Ella Mae Korthals, 90, of Brookings, and formerly of Huron, died Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, at The Neighborhoods at Brookview.
Funeral services are at 10:30 a.m. Monday, at First United Methodist Church in Brookings with burial to follow in Greenwood Cemetery. Visitation is from 5-7 p.m. Sunday, at Eidsness Funeral Home.
Ella Mae Breeding was born May 31, 1927, to Paul and Ella Francis (McCormick) Breeding, in Mitchell. Ella Mae lived on the family farm north of White Lake. She attended Patton Country School until third grade when they moved to town, and she graduated from White Lake Public School in 1945. She graduated from SDSC in 1949, with a degree in home economics education. Ella Mae completed a lengthy teaching career beginning in Canistota, then teaching in Woonsocket, and finally retiring from the Huron Public Schools in 1982. She also worked as a librarian at the public library between her tenures at Woonsocket and Huron.
Ella Mae married Edward Korthals on June 18, 1950. They moved to Huron and purchased their first home in 1951. Ella Mae lived in this home until 2011, when she moved to Stoneybrook Suites Assisted Living in Brookings to be closer to her daughter and family. While in Huron, Ella Mae was an avid bowler, a member of Beta Sigma Phi, SDEA, and the First United Methodist Church.
Family was very important to Ella Mae, and she especially liked following the activities of her two grandsons as they grew up. She enjoyed sewing, gardening and playing bridge. In her retirement, she learned to be an accomplished painter and greeting card maker.
Ella Mae is survived by her daughter, Kim (Craig) Carson, of Brookings, grandsons: Andrew (Melissa) Carson of Nashville, and Justin Carson of Chicago; and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her brother, Warren Breeding.
Memorials may be given in Ella Mae’s name to the Huron Public Library, South Dakota State University Family Consumer Science Education, or the Brookings First United Methodist Church.
