Betty Kloster

Betty Kloster, age 85, of Milbank, SD, passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at the St. William’s Care Center with family at her side.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, May 8, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Living Word Lutheran Church in Milbank, SD. Visitation will be held on Thursday, May 7, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Living Word Lutheran Church, and will continue one hour prior to the service on Friday. Pastor Sandra Marquardt will officiate. Burial will be at Milbank City Cemetery.

Betty Janette (Heil) Kloster was born July 6th, 1940, in Coldwater Township, McIntosh County, ND, to Fred and Barbara (Sayler) Heil. She was baptized at St. Lucas Lutheran Church and confirmed at the Peace Lutheran (Schumacher) Church. She grew up on the family homestead east of Ashley, ND, raising horses, cattle, and caring for her younger brothers so that her parents and the older brothers could work outside on the farm. She attended a one-room country school only through the 8th grade since high school was too far and expensive for her to attend. However, that didn’t stop her from secretly “borrowing” her country school math and science textbooks so that she could continue to educate herself at home.

In 1960, Betty decided to leave the farm and moved to Ellendale, ND, to take a job at the hospital. She moved into a basement apartment across the street, her first home with running water. At the hospital, she worked as a nurse’s aide and a surgical technician in the operating room, assisting doctors with their instruments. While living in Ellendale, she continued to acquire high school textbooks to study and passed her GED examination.

After deciding that pursuing a nursing degree would take her too far from home, Betty moved to Wahpeton, ND, in 1967 to attend the Science School there. She earned degrees in Secretarial Training and Stenography in 1969. Afterward, she worked in the offices of Montgomery Ward and Sturdevant's Auto before taking a government job at the local ASCS branch. During this time, she met Edward Kloster through friends at school, they were married November 11th, 1972, and lived in Breckenridge, MN. In 1974, Ed and Betty moved to Milbank, SD, with the new Big Stone power plant and bought a home where they lived together for fifty years and raised their two children.

Betty stayed at home full-time in Milbank, but she volunteered her time for several school functions and took many shifts at the Community Thrift Store. She enjoyed traveling around in her camper trailer, drinking coffee with friends, growing vegetables in her garden, and planting flower beds in her yard, many of which still return years later.

Betty was an active member at American Lutheran Church for 35 years before becoming a charter member of Living Word Lutheran Church in Milbank. She was a disciplined follower of Jesus Christ. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2002 and again in 2017, but her faith sustained her through these difficult struggles, and she survived both illnesses to spend several more years with her family.

Betty is survived by her husband, Ed, of 53 years; older brother: LeRoy (Aldora) Heil of Ashley, ND; younger brother: Leslie Heil of Jamestown, ND; daughter: Barbara Kloster of Milbank, SD; son: David (Abigail) Kloster of Austin, TX, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; four infant brothers; one infant sister, and younger brothers Delbert and DeWayne Heil.

Lovingly written by Betty's family.