besides her loving brothers, Karl and Judd, she leaves a squadron of nieces and nephews who adored their auntie Eth and so many friends who will miss her dearly. Rest in Peace, Ethelle.
www.ellsworthfh.com
Services
Memorial Service
Monday
June 16, 2025
2:00 PM
Ellsworth Funeral Home
321 N. Egan Ave.
Madison, SD 57042