Eleanor Toyne Obituary

Eleanor M. Toyne, age 102 years and 2 days, formerly of Springfield, SD, passed away on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Tyndall, SD.
A celebration of life will be held on Tuesday, May 27 at 10:00 a.m. at the UCC Church in Springfield with burial to follow at the Springfield Cemetery. Visitation with the family present will be 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 26, 2025, at the UCC Church.
Eleanor M. Toyne was born on May 18, 1923 to Sampson and Ladie (Boyd) Thomas on Brookfield Farm in Springfield, SD. She attended a one room country school before attending Springfield High School, when she graduated on May 23, 1941. After taking a year off from school to help on the family farm, she attended SDSU in Brookings, SD. She was the first woman to receive a degree in Horticulture when she graduated in December of 1946.
After graduation she moved to Waterloo, IA and began working for Platts Nursery until 1956. While in Waterloo, IA, she met T. Merle Toyne and they were married on November 25, 1955, at her parent's farm. In 1956 they moved back to South Dakota and rented farmland until they bought Windy West farm, which is where they reared their children, Beth and James, who were adopted in 1961 and became naturalized citizens March 10, 1964. In 1977 they bought the Perkins Farm where they continued to farm until their retirement in 2000. They moved to the house on Airport Road after retiring.
Eleanor had many "paying hobbies" including local Fuller Brush Dealer, USDA Commodities distributor, Montgomery Center Food service at USD/S, Customer Service in the horticulture department at Gurney's Seed and Nursery before officially retiring.
Eleanor was a member of the UCC Church and served on many boards, sang in the choir, and was a member of the Willing Workers at the Emanuel Reformed Church. She was a Master Gardner and drove to various local towns to give classes. She was also a mentor at the Springfield Prison for a number of years. One of Eleanor's accomplishments later in life was that she received her black belt in Taekwondo on October 7, 1991, at the age of 68.
Her "work" was her gardening, from which she received the greatest satisfaction. Even in retirement she continued to have a 3000 sq. ft. garden until 2017 when she went into the Springfield Assisted Living. Every Fall she canned produce from her garden. Every year she inevitably had a surplus of produce so she would share with neighbors and friends.
Eleanor was preceded in death by her parents, husband, T. Merle Toyne, brothers and their spouses: David (Helen) Thomas, Clark (Neva) Thomas, Alicia (Judy O'Donoghue) and Neil (Doris) Thomas; son-in-law, Jon Schneider; and grandson, Jason Michael Schneider.
Grateful for having shared in her life are her daughter, Beth Schneider of Huron, SD, son, James (Payla) Toyne, Yankton, SD, grandsons: Tyler (Laura) Toyne of Mt. Shasta, CA, Jesse Toyne of Sioux Falls, SD, and Matthew (Tawni) Schneider of Huron, SD; 4 great grandchildren: James, Georgie, Willow and Grayson; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
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