Obituary of Doreen Mikolash

MIKOLASH DOREEN

Doreen Mikolash, age 93 of Tabor, SD passed away Thursday, September 19, 2024 at the Good Samaritan Society, Tyndall, SD.  Mass of Christian Burial will be 2:00 PM, Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, Tabor, SD with Rev. Darin Schmidt officiating.  The burial will be in the parish cemetery.  Visitations will be from 5 to 7 PM, Monday, September 23, 2024, at the Opsahl-Kostel Memorial Chapel, Tabor, SD with a Scripture service at 7:00 PM and one hour prior to the funeral at the church. Online condolences may be sent at: www.opsahl-kostelfuneralhome.com.

Doreen (Souhrada) Mikolash was born January 2, 1931, on the family farm home near Tabor SD.  Her parents were Edward and Mary (Kortan) Souhrada.  She attended Tabor Elementary and graduated from Tabor High School in 1948 where she was a cheerleader for the Tabor Cardinals.

Following high school graduation, she attended one summer session at Southern State Teachers College and that fall, at age 17, began teaching grades K-8 at Byrne School #62 south of Tabor.  She attended three additional summer sessions and in 1952 received a diploma for completing the one-year teaching program.  She taught at Byrne for three years and at Vlasak School #27 west of Tabor for nine years (1952-1960).

When her brother Alfred went to the service, she did corn cultivating and haying for her father.  She loved taking her beloved Model T out on Saturday nights, picking up her girlfriends and heading to one or more dances in the area.

She married Bernard Mikolash on May 15, 1957 in Tabor, SD.  Doreen continued to teach at the country school until their daughter Debra was born in 1960.

Doreen worked alongside Bernard on their farm near Tabor and always had a large garden and many chickens.  She baked the best kolaches.

The love of children and teaching continued to shape her life for over 40 years.  She taught CCD at the Catholic Church in Tabor and especially enjoyed preparing the 2^nd grade classes for 1^st Communion.  She was a loving and devoted babysitter for her two grandchildren.  After they started school, she was a volunteer at countless school activities and loved reading to elementary students.  Doreen then worked as a substitute teacher at Tyndall Elementary for many years.

After Bernard’s death in 1995 Doreen continued to live on the farm.  In January 2017 she moved to an apartment in Tabor and in October 2019 moved to the Tyndall Good Samaritan Center.

She was a member of the St Wenceslaus Altar Society and Czech Heritage Society.

She is survived by daughter Debra (James) Kokes, Tabor; grandson Jason (Katie) Kokes, Tabor; granddaughter Janelle (Darren) Kriz, Tyndall; 5 great grandchildren: Knox Kokes, Hattie Kokes, Briggs Kriz, Nash Kriz and Jax Kriz; sister-in-law Eleanor Mikolash; and several nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by husband Bernard, parents Edward & Mary Souhrada, brother Alfred Souhrada; parents-in-law William and Lillian Mikolash; brothers-in-law Norman Mikolash, Leo Rezac, Walter Immers, Orren Prentiss; sisters-in-law Gladys Souhrada, Ruth Rezac, Florence Immers, Velma Prentiss; five nephews James Immers, Michael Prentiss, Steven Prentiss, Richard Rezac, Dan Bouza.