Mildred Margaret (Lopour) Liegl was born September 21, 1916 in Gregory County and returned to the Lord on December 14, 2011.

Mildred was the only child of Edward and Barbara (Hlavaka) Lopour. They lived in various locations in Gregory County including, at one point, as close neighbors to Oscar Micheaux. Mildred attended country schools and graduated from Gregory High School.

Like all their neighbors, the Lopours were challenged by the Depression. Mildred loved to tell her grandchildren stories about hunting for gophers to collect the bounty on gopher tails and hunting pheasants and rabbits for food.

Mildred attended Southern State Normal School and Notre Dame Junior College to earn a teaching certificate and taught country school in Gregory and Davison Counties from the late 1930s-1954. Her greatest pride was that one of her former students won the state spelling bee.

Mildred married George Liegl on June 17, 1946 and they relocated to Mitchell where George attended business college for two years. Mildred taught country school in Davison County. In 1948, Rene was born.

In 1949 the Liegl family returned to Burke. Candace was born in 1950 and Mildred continued teaching in Gregory County schools until 1954 when she started working at the Courthouse. She worked in various offices and retired in the mid-1980s as Deputy Register of Deeds.

Mildred's motto in life was "Don't be a know-nothing" and she believed that education was essential to success. She was an advocate for education all of her life. She worked hard to assure that her students, children, and grandchildren had opportunities to excel. Every summer the grandchildren were invited to spend time at Grandma's house where she could spoil them and take them to Wall Drug and the Black Hills.

Mildred was always a country girl at heart and maintained a large garden. She was very proud of receiving the Garden of the Week designation several times. She was active in community organizations including VFW Auxilliary, Gregory County Democrats, and VFW Rodeo.

Mildred was preceded in death by her parents and husband, George Liegl. Survivors include: Rene (Dorothy) Liegl, Pierre; Candace McManis, Overland Park, KS; Grandchildren: Robert (Elba) McManis, Oak Point, TX; Shawn Liegl, Davenport, FL; Chris Liegl, Hahnville, LA; Great-grandchildren: Jack McManis and Stashia Hveem Liegl.

Memorial services will be held at a later date.