JoLene Bywater

JoLene Bywater, 81, of Schuyler passed away on November 22, 2023 at CHI Immanuel Hospital in Omaha.

Memorials can be directed towards Family Wishes for later designation.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, November 28, at 11 a.m. at Svoboda Funeral Home, 905 A St. Schuyler, NE. Visitation will take place from 10 until 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Following the service, JoLene's wishes were to be cremated with inurnment in the Schuyler Cemetery at a later date. Svoboda Funeral Home is helping her family with arrangements.

JoLene Bywater was born on April 6, 1942, in Charles Mix County, South Dakota to Emil Soulek and Helen Mary (Sedivy) Soulek. She grew up on a farm north of Pickstown, South Dakota and attended schools in Ravinia and Pickstown, where she graduated from high school in 1959. While in high school, she worked at the Buche’s Dry Goods store and Krell’s Café in Lake Andes. Following graduation, she moved to Rapid City for a time and worked at the Rose Marketeria. She returned to Lake Andes and returned to the Buche’s store as a bookkeeper and as a secretary at the Charles Mix County Extension Office. She continued her affection for South Dakota life and moved to Chamberlain where she was employed as a secretary with the Eagle-Western Construction Company during construction of the Big Bend Dam. While there, she met her future husband, Russell L. Bywater as he was working for the Corps of Engineers, and they were married on November 10, 1964. Although she was a farm girl at heart, she raised sons Russ Jr. and Brian at several locations while accompanying her husband on his work assignments in Denver, Omaha, Rapid City, and Pickstown. While in Omaha, she worked as a school secretary at Arbor Heights Junior High School, and while in Pickstown, she worked as a waitress at the Fort Randall Bait Shop Cafe. During Russell’s retirement, they lived in Chamberlain for a time, and she worked as a hostess at Al’s Oasis. She loved being around people and was not afraid of hard work. During retirement, she continued working as a campground host and office worker at campgrounds in South Dakota and Texas. Her final years were spent as a homemaker in Schuyler, where she continued to love working outside in the yard.

JoLene is survived by her husband of 59 years, Russell of Schuyler; sons Russ Jr. (Yvonne) of Hurst, Texas and Brian (Chrissi) of Schuyler; grandsons Brandon of Hurst, Texas, Connor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Gavin of Lawrence, Kansas; brother Jack (Pamela) of Yankton, South Dakota and sister Alice Peterson of Rapid City, South Dakota; sister-in-law Dorothy of Rapid City, South Dakota; and many loved nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Wayne and Don Soulek; sisters Georgine Greene and Darlene Brown; brothers-in-law Richard Brown, Lloyd (Pete) Peterson, and Jerry Greene.