Loraine Shirley Crist Yusten, daughter of Lawrence and Rachel Peterson Crist, was born on June 16, 1927, at the farm home seven miles southeast of Gann Valley, South Dakota, and passed away July 6, 2022 in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. She attended rural school on horseback, a distance of three miles, and attended Gann Valley High School, riding seven miles. In 1943-1944 she attended Dakota Wesleyan University and Wessington Springs Junior College. She then taught rural school for two years.
Loraine met Bob Yusten in the spring of 1946 and they were married on Sept. 26, 1946, in Mitchell, SD. They lived on a farm when the first two boys, Cy (1948) and Merl (1949) were born at Wessington Springs Memorial Hospital. The family moved to Mitchell, SD, in 1950 where Steve (1951) and twins, Rickie and Vickie (1952) were born.
The family moved to the Black Hills in 1954. Loraine received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education in 1960 from Black Hills College (now Black Hills State University) in Spearfish, SD. The family continued their transit lifestyle living in Oklahoma, Arizona, and then Wyoming where Loraine taught rural primary grades south of Buffalo, WY. In 1966 the family moved to Fremont, California. While living there, she taught in schools in Hayward, CA, until 1972 when she and Bob began their “RVing” lifestyle. They had a small travel trailer and traveled over northern California, Oregon, and Washington that summer. Winters found them in Arizona and New Mexico. As years passed they lived in a 5th wheel travel trailer and motorhomes.
Loraine worked at various jobs including telephone answering service, hotel maid service, National Park bookstores, and eventually became a National Park Ranger in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado in 1981. She worked summers there until 1993, with the exception of 1992 when she worked as a ranger in Skagway, Alaska, at the Klondike Gold Rush Park.
In 2008 Bob and she ended the RV lifestyle and settled in Gering, Nebraska, and in April 2013 moved into an assisted living facility.
Loraine enjoyed travel and learning about different places and people. She and Bob made trips to Europe on tours and traveled over the United States and much of Canada. Loraine hopes everyone’s life is as interesting as hers was. She followed her mother’s advice: “You can do anything you put your mind to.” The only regret she had was that finances and time didn’t allow her to learn to pilot an airplane. Other than that, she met most of her goals in life: family, travel, and interesting work. She feels that her travels are now continuing in a different dimension.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob, in January 2017. Survivors include her children, Cy (Peggy) Yusten, Merl Yusten, Steve (Mary) Yusten, Rick (Ellen) Yusten, and Vickie (Bob) Nemnich; five grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, as well as several stepgrandchildren and step great-grandchildren.