Funeral services for Virginia Genzler, 89 of Harrisburg, SD formerly of Gettysburg, will be held on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 at 1:30 pm at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Gettysburg. Visitation will be held at the church for one hour prior to the funeral. Interment will be at the Gettysburg City Cemetery. Virginia died on Sept. 14, 2026 at Ava's Hospice House in Sioux Falls, SD. Arrangements are entrusted to Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge.

Virginia Carolyne Ralston Genzler lived a life defined by love—love for her family, her friends, her home, her animals, her work and the many people who became part of her journey. She was 89 when she passed away at Ava House in Sioux Falls, leaving behind a lifetime of memories and a family who will forever carry her love with them.

A burial service will be held at the Gettysburg Memorial Cemetery. Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge, S.D., is handling the arrangements.

Born in San Pedro, California, Virginia was the daughter of Edward and Grace Ralston. She grew up in Lemon Grove, Calif., in a hardworking family. Her father served his country in both World War I and World War II, and two of her brothers also served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Those experiences helped shape a family where commitment, service, hard work and taking care of one another mattered.

Virginia attended and graduated from Lemon Grove Grade School before graduating from Helix High School in San Diego. Her California years were filled with friendships and memories, and she had a gift for making people feel welcome. The friends she made along the way became part of the story of her life, just as the people she met later in South Dakota became part of the woman she would become.

Her life took an unexpected turn when she met Arthur Genzler at a job placement service in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while visiting her sister. It was one of those moments in life that changes everything. Virginia and Arthur were married Sept. 26, 1956, in San Diego, beginning a marriage that would last 53 years until Arthur's death in 2009.

Virginia soon traded her California roots for rural South Dakota, moving to the Genzler family ranch near Gettysburg. It was a remarkable change for a California girl, but Virginia embraced the life in front of her. She became a homemaker and mother, raising three sons, Donald Arthur Genzler of Glendale, Ariz.; Dan Edward Genzler of Harrisburg, S.D.; and Jeffrey Fred Genzler of Sioux City, Iowa.

Life on the ranch taught Virginia there was always something to do and someone who needed her. She learned to cook, manage a household, care for her family and take on the many responsibilities that came with rural life. She and Arthur worked alongside his parents, Fred and Charlotte Genzler, as the family farmed for approximately 40 years. Virginia learned to make countless dishes and meals, but more importantly, she learned how to make a home.

She was independent and strong. When something needed to be done, Virginia figured it out. She didn't need a lot of attention or recognition. She simply did what needed to be done for her family.

When the farm and ranch were sold in the 1970s, Virginia and Arthur began another chapter of their lives. In 1976, they took over management of the Coast to Coast store in Gettysburg. They ran the store for eight years, becoming familiar and respected members of the Gettysburg business community. Their hard work was recognized with a President's Award for being among the top-selling paint stores in the Northern Division of Coast to Coast stores.

Virginia's working life continued after those years. She later worked for businesses in Hawarden and Vermillion, S.D. Wherever she worked, Virginia brought dependability, determination and a willingness to work. But perhaps just as important, she made friends. People became part of her life, and she became part of theirs.

For Virginia, though, her greatest work was always her family.

She loved her sons. She loved her husband. She loved her family and friends. She loved cooking and the simple things that made a house feel like home. There were meals, holidays, birthdays, conversations and countless ordinary days that, looking back now, were anything but ordinary.

Virginia also loved books. She especially enjoyed mystery novels and could spend hours with the stories of Michael Connelly, James Patterson and David Baldacci. She also enjoyed authors such as Jeff Shaara and Diana Gabaldon and many others. A good book could take Virginia somewhere else for a while, and traveling gave her another way to see the world.

Her travels included Mexico City, Mexico; Phoenix, Ariz.; the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and other destinations. Each trip became another memory, another story and another piece of a life that reached far beyond the South Dakota ranch where so much of her life was built.

And then there were the animals.

Virginia loved them.

Throughout her life, there were Laddie, Scamper, Duke, Cheyenne, Velvet and Sierra. They were not simply pets. They were companions and members of the family. Each one left a pawprint on Virginia's heart.

Then came Abby Anne. Her beautiful golden retriever became especially important to Virginia in her later years. Abby was her companion, her comfort and her friend. Virginia loved Abby deeply, and Abby seemed to understand exactly what Virginia needed—a warm presence, a familiar face and unconditional love.

Virginia was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur, in 2009; her parents, Edward and Grace Ralston; her in-laws, Fred and Charlotte Genzler; her brother, Edward; and her sisters, Thelma and Shirley.

She is survived by her three sons, Donald, Dan and Jeffrey; her brother, Paul Ralston, and his wife, Melissa, of Vancouver, Wash.; extended family; friends; and all of those who became part of her life along the way.

Virginia's life cannot be measured simply by the number of years she lived. It is measured by the people she loved, the friendships she made, the work she shared, the meals she prepared, the books she read, the places she traveled and the animals she cared for.

Virginia gave her family a lifetime of memories.

Now we carry those memories forward.

And we carry her with us.