Garnet Sargent, 98

Garnet Sargent, 98, of Winner, SD passed away on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at the Winner Regional Long Term Care Facility in Winner, SD. Funeral service were held Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at the Winner Methodist Church in Winner, SD. Burial followed in the Winner City Cemetery. Visitation was held one hour prior to funeral service.

Garnet Elaine Sargent, 98, of Winner, SD, passed away on April 16, 2025. Garnet was a beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and aunt. She was well-known in the Tripp, Todd, and Gregory County communities, and a friend to many.

Garnet was born on January 11, 1927, daughter of Wilfred and Iva (McIntosh) Haines of Lucas. She was a self-described “daddy’s girl” and loved every minute she spent with her dad. She attended Gregory High School and graduated at the top of her class. Garnet took her first job after high school in Washington, D.C. as a civil servant. It didn’t last long. She cried every day she was there and swore if she ever got to go home, she would never leave again. She didn’t.

After returning from Washington, D.C., Garnet lived with her parents and worked at the bank in Gregory. She attended many local dances with her friends and suitors. She met Kenny Sargent at one such dance, and after each had played the requisite amount of “hard to get,” Kenneth and Garnet were married on June 1, 1950.

Kenny and Garnet made their life on the Sargent farm near Clearfield. They were blessed with three sons, Riley, Larry, and Monty. They raised cattle, sheep, hogs, chickens, grain and hay. The family was active in all community activities, including baseball, rodeo, hunting and local dances. Garnet ensured that all her boys were good dancers. Kenny and Garnet both loved horses and eventually got into the quarter horse business, raising AQHA World Champions and traveling to Kentucky for the World Show – one of the few times Garnet agreed to leave South Dakota.

In 1979, Kenny and Garnet opened Sargent’s Café on Main Street in Winner. Garnet ran the café for more than 20 years. She was there at 5:30 a.m. every morning. She loved the time spent at the round table playing cards and arguing with the men, having coffee with the ladies, and visiting with all her friends and their families from around the area that would stop to see her.

Garnet never really retired. Even after she sold the café, she was still a regular every morning at the round table at Joey’s, and then Shirley’s, for three games of pitch and a debate on the topic of the day. In her 70’s, she fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a teacher by serving as a teacher’s assistant at Todd County Middle School.

Garnet always had something to do. If she wasn’t working, she was playing something: pitch, bridge, poker, slots, bingo, golf. She was an avid baseball fan and loved to watch things grow.

Garnet is survived by sons, Riley (Tammy) Sargent and Larry (Joan) Sargent of Winner; grandchildren Clint (Larissa) Sargent of Sioux Falls, Cory (Brigett) Sargent of Clearfield, Baley (Brandon) Moore of Miller, Craig (Heather) Sargent of Clearfield; great-grandchildren Jack, Kate, Gus, Payton, Jude, Oren, Elsie, Wakely, Wynn, Kendall, Leslie, and Annie; and beloved nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and siblings, husband Kenneth, son Monty, and grandson Will.