Barbara Jean Dreyer

Barbara Jean Dreyer, of Rapid City, South Dakota, passed away on May 7, 2025, at the age of 76. She was an amazing woman who touched and shaped so many lives with her ability to bring family and friends together through her gifts of cooking, baking, organizing, and entertaining.

As the oldest of four girls, she spent her childhood on a ranch near the Nebraska/South Dakota border. She attended Rushville High School, where she was a cheerleader and active in many clubs. She earned her post-secondary degree from Chadron State College. She was an elementary teacher in the town of Clinton, NE, before choosing to stay home with her children and help manage the family farm she had built with her husband, Mel.

After years of devastating hailstorms made it impossible to continue farming, Barb and Mel made the difficult decision to start over in Rapid City, SD. They worked hard to support their four children. Barb found a job at Bangs, McCullen Law Firm as a receptionist and worked her way up to become the office manager. She exhibited professionalism and grace during her 30+ years of service to the firm. She had many dear friends from her time there.

In her retirement years, she focused her full attention on her family, friends, and much-loved dachshunds, Jace and Henry. She continued her traditions of hosting sister weekends and cousin camps. She was able to cheer on her grandchildren at sporting events, enjoy lunch with friends, attend exercise classes, and volunteer at her church. She loved her weekly coffee time with her Bagel Buddies. She also traveled internationally with her husband, Mel, vacationed in Mexico with her kids and grandkids, and recently traveled to Hawaii with her daughter Karla, granddaughter Lilah, and sister Carmen.

She was a loving wife to Melvin and a devoted mother to her children: Karen (Michael), Brian (Shelby), Ed (Brynn), Karla (Andrew), and cherished exchange student daughter, Susi. She was a beloved sister to Nancy (Jim), Debbie (Arlyn), and Carmen (Greg). She was known as Nana and Nona to her grandchildren: Neva, Madeline, Mackenzie, Nolan, Miles, Samuel, Jett, Lilah, Bode, Max, and Winston. She also leaves behind many extended family members who will miss her dearly. She joins the following saints in heaven: her parents, Lee and Leilah; her parents-in-law, Harold and Faye; and her brother-in-law, Greg.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at South Canyon Lutheran Church in South Dakota on Friday, June 27, at 10:00 am, with a luncheon to follow. Her interment will take place at Fairview Cemetery in Rushville, NE, on Saturday, June 28, at 11:00 am with lunch to follow at the Twisted Turtle in Rushville.

Memorials can be sent to the Dakota Dachshund Rescue in honor of her profound love of animals.

“Unable are the loved to die,

For love is immortality.”

—Emily Dickinson