Pamela Handke

Pamela (Pam) Sue Handke passed away July 20, 2025 in Sioux Falls, SD. She was 78 and had been living with kidney failure before suffering a heart attack. Memorial services will be held on Monday, July 28, 2025, at Furness Funeral Home in Clark at 1:00 p.m. A time of fellowship will immediately follow the service in the reception room of the funeral home. Visitation will immediately precede the funeral from 12:00 p.m. until 1:00 p.m. Burial will take place at Rose Hill cemetery in Clark.

Pam was born November 15, 1946, in Aberdeen, South Dakota. She and her brother, John, grew up on the Thelen farm purchased in the 1930's, and were raised by Daldon and Virginia Thelen. Brother and sister referred to each other as Pammy Sue and Johnny, and Pam was a reluctant chaperone on all of Johnny's dates! She loved to cook and bake, and was known for making the Thelen family birthday cakes – not just a frosted 9x13 cake, but three-tiered, beautifully decorated, fancy cakes. She was especially close to her aunt Carol.

Pam graduated from Northwestern High School and attended Northern State College. She worked in finance and at the Farmers & Merchants Bank in Aberdeen before marrying Glenn Handke and becoming a Farm Wife September 21, 1968.

Pam was highly regarded for her kindness, jovial attitude and warm laugh, and for the loving care she put into her home and family. Cats were a permanent and beloved part of the family. As were the birds she enticed to come around, and the roses and many other plants she tended to in the garden. No garden has been more carefully loved.

The family members and friends who came into Pam's home felt the same way. Pam was an excellent cook who knew how to not just perfectly blend the right ingredients for a great meal, but for the beautiful decor in her home. Going to supper at Pam and Glenn's was like going to a five-star restaurant. Except for the tipping part, because Pam wouldn't have accepted them. She wrote wonderful letters with beautiful penmanship and refurnished antique furniture that must have required the patience of Job.

Her creativity, intelligence and determination didn't stop at the farm house threshold. When Pam decided to improve her health, she was out walking every morning as the school bus arrived, even in the dead of South Dakota winter. When extra help was needed at harvest, Pam learned how to operate the machinery and do what needed to be done; she was a partner to her beloved husband in every way. New technology didn't stop her, either. She learned how to navigate the internet and transitioned seamlessly from letter writing to interesting, meaty emails...always available to share a recipe.

Pam's vibrant, fun and caring spirit will be dearly missed by the many people who loved her.

She is survived by her husband, Glenn, nieces and nephews Michelle (Steven) and Michael (Julie) and Laura (George) and Jason (Dawn) and great nieces and nephews Johnathan, twins Elizabeth and Samantha, and Claire (Charlie) and Hope. Pam was preceded in death by her parents, brother John, and his wife.

Furness Funeral Home of Clark is honored to help the Handke family with arrangements.

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