Amber Ellen Mack-Bankhead

Amber was born on December 14, 1976 in Sioux Falls, SD. She was adopted as an infant into a loving family by Andrew Mack and Jeanette ( Kranz ) Mack. She was baptized at Holy Rosary Church and grew up on the family farm near Watertown with three older adopted siblings, 1 sister ( Laurie ) and 2 brothers ( Marty and Patrick ). She attended grade school in Watertown and graduated from Watertown high school in 1995. After graduating high school, she attended South Dakota State University and completed a Bachelor’s of Science in Fashion Merchandising. After college she moved to St. Louis, Missouri where she found employment at Saks Fifth Avenue as a sales associate and would eventually be promoted to Merchandising Department Team Lead.

In 2004 she met Douglas Bankhead and they were married on August 1, 2008 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Watertown. The couple lived in St. Louis, MO until 2011 when they moved to Houston, TX when Amber received a promotion with Saks to be an Assistant Manager at the Saks Flagship store in the Houston Galleria.

Amber continued working for Saks for several years until she decided to pursue her love for interior design. In 2019 she completed an Associate of Science Degree in Interior Design at Houston Community College. Upon graduation Amber began her second career as a Design Assistant at Scene One Interiors in Houston where she quickly became very close to the owner Steve Clifton and the entire team at Scene One which she very much considered her second family.

Amber had an inspired eye for color and design and loved the creative work of interior design, a passion which she shared with her mother who had taught her how to reupholster furniture earlier in life. She often sent pictures and told stories of the home owners of the high-end custom luxury she worked on who were particular and demanding, but always very appreciative of her completed work!

Outside of work Amber liked to read mystery novels and enjoyed police dramas on tv as well as movies and the occasional live theater performance. She also liked to work on coloring books and small art projects at home. Amber liked to travel and had recently completed a “bucket list” item by visiting Hawaii with some family members earlier in 2025. Amber enjoyed spending time with her friends in Houston, time with her loving pet rescue pitbull dog “Bruno”, and would also visit her family back home in Watertown as often as possible, often returning for the famous Kranzburg parade 4th of July celebration!

Amber touched many lives and is survived by her loving husband Douglas ( and Bruno ) in Houston, her brother Marty and wife JoLynn Mack ( whom she considered a sister ) and their growing family in Watertown as well as many other family and friends in both Watertown and Houston. She will be dearly missed by all that knew her.

A memorial service for Amber will be held on Saturday, December 27, 2025 at Cashner Funeral Home in Conroe, TX at 2:00 p.m.

Visitation with family will be at Wight & Comes Funeral Chapel on Friday, January 2, 2026 from 5-7pm (111 4th St NE, Watertown, SD 5720).

Funeral Mass will be at Immaculate Conception Church on Saturday, January 3, 2026 at 10:30am with Fr. Richard Fox and Fr. John Lantsberger officiating. Burial to follow immediately afterwards at Holy Rosary Cemetery in Kransburg. A repass will follow at the church (309 2nd Ave SE, Watertown, SD 57201).

The family will be available to greet friends during open visitation at Wight Comes Funeral Home in the near future.

Amber’s cremated remains will join her parents Andrew and Janette at Holy Rosary Cemetery in Kranzburg. Following the funeral and burial will be a luncheon at the church. In lieu of flowers the family would prefer donations to these two charities: The American Cancer Society - www.cancer.org or The V Foundation - www.v.org.