Rosalie "Lee" E. (Rekenthaler) Sullivan 1939 - 2016

REKENTHALER, SULLIVAN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen- Volunteer (email)
Date: 11/1/2016 at 12:43:38

Sioux City Journal
7 August 2016

SIOUX CITY | Rosalie "Lee" E. (Rekenthaler) Sullivan, 76, formerly of Sioux City, passed away Dec. 30, 2015, at Gateway Gardens Memory Center in Springfield, Ore.

Memorial services will be 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at First United Methodist Church in Watertown, S.D.

Lee was born Dec. 11, 1939, in Sioux City, the second of three children to Laura Lill and Reynold Rekenthaler. Lee loved learning and excelled at Joy Grade School and Sioux City East High School, where she earned a coveted Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award for promising science students. She was salutatorian of her graduating class.

In 1959, she married James Charles Sullivan. They lived briefly in Pipestone, Minn., before settling in Watertown, where they raised three daughters, Colleen "Koko" Sullivan, Erin Sullivan and Kate Sullivan. James and Lee divorced in 1982. He passed away in 2003.

Her educational journey continued as she attended Morningside College in Sioux City, North Dakota State University in Fargo and South Dakota State University in Brookings, where she graduated with honors and earned a Bachelor of Science in math and a Master of Arts in counseling and education. During her time at SDSU, she became active in the women's movement and progressive politics. During her time in South Dakota, she worked tirelessly on social justice issues, in large part so her daughters would live in a more equal and just society.

Lee worked a variety of jobs and served as the C.E.T.A. coordinator at Job Service in Watertown. Later she became a rehabilitation specialist, working for CIGNA Corporation, before beginning her career as an independent contractor who worked with employees injured on the job. She loved her work and her clients and established a reputation with employers as being both compassionate and effective.

Lee was a resident of Springfield from 2013 to 2015. Before moving to Oregon, she resided in Las Vegas, Nev.

Lee was a tremendous parent and instilled in her daughters a love of learning to rival her own, a fondness for dogs, and a sense that they, like she, should be compassionate and serve others. They will miss her wit, her kindness, and her conviction that one should always make the best of any and every situation.

Survivors include two daughters, Kate Sullivan of Eugene, Ore., and Erin Sullivan of Washington, D.C.; a granddaughter, Rose Barton of Las Vegas; a grandson, David Onate of Washington, D.C.; and a brother, Greg (Sharlyn) Rekenthaler of Minneapolis, Minn.

She was preceded in death by her longtime domestic partner, David Brevik; her middle daughter, Koko; and an older brother, Lt. Col. Douglas Rekenthaler.