Virginia Burgher

Virginia R. Burgher, 73, of Miller, passed away Wednesday, November 3, 2021, at the Avera Hand County Memorial Hospital in Miller.

Memorial service will be 4:00 p.m., Thursday, November 11, 2021, at First United Methodist Church, Miller, with Pastor Teresa Whetsel officiating.  Burial will follow at G.A.R. Cemetery, Miller.  Visitation will begin one hour prior to the memorial service.

Virginia was born December 15, 1947, to Albert Kenneth and Alice Jane (Boldt) Burgher in Miller, South Dakota.  She graduated from Miller High School in 1966.  She also received a high school diploma from the National Guild of Piano Teachers.  She went on to Yankton College where she received her bachelor's degree in music.

Throughout life, she taught numerous music students the love of music on the piano, organ, guitar, ukulele, and voice.  She was the music director at the First Presbyterian Church in Miller and Huron, at the First United Methodist Church in Yankton, at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Lawrence, Kansas, and Trinity Lutheran Church in Miller.  She served as secretary for the First Presbyterian Church and First United Methodist Church, both in Miller.

She was honored to participate in a European Tour in 1967 with the School of Orchestra of America, playing the keyboard and was chosen as an Outstanding Young Woman of America in 1983, and was late ordained as a elder in the Presbyterian Church.

Community involvement was extremely important to Virginia.  She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Miller, belonged to Epsilon Sigma at Huron College, Sigma Alpha Iota, honorary women’s music fraternity in Lawrence, Kansas, Music Educator’s National Conference at Huron and Yankton College, American Guild of Organist at Yankton College, Dakota Dreamer’s Singing Group in Miller, Kiwanis Club in Miller, and 1^st female and 1^st women president for those organization. She also served in the Business and Professions in Miller, Order of the Eastern Star – Crescent Chapter 4 in Miller, Maxwell Chapter 133 in Ree Heights, and in 1990, she was appointed Grand Organist in South Dakota of the Eastern Star organization.

Music was Virginia’s passion throughout life.  She enjoyed playing piano and organ, singing, reading, listening to music, especially classical and sacred music, scrap booking, keeping in touch with friends, was an animal lover, especially to cats, and was blessed to have one godson, Patrick Kreek.

Her memory will be cherished by her half-sister, Peggy Irene (Burgher) Gibson of Huron; daughter, Jennifer Rae (Goodfellow) Ferguson of Brookings; two grandchildren: Christopher Ray Goodfellow of Brookings and Chloe Rose Ferguson of Sioux Falls; and several special friends: Bryan and Mary Breitling of Miller, Arnold and Kathy Kreek of Oregon, Missouri, Rev. Gary Anderson of DeSmet, Yankton College Friends: Carol Hesla of Yankton and Wendy Thayer of Gardner, MA, Howard and Barb Goodfellow of Brookings, and Rev. Jesse and Darlene (Droz) Hammer of Miller.

She was preceded in death by her biological parents; foster parents, Dorothy and Bill Molesworth; half-brother, Peter Lawrence Burgher; foster sister, Marjorie Ann (Molesworth Ward; aunts and uncles: Cliff and Evenly Boldt, Roland and Maxine Boldt, and Ben and Anna Wheelhouse; and grandparents, August and Margaret Boldt and Peter Nelson.

Reck Funeral Home of Miller has been entrusted with Virginia's arrangements.