Mass of Christian Burial for Mary Arbach, age 94, of Herreid will be at 10:30 AM on Saturday, May 10, 2014 at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Herreid. Burial will be at the church cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge. A prayer service will be at 7 PM on Friday at the church with viewing starting at 6 PM. Mary passed away Wednesday May 7, 2014 at the Strasburg Care Center.

Born Mary Josephine to John P. and Anna Brandner/Huber on a farm four miles west of Herreid, SD, on September 8, 1919, she was the second daughter, after Laura Libis, and preceded siblings, Art, Leonard, Anna Marie, and George. Mary grew up and attended country schools in the area with her brothers and sisters until she entered and graduated from Herreid High School.
After high school, Mary taught in local country schools on the type of teaching permit which was customary at the time and, realizing that she liked and was well-suited to it, enrolled and completed two years of further schooling at Mount Marty College in Yankton, SD. Following that, she returned to Herreid to continue teaching in those same country schools until moving to Chicago for a while during WWII. After a couple years, she returned to Herreid, where she worked with Irene Lang/Arbach in the Office of Price Administration, the rationing program which was in effect during the war.

Before long, Mary met and married Albert Arbach, originally from the area of Hoven, SD. The couple started a small family with sons Mark, Greg, and Dan. During this time Mary was a full-time wife and mother but eventually returned to those one-room schools she had enjoyed, taking Dan along as the only kindergartener. In 1955, she began teaching first grade in the Herreid school system, where she continued happily for the next 30 years.

Because she had started with a permit based on two years of college, Mary continued her own education by attending summer sessions at Black Hills State Teachers College in Spearfish, SD, three small boys in tow. Challenged to find entertaining activities for her little band, Mary characteristically took her boys to participate in activities such as the Black Hills Passion Play, where she and they played extras in crowd scenes, dressed in robes and turbans and watching the action on stage through cracks in the scenery. Transferring to Northern State College in Aberdeen when her sons began pursuing their own summer activities, Mary eventually completed a bachelors and masters degree in history and education.

Mary was always active in the community, an enthusiastic member of the school staff, and a ready participant in church activities. She retired in 1984 and enjoyed traveling, with trips to such places as the farm in Bavaria where her grandfather, Johann Baptist Huber, originated. Mary became a resident of Herreid Good Samaritan Center in 2009 and enjoyed her time in that community until incapacity took her to the Strasburg Care Center, where she was cared for with great love until she passed away on the afternoon of May 7, 2014.

Mary is survived by sons Mark and Dan (Joan) Arbach, daughter-in-law Barbara Ebert/Arbach, grandsons Jonathan (Maren), Ian (Stephanie), and Erik Arbach and Kyle Meyers, and great-grandchildren: Ben, Kassidy, Zachary, and Kendra Arbach, as well as sister, Anna-Marie Hilt, of Ocean Springs, MS, and George Huber of Herreid, SD.

She was preceded in death by husband, Albert, son, Greg, brothers, Art and Leonard Huber, and sister, Laura Libis.
Memorials may be directed to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105. (www.stjude.org)