RAPID CITY- Maralee Deloris (Hamm) Burton Dennis was born in a cabin on Deadman Creek near the Stratobowl in Pennington County on July 15, 1925, to Ralph D. and Ruth E. (Quick) Hamm. She attended Rockerville and Whispering Pines rural schools and graduated from Rapid City High School in 1943.  She married Robert H. Burton at Rapid City in 1947. Their marriage was ended by the death of Captain Burton while he was a pilot on active duty with the South Dakota Army National Guard in 1954. In 1968 she married Dr. Arnett Dennis at Rapid City.

Maralee had a distinguished career in nursing. She graduated from St. John's McNamara School of Nursing in 1947. After the death of her first husband and as a single mother of two, she attended night classes at the South Dakota School of Mines, and then spent a year at Black Hills State College, where she also served as college nurse. Aided by a scholarship from the United States Public Health Service, and with her mother and two children in tow, she earned her Bachelors Degree in Nursing from South Dakota State University (SDSU) at Brookings in 1962. Then in 1964 she again moved her family, this time to Seattle where she attended the University of Washington in Seattle to obtain a Master of Public Health Nursing degree.

At various times, Maralee worked in doctor's offices and at Rapid City hospitals, was the assistant director of the St. John's McNamara school of Nursing, and worked as a planner for a Regional Advisory Group of the S.D. Department of Health. As an assistant professor for SDSU, she helped organize the West River Upward Mobility program, and was involved in initial contacts that led to establishment of the current SDSU program at the Rapid City Regional Hospital. She was an officer in the South Dakota Nurses' Association, and was appointed to a term on the S.D. Board of Nursing by Governor Kneip in 1974. At different times she was on the Pennington County Home Health Board, was a delegate to American Nurses Association conventions, and represented the South Dakota Nurses Association in planning studies of the S.D. Department of Health. She also served as a registered lobbyist in Pierre for the S.D. Nurses Association.

Maralee retired from full-time employment in 1981 and moved to the Denver area. During her years in Colorado, she was active in in the Colorado Nurses' Association, serving on its continuing education commission and educational approval board. She and her husband returned to Rapid City in 1991 following his retirement. In 1994 the SDSU College of Nursing gave her their Distinguished Service Award to honor her services over many years in the nursing profession.

In addition to her professional activities, Maralee volunteered for several community programs. During two of her many years a single parent, she was a YMCA advisor for a group of adolescent girls. For a time, she was a member of the Rapid City Journal's advisory board. She was very active in in the First Congregational Church in Rapid City, where she sang in the choir for nearly 60 years and served as a trustee. The Rapid City branch of the American Association of University Women honored her in 1997 as a "Woman of Worth." Following her retirement, she completed three terms, for a total of nine years, on the Board of Directors of the SDSU Foundation. Her commitment to the advancement of South Dakota nursing continues with the recent formation of the Maralee Burton Dennis Nursing Scholarship at SDSU, providing funding for West River nursing students pursuing their nursing degrees, with an emphasis on students who are single mothers.

Maralee was preceded in death by her parents, two husbands, one sister, and three brothers.

Survivors include one daughter, Peggy (Cris) Palmer of Rapid City; one son, Robert (Julie) Burton of Rapid City; four granddaughters, two grandsons, six great grandchildren, and one sister, Jeanette (Bob) Yahne of Three Rivers, California. Maralee was devoted to her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, who will fondly remember her for the cookies she baked for them, as well as the interest she showed in their schooling and in their careers. Friends and family are invited to a funeral service on Friday, April 14, 2023 at 10:00 am at The First Congregational Church in Rapid City with a meal to follow.   Burial will be held privately at Mt. Calvary Cemetery.