RAPID CITY Lola Marie (Calhoon) Matuska, 90, Rapid City, died Tuesday, July 21, 2009, surrounded by family & friends at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Visitation will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, July 24, at the Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home. Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 25, at the First Congregational Church, with the Rev. Ted Huffman officiating. Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, July 27, at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis. Lola was born March 5th, 1919 in Ideal, SD to Edgar I. Calhoon & Artie J. (Heller) Calhoon. She lived on the family Homestead with her parents & younger brother Ralph until the family moved to Bonesteel, SD in 1929. She attended Bonesteel High School & was active in sports, cheerleading, & academics & graduated Cum Laude in 1937. She also attended Greens Beauty College in Rapid City, SD & graduated as a cosmetologist in 1936 even before graduating from High School. At age 21 she drove to Pierre with her mother to take her state exam, was granted her cosmetologist license, & began a life long career in the Beauty Salon Business as a practitioner & Owner/Operator. She operated Salons in Colorado, Yankton, Bonesteel, & Rapid City, SD She married Walter Fedde in 1939 & lived in Bonesteel, SD & Leadville, Colorado. In 1946 they opened & operated the Dakota Caf & the Dakota Bar in Yankton, SD. She married the love of her life, James Matuska on May 24th, 1953 and started a long adventure together. After turning over management of the Dakota Bar in Yankton to Jims brother, they moved to Bonesteel where they owned & operated a propane gas bottling business. Lola & Jim moved to Rapid City with their two sons & Lolas Mother in 1956 upon the death of her father. Lola & Jim owned & operated the Rosebud, Ranch House, Western, & Dakota Motels, the Hillsview Mobile Home Park, & the North Rapid Beauty Salon. While raising a family and managing several businesses, Lola was passionate about service to her community and country, and dedicated much of her time along with her husband Jim to many veterans, religious, professional and non-profit organizations and causes. Lola was a founding & active member of the Rapid City Hospitality Association & was named, along with Jim, Innkeeper of the Year in 1985 by the Association. She was active member of the Does of the Elks & the American Business Womans Association. She was also a member of the Easter Star, with the Rosebud Chapter of Bonesteel and the Golden Link Chapter of Rapid City. She was an active member in South Park Congregational church, then the First Congregational Church were she was a member of Circle Three. In particular, Lola and her husband Jim were very involved in local veterans affairs and services. She was a member & office holder in the American Legion Auxiliary, Disabled American Veterans, & the 8 et 40. Lola supported poppy sales, Girls State, and was especially involved in service to the Gold Star Mothers. She was a Gold Star Sister & a Blue Star Wife. Lola was also one of the founding forces behind the local Cystic Fibrosis Chapter in association with the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, CO. She raised funds, supported patients & their families, & brought awareness of the disease. During the Rapid City Flood in 1972, she and her husband opened up their hotel to house and feed flood victims. Even upon going blind later in life, she joined and was an officer of the local chapter of the American Federation of the Blind. Lola loved antiques and family history, with many collections of old spoons, family heirlooms, pictures and shoes. She was also well known for her Green Thumb and love of gardening. She could grow roses up to her second story window. She loved the Rapid City surroundings of the Black Hills and Badlands and her favorite thing to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon was to take a ride in the hills. She loved cars and for fun when nearing retirement, she and her husband joined the Rushmore Antique Car Club, and spent weekends driving through the hills with other members in their 1947 Packard. Her motto in life was In order to have a friend . . . you must first be a friend. She was also very involved in the upbringing of her Grandchildren, who loved to spend after school and Saturdays with their grandparents and great grandmother. They would spend time at the motels following their grandparents around, fixing things, selling lemonade, and managing the switchboard. She became Grandma to many of her grandchildrens friends and took them in as part of the family. She and the kids could often be found in front of a local grocery store raising funds for the veterans associations, serving lunch to the Gold Star Mothers or participating in some other community activity. She was a strong and vibrant woman, with an unending source of energy and a beautiful smile that came from deep within. She faced many challenges in life, but always moved forward with a smile and positive attitude. She survived Polio as a child, had her appendix removed (twice ?), went blind with Macular Degeneration, & was a breast cancer survivor at the age of 80. With all of this, she white water rafted & hiked Harney Peak @ 75, and participated in the annual Volksmarch up to Crazy Horse Monument @ the age of 80. She was preceded in death by her mother and father, her brother Ralph, and her husband James. Survivors include her sons Jimmy Dean and Edgar W, Edgars wife Joan, her Grandchildren Nicole, Jackie, and Edgar James, and her Great Grandson Gavin. She is also survived by her niece Virginia Tuscher and nephew Ralph Edgar Calhoon and their families, as well as other special brother and sister in laws, nieces and nephews, cousins and their families.