Lillian Marie Foss was born on September 12, 1928, in Washburn County, Wisconsin. She was the 6th of 7 children born to Oscar Foss and Emily Olsen Foss. Lillian remembered a happy childhood on the Family dairy farm where many chores were accomplished by horse-drawn equipment.

Lillian attended grade school at Long Lake, Wisconsin. When it was time for high school, she joined her older sisters, Edith and Ruth, in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. There she met a Navy veteran, Joseph Charles Roark, who had returned to finish his education. Joe and Lil became an item and were married on May 31, 1947, at the Bethany Lutheran parsonage in Rice Lake.

In 1952, Joe and Lillian moved to the Black Hills of South Dakota where Joe became a hard rock miner in the Homestake gold mine. Lillian managed the home while Joe was doing shift work. Following a job change for Joe and moving to Mitchell, South Dakota, Lillian entered the workforce. Her favorite job was being a secretary at an elementary school. She carried memories from that to her final days. She was also very active in the Lutheran Church, being involved in many activities including serving as Sunday School superintendent.

Lillian loved her family and friends and kept them in her thoughts to the very end. She is survived by her daughter, Susan Waldron of Portland, Oregon, her son and daughter-in-law, Brad and Barbara (Nelson) Roark, of Iowa City, Iowa; grandson, Nathan Roark, and his wife Erin (Hoy) of Keene, New Hampshire; granddaughter, Chrissy Roark and her husband,( Adi Salehuddin), of Centennial, Colorado; a great-grandson and great- granddaughter, also of Centennial; and her step-grandson and step-granddaughter, Aaron and Michelle Waldron of Augusta, Maine. She is also survived by one sister-in-law, Linda Schaeffer of Alvin, Texas, and many nieces and nephews.

Lillian was predeceased by her parents, her husband Joe, a nephew, Neil Foss, and all of her siblings.

Services for Lilian will be held at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Spearfish on Thursday, March 21st at 11:00 am.

Burial to follow at Black Hills National Cemetary at 10:00 am, Friday March 22nd.