Kay Burmeister, 92
Kay Burmeister, formerly of Parkston, S.D., passed away at Bethel Lutheran Home in Madison, S.D., on October 29, 2026 at the age of 92 years. Visitation with family present will be held from 4-6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, with a 6 p.m. prayer service at Kinzley Funeral Home, Madison. Funeral mass will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 2 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Madison, with visitation on hour prior.
Kay (Kay Ann to many) was born Friday, July 13, 1934, at home in Madison to George and Anna Moothart. She was the fourth of six children. Kay attended St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School through the eighth grade and graduated from Madison High School in 1952. Following graduation, Kay began working as a telephone operator for Northwestern Bell in Madison. She met Arnold (Arnie) Burmeister of Carthage, S.D., and they were married May 15, 1954. Together they raised four children: Peggy, Phil, Perry, and Penny. In the early years of marriage, Kay had a quick learning curve to become a farmer’s wife – learning to cook, “help” in the field, and even shoot a weasel to protect her chickens. Kay returned to work as a telephone operator in Howard where she’d eat greasy cheeseburgers over the switchboard and listen in on others’ conversations. Once Arnie moved on to managing co-ops that entailed several moves to different states, Kay settled into the job God made her to be perfect at: being a mom and later a grandma. She made each of us kids and grandkids feel so special and loved – whether it was performing “surgery” on a stuffed animal, warming up blankets in the dryer on cold days, hosting tea parties with her famous chocolate chip cookies, playing games like Dots and Tic Tac Toe, and having specific names for each of us (i.e., Pookie, Bump, Sweets, Butthead …). Kay had very few vices; however, her main one was gambling at casinos. She’d quickly abandon us inside or even in the car – saying she’d only play for 30 minutes but two hours later, we’d be searching the aisles for her fuzzy hair poking above a machine.
Everyone referred to Kay as “Grandma Kay”, even if you were an adult friend of one of the kids. She was Grams to her grandchildren. Kay’s dry wit and silly sense of humor was unmatched – until two grandchildren Chris and Collette – inherited her humor. Kay was quiet in groups and around strangers but with her family, she’d threaten to pour water on us saying, “Come on, one more nasty”, drive us through the Post Office box to order a Diet Coke, have “noisy” cans that made her go ‘glug, glug’, prank us on April Fool’s Day and cackle all the way down the hallway in her housecoat, and refer to herself as “50 Shades of Kay”. The list of memories is endless.
Arnie passed away in October 2018. Kay continued to live at home in Parkston until moving to Madison in March 2023.
Kay is survived by her children, Peggy (Audie) of Brandon, Phil (Kate Sowinski) of Parker, S.D., Perry (Tami) of Huron, S.D., and Penny (David) of Madison’ eight grandchildren, Brandon, Chris, Ashley, Kaylani, Austin, Christina, Collette, and Connor, and 11 great-grandchildren with one more on the way; her brother, Chuck (Cindy Holm) of Madison; and sister-in-law, Patricia Moothart of Carter Lake, Iowa.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Arnie, her parents, and four of her siblings.
