Laurel Olson Eggers, 73
Laurel Olson Eggers, 73, of Sioux Falls, S.D., earned her angel wings on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. She passed peacefully at the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls surrounded by her four beloved children. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at George Boom Funeral Home & On-Site Crematory in Sioux Falls. Funeral services will begin at 11 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, at First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. Interment will take place at Riverview Cemetery in Centerville, S.D. An online guestbook and link to view the service will be available at www.georgeboom.com
Laurel Beth (Olson) Eggers, daughter of Everett and Ardis (DuBois) Olson was born Nov. 25, 1950 at Viborg, S.D. She attended elementary through high school in Centerville.
Laurel was the second of five children. She grew up on a dairy farm outside Centerville. Being a big sister to three younger siblings and a farm girl instilled in her the value of hard work and the importance of self-reliance from an early age. This also inspired her to pursue bigger dreams through higher education.
She attended South Dakota State University where she earned her BA in Journalism in 1973. After graduation, Laurel moved to Ortonville, Minn., where she secured her first professional position as editor for the Ortonville newspaper. She discovered her love for photography while at SDSU and enjoyed using those talents to the benefit of the newspaper. Laurel left her job with the newspaper to attend law school at the University of South Dakota.
Laurel was united in marriage to Robert Eggers in 1977 and from that union, four children were born: Rob, Ross, Bethany and Maren.
While in her last year of law school and during her second pregnancy, Laurel insisted on playing softball with her fellow female schoolmates; the team was appropriately named the MsDemeanors. The team tried desperately to convince her that perhaps softball wasn’t a good idea for someone in their third trimester. Ultimately, the team lost that battle so they stuck her in right field in hopes nobody hit the ball to her.
After passing the South Dakota State Bar, Laurel took a position as a Deputy States Attorney where she worked in Child Support Enforcement from 1980 to 1988. She started her own practice in 1988 where her focus was family law. She shared office space in the Security Building in downtown Sioux Falls with C.J. Delbridge and Ken Hansen. After Mr. Delbridge and Mr. Hansen retired, she continued practicing on her own. She worked as a child support referee for well over 20 years starting in the mid-90’s. She retired from practicing law in 2016.
In 1989, Laurel was appointed the City Attorney for Brandon, S.D. At the time of her appointment, Brandon only had two gravel roads in city limits and Splitrock Boulevard was only two lanes wide with ditches on either side. Brandon became a Class 1 city in 2001 after the population topped 5,000 in the 2000 census. She was also the attorney for Splitrock Township. She held her position as the Brandon City Attorney until she partially retired in 2008 to enjoy her role of being a grandma.
Her life revolved around her four kids. The kids were involved in many activities and Laurel managed to juggle the responsibilities of raising her children while simultaneously managing a demanding career. As much as Laurel loved being a mother, her most enjoyable role in life was that of Grandma. She had eight grandchildren ages 4-19 and she loved each of them very much.
She was incredibly intelligent, humble, kind, and had a knack for finding goodness in everyone. She had a charming disposition that put everyone at ease, and a dry sense of humor that was absolutely hysterical – seeing her belly-laugh was a wonderful and endearing experience.
Laurel worked diligently to raise her children before God. She was a member of First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls where she taught Sunday school and Confirmation classes for a number of years. She spearheaded a program at the church to get dinner service set up for Wednesday night confirmation classes so kids could be fed before classes started at 6 p.m. in an effort to ease stress on parents.
She strategically seated her four children in the balconies at First Lutheran Church every Sunday, where the exits allowed for a quick escape if her rubber-band-launching sons caused a commotion. As a single working mother, she had the ambitious goal of getting all four children baptized and confirmed, and by God’s grace, she did.
Laurel has a host of close friends but she met two of her closest friends, Linda Kogel and Janet Brekke, while working in the State’s Attorney Office. Being a fly on the wall when these three were together was an experience to say the least. These three amigos told the best stories, shared so much laughter and made the greatest memories when they were together. In their early years, they would go on camping trips with all their kids, which was always an exciting adventure for everyone. In their later years, the trio made a point to have girls’ weekends as frequently as time would allow. She also enjoyed lunch and movie dates every Tuesday with friends and monthly lunch dates with her “lawyer buddies.”
Laurel was a member of First Lutheran Church, she was on the Board of Directors for First Century Federal Credit Union, and a member of the South Dakota State Bar Association.
Eternally grateful for having shared her life are her four children: Rob (Sarah) of Austin, Texas, Ross (Jen) of Minneapolis, Minn., Bethany (Justin Christenson) and Maren Hock (David), all of Sioux Falls; eight grandchildren, Brandt, Will and Emma of Austin, Texas, Gus and Olive of Minneapolis, Minn., and Griffin, Madelin and Toby, all of Sioux Falls; her four siblings; and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.
Laurel is preceded in death by her father, Everett Olson and her mother, Ardis Olson.
Flowers are welcome but the family encourages donations to Harmony South Dakota, 4005 W. 90th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57108. Please visit https://www.harmonysouthdakota.org/donate for additional information. Harmony held a very special place in Laurel’s heart.
For online condolences, visit georgeboom.com.
