Mildred "Honey" O'Neill (91) of Webster, South Dakota

Mildred “Honey” O’Neill 91 of Webster, South Dakota passed away Friday September 15, 2017 at Sanford Hospital in Webster.

Funeral services will be 11:00 A.M. Wednesday September 20 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Webster. Burial will be in the Webster Cemetery. Visitation will be at Fiksdal Funeral Service in Webster on Tuesday 5-7 P.M.

Online condolences may be left by clicking here. 

Mildred “Honey” Eloise Fiksdal was born on November 27, 1925 at Webster, South Dakota to Jon Richmond and Mildred (Gieseking) Fiksdal. She attended grade school in Webster and Altamont, Illinois, where she lived with her grandmother. She graduated from Eastern High School in 1943, while living in Washington D.C. with her mother and sister. Mildred continued her education at The University of South Dakota where she completed her Bachelor’s degree, graduating with the class of 1946. Mildred was an airline stewardess for Northwest Airlines from December 1946 to May 1954, and chief stewardess from May 1954 to May 1956. In June 1956, she married Edwin Bates Stroble, which ended in divorce. In 1967, she married Joseph P. O’Neill, which later ended in divorce. Mildred was a teacher and after attending University of Virginia, she became the librarian for Fairfax County Public Schools from November 1958 to November 1983. She was librarian at Dunnloring and Annandale Elementary Schools until Stenwood opened in 1963, from which she retired after 20 years in November 1983. Fairfax County Public Schools honored her by naming the Stenwood library, “The Mildred O’Neill Library”. Mildred was an avid bird watcher, member of Arlington County’s first environmental commission, and Solidwaste committee. She was a shoe collector, both miniatures and “real shoes”; having numbered 11,017 shoes at present time. Her shoe collection was bequeathed to the Museum of Wildlife, Science, and Industry of Northeastern South Dakota, (MWSI/NESD) located in Webster, South Dakota. She was a member of Faith Lutheran Church in Arlington, Virginia, where she served at Deacon of Social Concerns Committee for eight years until moving to Webster, where she reinstated her membership at St. John’s Lutheran Church.

M.E. O’Neill passed away Friday September 15, 2017 at Webster, South Dakota at the age of 91 years, 9 months, and 19 days.

Survivors include her sister Ramona I. Bowden of Washington D.C., her half-sister Jane (Ronald) Lundstrom of Rockford, IL, half-brother John (Patricia) Fiksdal of Webster, SD, three nephews, five step-children, and six step-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, one half-brother, one nephew, her two ex-husbands, uncle, Gerald (Ruth) Gieseking, and aunt, Beatrice (William) Baker.