Mary Alice Halverson might be regarded as Yankton's guardian angel.
Since coming to Yankton with her husband, Dr. Kenneth Halverson, in 1964, she has been a tireless worker and volunteer on many social fronts in the community -- and beyond.
She has been involved with activities at the South Dakota Human Services Center and continues to offer monthly spiritual programming. She was also instrumental in the founding of the IMPACT center. She's lent her talents and her spirit to the Yankton Refugee Program, Meals on Wheels, the United Way, the League of Women Voters and various soup kitchens. She and her husband have also had leading roles in the local Habitat for Humanity program and worked with Habitat founder, former President Jimmy Carter, on a housing project in Eagle Butte five years ago. She has also been active in the United Methodist Women's organization.
Halverson has served on the Yankton School Board and the Yankton Library Board.
She was named Yankton's Citizen of the Year in 1985.
In 1999, Halverson was awarded an honorary doctorate from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell for her "significant contributions in the areas of humanitarian service, community work and church leadership."
CENTURY EDITION
