Velma Vlastnik

Velma Vlastnik 74, of Grenville and formerly of Berwyn, IL died on Sunday December 25, 2011 at Coteau Des Prairies Hospital in Sisseton. Her funeral will be 2:00 P.M. Thursday December 29, 2011 at Fiksdal Funeral Chapel in Webster. Rev. John Hisel will officiate. Burial will be at Woodlawn Cemetery, Forest Park, IL. Visitation will be Thursday prior to the service from 12-2 P.M. at the funeral home. Due to Velma's devotion to Grenville community affairs, in lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the following: Grenville (SD) Improvement Group c/o Lynea Wright, Grenville, SD 57239 Velma Jean Medenwaldt was born on August 22, 1937 to August and Edith (Pasch) Medenwaldt in Wilken County Minnesota. She attended elementary school in Doran, MN., and then high school in Breckenridge, MN. After her high school graduation in 1955, Velma moved to Minneapolis, MN where she took at job with Union Pacific Railroad. The job then transferred her to the Chicago area, where she settled. She then took a job with Merrill Lynch and eventually met and married Jerry Vlastnik, Jr. on November 10, 1963 in Brookfield, IL. The couple made their home in Berwyn, IL and to this union one children was born, Vikki. Velma worked for Merrill Lynch on the Chicago Board of Trade for many years, and was one of the first women to hold a membership on the Board, and also worked for two other brokerage firms. Her husband, Jerry Vlastnik predeceased her in 1992 after 28 years of marriage. In 2003, Velma retired and moved to Grenville, South Dakota to care for her mother, Edith (Medenwaldt) Unise. Velma enjoyed cooking, entertaining, playing bingo and cards. Survivors include: one daughter, Dr. Vikki J. Vlastnik, and son-in-law, Kelly Richter of Landenberg, PA; one brother, Ron Medenwaldt of Sioux Falls, SD; two nieces, Roz (James) Keimig of Guymon, OK, Lisa (Heath) Clemans of Guymon, OK, one nephew, Ron (Wanda) Medenwaldt Jr. of Towkawa, OK, and her close and dear older cousin Lois Thykeson, of Breckenridge, MN., who helped raise her as a child. She was preceded in death by her father, mother, and stepfather, Larry Unise, and her husband Jerry Vlastnik Jr.