Janet Munger Beukelman

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Obituary

Janet Munger Beukelman, 92, of Mitchell, SD, died Friday, September 27, 2024, at Avera Brady Health & Rehab in Mitchell. Funeral services will be at 11:00 AM Saturday, October 5, at First Reformed Church in Mitchell. Burial will be at Dunlap Cemetery in rural Platte, SD. Visitation will be Friday from 5-7:00 PM at Bittner Funeral Chapel with a 6:30 PM prayer service.

Janet Alice Raatjes (Munger) Beukelman was born on September 24, 1932, to William and Renzella (DeGroot) Raatjes at home in rural Platte, SD. She was an only child. In 1941, she moved with her family to Old Wheeler on the Missouri River bottom, where she attended a rural one room schoolhouse through the eighth grade. She loved riding horses and helping her dad with farming. In 1946, she started high school in Platte, boarding in town those four years, and graduating in 1950. In 1952, the government bought the river bottom to make way for the Fort Randall Dam that was to be built at Pickstown, so her folks then bought and moved to a farm north of Platte in Torrey Lake Township. Janet helped them on the farm until she was 21. She then got a job at the Kulm Laundry & Cleaners in Chamberlain, SD helping with alterations and mending in the dry-cleaning department. She lived in a boarding house and walked to work.  

Janet met Eugene Munger at the Dunlap Church in rural Platte, and they were married in the church a year later on April 9, 1955. They had six children and farmed by rural Platte until Eugene’s passing on February 5, 1971. Janet and her children then moved from the farm to Kimball, SD. She worked various jobs, including sewing alterations, cleaning motel rooms, janitor at the post office, building cowboy campers, and waitressing at Chef Rudy’s Truck Stop.

Janet met Adrian (Ed) Beukelman at the Pukwana Ballroom, and were later united in marriage on June 3, 1983 at the Methodist Church in Kimball. She then joined Ed on his family farm in rural Stickney. They were members of the Aurora Reformed Church of Stickney. In 1984, she started working as a waitress at Al’s I-90 Café in Plankinton and worked there for 13 years. Janet retired on November 1, 1997. In 1990, she and Ed were surprised with tickets to the Netherlands from their ten children. They really enjoyed their two-week trip. It was her first plane ride. In August of 2002, she and Ed left the farm and moved to Mitchell, SD. Ed passed away April 1, 2003. Janet then became a member of the First Reformed Church in Mitchell. In 2017, she moved to Quail View Senior Living in Mitchell. She lived there until going to Avera Brady Health & Rehab in February 2024.

Janet really enjoyed her retirement years living in Mitchell. She loved walking in the mall with her friends, line dancing, reading books, and taking classes in Spanish. She especially loved visiting with her children and grandchildren. She kept busy crocheting Christmas gifts for them for many years.

Grateful for having shared in Janet’s life are her children: Nancy (Dennis) Hoffer of Reliance, SD, Norman (Nancy) Munger of Kimball, SD, Tina Brennan of Pukwana, SD, Neal Munger of Sioux Falls, SD, and Jeffery (Robin) Munger of Mt Vernon, SD; and stepchildren: Ronald (Audrey) Beukelman of Mitchell, SD, David (Marcia) Beukelman of Greenville, SC, Sheryl (Joel) Wieczorek of Mt Vernon, SD, and Dale (Sue) Beukelman of Sioux Falls, SD. She was blessed with 29 grandchildren, 49 great-grandchildren, 4 great-great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Janet was preceded in death by her parents, William and Renzella Raatjes; her first husband, Eugene Munger, and his parents, William and Rose Munger; her second husband, Adrian Beukelman; son, Mark Munger; daughter-in-law, Melody Munger; son-in-law, Michael Brennan; sisters-in-law, Nellie Beukelman, Margaret Vanden Hoek, Margaret Beukelman, Alice Zwart, Doris Falor, Beverly Munger, and Judy Munger; brothers-in-law, Wilbur Munger, Wayne Falor, Dale Munger, Ben Vanden Hoek, Neal Beukelman, Melvin Zwart, Lawrence Kreun, Arie Beukelman, and Nellen Beukelman; aunts, Alma Lomica, Eva Cahill, and Gertie DeGroot; uncles, Frank Lomica, Thomas DeGroot, and J.L. (Dode) Cahill; and nephews, Bill, Jake, and Tim Falor.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Dunlap Church: Clara Knutson, PO Box 187, Platte, SD 57369.

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