Viola Benson Burke, 92, of Winner, SD passed away on January 6, 2016 at the Winner Regional Healthcare Center in Winner, SD. A funeral service and interment will be held in the Calverton National Cemetery in Long Island, New York on January 14, 2016 at 1:00PM.
Viola was born in a sod house on April 19, 1923, to Henning and Jennie Benson of rural Clearfield, SD. She was the ninth of eleven children.
She attended grade school at Blue Valley School and high school at Winner High School, graduating in 1941. Viola attended Southern Teacher's College in Springfield, SD. She taught at Claremont and Blue Valley schools.
Viola decided to change careers, so she traveled with three other girls to Florida. She worked as a waitress in the big hotels on Miami Beach. She moved to Chicago and while working at a country club, she met her future husband. They were married June 9, 1952 in Chicago. They continued to work in hotels and clubs for several years, but changed their careers to work as cook and butler for the wealthy, living and traveling with them to their various homes.
Their last jobs together were working in the apple orchard around Chicago. After Vi's husband, Ed passed away on August 5, 1981, she continued to work in the orchard until moving to Winner, SD, in 2006. She lived in her own apartment until 2012, when she moved to Golden Prairie Manor.
She is survived by several nieces and nephews.
Viola was preceded in death by husband, Eddie Burke; parents, Henning and Jennie Benson; siblings, Ed, Alice, Mildred, Helen, Ethel, Walter, Elmer, Harry, Stanley, and Jean.
She will be laid to rest with her husband, Edmund Burke, A WWII veteran, at the Calverton National Cemetery.