Mayme Wood Keyser Johnson

Mayme Wood Greeley was born July 2, 1909, at Larson, North Dakota, to Ross and Mame (Wood) Greeley.  Shortley after the birth of Mayme, her mother died and Mayme made her home with her mother's sister and her family, the Henry and Anna Burjes family. 

She grew up in the Hilland, South Dakota, area northwest of Philip.  She attended rural school in the Hilland area prior to attending the Bridger Creek High School. 

Mayme was united in marriage to Lowell Clifford Keyser on March 1, 1927, in Sidney, Iowa.  They made their home on various farms in the Ash Creek area northwest of Philip.  In 1940, they purchased a farm in the Ash Creek area which they operated until retiring and moving into Philip in 1964.  While on the farm, Mayme was postmaster of the Dowling Post Office for thirteen years.

She worked at Baker's Variety Store and worked in the laundry department at the Philip Nursing Home after they moved to Philip.  After her husband, Lowell Keyser's, death on April 1, 1976, Mayme continued to live in Philip until moving to Wall, South Dakota in 1979. 

While in Wall she worked at the Wall Drug Store until her marriage to Herbert Gerhart Johnson on August 3, 1981, in Philip.  They made their home in Missoula, Montana.

Because of health reasons, Mayme moved into the Missoula Nursing Home in 1989 and was transferred to the Wesleyan Health Care Center in Rapid City in 1991 where she has since resided.  Her husband, Herbert Gerhart Johnson, preceded her in death.

Mayme was a former member of the Dowling Baptist Church and the First Lutheran Church of Philip.  She was a member of the Hilland Ladies Aid and served on the Ash Creek School Board.  She enjoyed bowling and square dancing.

Grateful for having shared her life are her five sons, Clifford Keyser and his wife, Gale, and Donald Keyser and his wife, Mary Alice, all of Rapid City; Clair Keyser and his wife, Marilyn, of Wasta; Arlen Keyser of Ft. Pierre; and David Keyser and his wife, Claudia, of Wall; two daughters, Gayle Nielson and her husband, Jack of Long Beach, California, and Charlene Stern of Denver, Colorado; 20 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Eldra O'Neill of Seattle, Washington, and Frances Fitch and her husband, Ed, of Milesville; and a host of other relatives and friends.

In addition to her first husband, Lowell Keyser, and her second husband, Herbert Johnson, she was preceded in death by one granddaughter; one great-granddaughter; her parents, Ross and Mame Greeley; the parents who raised her, Henry and Anna Burjes; and three sisters.

Services
Monday, December 11, 1995
First Lutheran Church
Philip, South Dakota

Officiating
Reverend Hans Sacrison

Music
Marilyn Millage - Pianist
Congregational Hymns
"How Great Thou Art" - #532
"Amazing Grace" - #448

Ushers
Jack Griesel - Marvin Coleman

Active Pallbearers
Clifford Keyser - Donald Keyser
Clair Keyser - Arlen Keyser
David Keyser - Jack Nielson

Honorary Pallbearers
All relatives and friends in attendance

Interment
Masonic Cemetery
Philip, South Dakota

Service Details

Services
Monday, December 11, 1995
1:00 p.m.
First Lutheran Church in Philip