Alice Huber

Dates

Obituary

Alice Huber, of Emery, SD, passed away Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the age of 105 at Diamond Care Center in Bridgewater, SD. Funeral services will be 1:30 PM Saturday, March 7, at Bittner Funeral Chapel, with visitation beginning at 12:00 PM prior to the service. Burial will be at Emery Community Cemetery.

Alice Ruth (Dubs) Huber was born to Emelia (Weiss) and John W. Dubs, Jr. on September 18, 1920, at the family farm in rural Freeman, South Dakota. She was baptized, confirmed, and attended Trinity Lutheran Church in rural Freeman, SD. Additionally, she was a member of All Zion Lutheran in Sioux Falls, SD and after moving to Emery in 1944, she was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church until it closed in 2019.

Alice was united in marriage with Erwin A. Huber of Clayton, SD on June 29, 1941, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeman. To this union, three children were born: Victor, Loren and Sharyn.

Alice attended rural Trinity Lutheran Parochial School in Freeman and graduated from Freeman High School in the class of 1939. Alice attended Freeman Junior College where she earned her teaching certificate for rural schools. She taught at rural schools in Sully, Hutchinson, and Hanson counties. She worked as an Emery telephone operator (she was the lady who said, “number, please” and made the call connection). She was a school cook at the old Emery school. Alice was a seamstress working in sewing factories for 30 years. Factories included Raven’s in Salem, Dakota Industries in Canistota and Tea, Anderson Bag/ Miller Bag / Hunters Specialties in Freeman, and  M-Tron in Parkston. She retired at 80 years of age and continued to live in her Emery home independently until late November 2025.

 Alice was an excellent gardener who reaped abundant produce from just a little patch of earth. She was a phenomenal cook and baker, with her fudge rivalling and surpassing any purchased! She was known as “Alice the Great” by some of her grandchildren and “Amazing Alice” by others.

Alice vividly and accurately recalled a century’s worth of living history: electricity first arriving at the farm where she was reared; introduction of radios and phonographs, electric kitchen stoves to microwaves, ice boxes to refrigerators and freezers, black and white TV’s to color; from manually connected calls by telephone operators to smart phone video calls. She lived through multiple wars, including two world wars. She watched rocket launches to a man landing on the moon and on to having a granddaughter working on current launches!

Those treasuring an abundance of Alice memories include her son, Victor (Karen) Huber of Rapid City, SD and daughter-in-law Amy Nolan-Huber of Emery, SD; nine grandchildren: Colleen Huber, Tara Huber, Erin Huber, Jami (Jesse) Barondeau, Jessi (Jesse) Olsen, Lee (Nicole) Huber, Jia (Paul) Stein, Stacey (Tim) Birkel, Greg (Colleen) Rhodes; and seventeen great-grandchildren: Roland, Daphne and Eloise Barondeau; Ayn, Nolan, Maximilian and Gianna Olsen; Carter, Cole and KyLee Huber; Avery, Everett, Jasper and Aurelia Stein; Sarah and Elizabeth Birkel; and Jackson Rhodes; and many nieces and nephews.  

She was preceded in death by her husband, Erwin Huber; son, Loren Huber; daughter, Sharyn (Gerry B. “Dusty”) Rhodes; her parents, John and Emelia Dubs; brother, Armin (Jeanette) Dubs; and sisters, Melitta (William O.) Huber, and Lorna (Melton) Langle.

Visitation(s)

Service

Cemetery