Laura Fletcher-Tagtow 

      Funeral services for Laura Tagtow, 97, of Kennebec, SD were held Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Reliance United Methodist Church with burial in the Riverview Cemetery at Chamberlain. 

      Laura Esther Fletcher was born  September 27, 1911, the youngest child of Fred and Minnie (Fletcher) Fletcher at Reliance. 

      Laura attended school in Reliance graduating from Reliance High School in 1930.  She attended college at Dakota Wesleyan in Mitchell and Teachers College in Madison.  Her first teaching position was at South Cloud Country School north of Reliance.  She then taught at the Star School in Iona where she met her husband.

      Laura married Robert Tagtow June 12, 1935, in Madison, SD.  They first lived in Grand Marais, MN, where Robert was a mail carrier carrying mail from Two Harbors to Grand Portage, MN.  They then moved to Grand Portage, MN where Robert continued to carry mail from Grand Marais to Grand Portage and into Canada.

     While living in Grand Portage, their two children, Gloria and Eugene, were born.  In 1941, Laura and her family moved to Madison where Robert worked for a furniture store and also repaired radios.  In 1942, they moved to Reliance where Robert carried mail from Reliance to Hamill and also operated the Conoco Station. 

     In 1945, the family moved to a farm southeast of Reliance.  Laura taught school at the West Cooper, East Cooper, and Wolcott Country Schools, and also did some substitute teaching at the North Cooper Country School and in the Reliance Elementary School.  Laura worked as a clerk for the Reliance Post Office for 18 years. 

      After Robert’s death in 1980, Laura continued to live on the farm until November 1996 when her house was moved to Kennebec. She lived there until moving to the Regency Retirement Assisted Living in Chamberlain in March of 2001.  In August of 2001 she moved to Sanford Mid Dakota Care Center in Chamberlain. 

      Laura was a Methodist Sunday School teacher at Reliance for 40 years and a member of the ladies group.  Later she became a member of the United Methodist Church at Kennebec.  She was a member of the Happy Hour Club at Reliance.  Her hobbies included reading, listening to music, knitting, crocheting, and working with plastic canvas.

      Laura passed away July 29, 2009, at Sanford Mid Dakota Care Center in Chamberlain at the age of 97 years. 
      Gratefully sharing in her life are her daughter Gloria Bowar and husband Charles of Kennebec; her son Gene Tagtow and wife JoAnn of Huron; five grandchildren Rod Bowar and wife Donna; Dana Mehrer and husband Arlen; Denice Houlette and husband Chris; Gary Tagtow and wife Rhonda; and Rob Tagtow; seven great-grandchildren Chaz Bowar, Tiarra Bowar, Justin Houlette, Brayden Houlette, Alyssa Tagtow, Sydney Tagtow, and Avery Tagtow; and two step-great-grandchildren, Laddy Christensen and Troy Christensen. 

      Preceding her in death were her husband Robert, February 18, 1980; her parents; two sisters Lula Peterson and Susie Moulton; three brothers Harry, Dewey, and Roy Fletcher.