Obituary of Julie Gergen

Gergen Julie

Marianna Julie Gergen, 83, entered into her heavenly rest on January 11, 2025 in hospice at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton, SD surrounded by her loving family. Visitation will be at the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home and Crematory on Thursday, January 16, 2025, from 5 to 7 pm with the family present and Wake service at 7:00 pm. Visitation will resume one hour prior to the service at the church. Funeral Mass of Christian Burial and Celebration of Julie's life will be at St. Benedict Catholic Church, Yankton, SD on Friday, January 17 at 10:30 am. Online condolences may be sent at www.opsahl-kostelfuneralhome.com. To view Julie’s service click this link: https://server.attend.live/static/event/73Agj.

. Marianna was born June 14, 1941, at home west of Elk Point in Union County, SD to Mary Florence (Connelly) and Edward P. Donnelly. She attended Elk Point Schools where she was President of her Senior Class, graduating in 1959. After high school, she enrolled in the Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Yankton, SD in 1959 and soon after entered Sacred Heart Monastery becoming Sister Julie where she was a member until leaving the order in 1970. After leaving the order, she still went by Julie, the name most of us knew her by. While still a Benedictine, she received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mount Marty College in 1964 then attended Boston College where she received a Master's Degree in Maternal Child Nursing Education in 1967. Returning to Yankton in 1968, she taught primarily Maternal Child Nursing at Mount Marty College with a two-year hiatus when she taught Nursing at Keuka Collage in New York.  In 1976 she obtained a Master's degree from the University of South Dakota in Counseling. She retired from teaching in 2002.

She married Daniel Gergen in 1972, and the marriage was blessed with a daughter Rebecca, a foster daughter Helene Bich Nguyen and a son Francis.

Her commitment to her Catholic faith and education led her to teach religious education classes at Sacred Heart Parish and she later became a founding member of St. Benedict Parish where she was a member of the liturgy committee and volunteer for the funeral committee where she learned that you need to make sure you don’t take anybody else’s assigned job.  As a nursing instructor, she was a founding member of Yankton Childbirth Educators helping to prepare countless parents for childbirth.  She was committed to helping her students gain a greater appreciation of Indigenous traditions and understanding of cultural differences by taking her students to provide medical support to the Rosebud community.   Her love for libraries drew her to the Yankton Community Library Board where she served several terms.  When her son Francis entered Cub Scouts, she became a dedicated den mother for his troop.  Following her retirement, the Benedictine value of community motivated her to embrace the Habitat for Humanity mission of healthy affordable homes by becoming involved in the early years of Habitat for Humanity of Yankton County as part of the Family Selection Committee for several terms and later as Acting Director.  Most recently, she became an oblate of Sacred Heart Monastery. 

She took great joy in traveling with Dan, exploring the Lewis and Clark Trail, eastern and western Canada, Greece, Italy, Norway as well as her ancestral homeland, Ireland. She especially loved the Black Hills where the family camped primitively every year and eventually purchased a cabin with indoor plumbing where many relatives and friends were entertained.

She is survived by her loving husband of 53 years Daniel, Yankton, daughter Rebecca Gergen; son Francis (Holly) Gergen and Granddaughter Kailyn all of Sioux Falls; foster daughter Helene Bich (Duyen Ho) Nguyen and foster grandchildren Eileen (David) Ho and Vincent (Lisa) Ho of San Jose, and foster great-grandchildren Jaron, Vivi, Desmond and Damian all of San Jose, California; sister Kathleen (Mike) Evans of St. Louis, Missouri, brother Edward (Linda) Donnelly of Elk Point, South Dakota, sister Maureen Fitzer of Memphis, Tennessee; many nieces and nephews and many, many friends. She was predeceased by her father Edward P. Donnelly, mother Mary Florence, infant brother and brother-in-law John Fitzer.

Memorials may be made to the Mount Marty Nursing Program Scholarship Fund, established by Julie and her fellow 1964 Mount Marty Nursing School class or the Avera Sacred Heart Foundation – Hospice which provided Julie and her family dignity and great comfort during her final days.