Connie Lee (Valentine) Wendell, passed away on May 25, 2021, at Riverview Health Care Center, at the age of 81. Connie had been under Hospice Care and died of complications of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. This was a battle she had been fighting for the past 3 ½ years. Connie Lee, was born on November 6, 1939, to John and Margarite (Billam) Valentine, in Flandreau, SD. Connie lived in many towns as a child: Flandreau, Egan, Sioux Falls, Richmond, CA, Colman, and in 1948, settled back in Egan, SD, where she graduated Valedictorian, in 1957. After graduation, Connie attended General Beadle State Teacher College (DSU) in Madison, SD, where she met the love of her life, John Wendell. Connie and John would be married in January of 1960. Both would go on to graduate in 1961.

Connie taught high school English at Dell Rapids, SD, Estelline, SD, and then in 1969, John and she both accepted positions at the Flandreau Indian School in Flandreau. Connie was very active at FIS. She was the Junior Class Advisor, decorated for proms, Girls Volleyball Coach, and the Title I Director for many years. She cherished her time at FIS, and her students were treated as her own children, many of whom she was still in contact with up to the time of her death. Connie was a strong believer of education for all, appreciation of the teachers, and Equal Rights. Connie loved to read and was an avid bird watcher. After her retirement, she would spend hours feeding and watching her birds. Connie also had a love of genealogy, which kept her mind busy searching for details of her past relatives and writing stories of their history. She also followed her grandchildren to their sporting events, and enjoyed spending time with each of them, as often as she could.

Grateful for sharing her life are her children: Mike (Gretchen) Wendell, Colman, SD, and Jill (Mike) Schreiber, Oacoma, SD; special adopted daughter, Leslie (Wayne) Cunningham; grandchildren: Jacque Wendell, Ezekiel Wendell, Garrett Satterly, Janelle Satterly (Tyler Moodie), Cody (Madisen) Schreiber, Shelby Schreiber (Zack Gillette); one great-grandson, Briggs Schreiber, and another Schreiber great-grandson expected September 2021; and her siblings: John (Barb) Valentine, AZ, Linda Valentine, MN, and Jim (Jeannette) Valentine, MN.

Connie was preceded in death by her husband E. John; her parents, John and Margarite Valentine; brother, George Valentine; sisters, Carol (Valentine) Olson, and Nancy (Valentine) Waxdahl.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 am on Friday, June 4, 2021 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Flandreau, with private family burial at Union Cemetery, Flandreau.