Lila (Tiny) Peterson Farlee passed away September 20, 2025 at her home. Funeral services will be at 10 AM, Saturday, September 27, 2025, at the Dupree School Gym with family services September 26, 2025 at 6 PM at the gym. Burial will be at the Lantry Cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge.

Lila Mae (Tiny) Peterson Farlee was born on January 8, 1933, to Carl and Elizabeth (Lizzie Acker) Peterson. She was born at home, delivered by the local midwife. She joined four older brothers and became the first daughter born. Her mother chose the name Lila after a good friend of hers who was a nurse. This was something that Lizzie hoped that she would become one day. There are two different stories about how she received the nickname Tiny. One was that when her aunt Josephine saw her, she said how tiny she was and they started calling her Tiny. The other was the neighbor, Mrs. Simons had her baby boy, Sonny, around the same time and when they laid them side by side he was so much bigger than her and again they started calling her Tiny. Whichever story is the right one, we all knew her as Tiny from then on.

Tiny became the big sister to her four younger sisters. This was a role she took very seriously and she would mother them all. She also became the sister that her brothers would ask to iron their shirts so they could go to the dance on Saturday nights. She helped around the farm doing chores both inside and outside. Whenever she was needed she would jump right in. This was a characteristic that she carried with her throughout her life.

She spent many summers staying with different aunts and uncles helping them with their families. She grew very close to them while she did this but always missed being at home. Home was always important to her throughout her lifetime.

Tiny said she was extremely shy and didn't talk much when she first started school but she was a good student. Tiny attended school at Eagle Butte where she would ride the bus. She talked about when she was older and when Johnny Holloway started school that he would always want to sit with her. She told her daughter Rita that she thought he had a crush on her. She would tell her daughters about all her boyfriends and couldn't understand why they weren't as popular as she had been.

But all those boyfriends ended when she started dating Keith Farlee. Thay had a love that lasted forever. In 1951 they got married and life as Mrs. Keith Farlee began. They started out living with his parents and in 1954 moved to Pretty Creek where they remained until 1957. At that time they built their present home and moved to south of Lantry. They had four children, Jerry Robert born in 1952, Rita Faye born in 1955, Frederick (Rick) Keith born in 1959, and Toinette (Toni) Lee born in 1962.

Tiny was a stay at home mother and wife to begin with. She helped Keith with taking care of cattle, whether it was taking a baby calf into the house to warm up or driving a tractor and raking hay. She enjoyed her life on the ranch. In 1968, when Toni began school, she found an apartment in Eagle Butte and moved to town with the kids. She got a job working three days a week at Frank Ganje Coast to Coast. This continued for the next 25 years. She enjoyed clerking at the store and came to know everyone. It was also during this time that she became Grandma Tiny to half the community.

I don't believe that she ever knew a stranger. Everywhere you would go she would visit with someone, whether she knew them or not. She loved to feed people. Cooking a big meal seemed like a walk in the park for Tiny. If you showed up at her home near mealtime, you were going to eat with her. This included salesmen, 7th Day Adventist church people, neighbors, or whomever. Many of her nieces and nephews would spend time staying with her during the summer months. She was like another mother to them.

While Tiny was in town she became involved in several organizations. She was already in the local extension club, The Willing Workers, and spread her wings to do other activities. She started bowling and spent many hours with the girls bowling. She became a 4-H leader for the Lantry Trail Blazers. Keith and Tiny along with their children were involved in the local saddle club, Lantry Rock and Ride Saddle Club. As she got older, she became a Red Hatter. Her grandkids loved her red hat and wanted to wear it.

Where she really thrived was as a grandmother. She loved her grandkids to the moon and back or as she would like to say, "A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck." She would gather her grandchildren and several others that called her Grandma and would go to Rita and Tony's every fall to camp along the Moreau River. They would set up a tent, cook on a camp stove, and play in the river. Considering the fact that she never learned to swim this was quite an undertaking. Many of the grandchildren and great grandchildren can tell you about the tea parties they would have. She had a small tea set that she would use with them. Oh the memories she was creating.

Tiny passed away on September 20, 2025, at her home with her husband of 74 years by her side. She died as she lived with dignity. She was preceded in death by her parents, Carl and Lizzie Peterson; her in-laws, Don and Tina Farlee; four brothers, Delbert, Dennis, Harley and Raymond Peterson; three sisters, Betty Horn, Ianita Curley, and Marilyn Roth; one granddaughter and one great granddaughter.

Tiny is survived by her husband of 74 years, Keith Farlee, Lantry. Her four children; Jerry (Rita) Farlee, Eagle Butte, Rita (Tony) Murray, Isabel; Rick (Kristi) Farlee, Dupree; Toni (Jon) Holmes, Dupree. One sister, Pat Fish, Sedro-Wooley WA; one brother-in-law, Clint Farlee, Dupree, three sisters-in-law, Cherie Farlee, Dupree; Judy Farlee, Eagle Butte; Mary Farlee, Timber Lake.

The family would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to Beth Erk and Johnna Watt. The care they extended to their Aunt Tiny was very loving and kind. They went over and beyond what they needed to do. We also want to thank the West Winds Health Care for providing such good care.

The family requests that any memorials be made to West Winds Health Care.