Jean L. Dvorak 87, wife of Joseph Dvorak died on August 28, 2018.

Jean was born December 30, 1931 at Wishek, ND.  Three years later she moved with her parents to Redfield, SD.  Jean was the eldest of five children.

She attended a rural elementary school and graduated from Redfield High School in 1948.  After attending ten weeks of summer school at Black Hills Teachers College; she taught a year in a rural elementary school.  That summer she went with her Uncle and Aunt on a combine crew to Texas and back to help cook for the combine crew.

Jean married Joseph Dvorak June 11, 1950.  They farmed in the Redfield area until 1978.  During that time Jean attended Northern State College, 1965-69, graduating the same year her daughter Diana graduated from high school.  She then taught 6 years in the Redfield Elementary School.  She worked at Huron College 1978 – 1981in the area of Adult and Continuing Education.  While there she obtained a master's degree through Goddard College "University Without Walls Program".

June 1981 Jean and her husband Joe moved to Spearfish, SD where she was employed as a librarian at Black Hills State University.  After retiring in 1993 they did an eight-month R.V. trip East to see the colors, Maine to Florida.  Jean enjoyed traveling, RVing and going to England for the wedding of a foreign exchange student, Israel for a grandson's Bar Mitzvah, and to Banff and Jasper Canada with some of the family.

Jean belonged to the United Methodist Church and the Northern Hills Quilt Guild, often making baby quilts, "prayer quilts" and charity quilts.

She is survived by her husband Joe Dvorak Spearfish; daughter Diana Hochstetter (Bill) Winter Springs, FL; sons David Dvorak (Beatrice) Sioux Falls, SD and Daniel Dvorak (Rita) Waite Park, MN; grandchildren Kellee Dvorak Blumer (Nick), Jacque Dvorak Economo (Nick), Matthew Dvorak (Amber), Ryan Dvorak (Mara), Adam Hochstetter and Ben Hochstetter (Audrey); great-grandchildren Austin Blumer, Olivia and Owen Economo, Darryan Andrews, Gavin Dvorak, Ganon Dvorak and Addison Hochstetter; two sisters, Betty Geuke (Gordon) Zell, SD and Joyce Davies, Auburn, NY.

She was preceded in death by her parents Carl Backer and Vuriel Young Backer, two grandchildren, Jeffrey Dvorak and Elly Dvorak, and her brothers, Bruce Backer and Ralph Backer.

A service of remembrance will be held at 1:00pm on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at the United Methodist Church in Spearfish, with inurnment to follow in the Rose Garden in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of the Northern Hills or the Spearfish United Methodist Church.