LaNita “Jo” Arndt, age 73, of Brookings, passed away Tuesday, November 11, 2014 at the Brookings Hospital. Funeral services will be Saturday Nov 15th at 1pm at First Lutheran Church in Brookings, with interment in the church cemetery. Visitations will be Friday Nov 14th from 5-7pm at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings.  Condolences may be left at www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com

LaNita “Jo” Faye (Sweany) Arndt was born April 30, 1941, in Brookings to Roy B. and Gladys L. (Baker) Sweany. She lived with her family in Brookings for four years, then lived in Onida for ten years. She graduated from Volga High School in 1959. She worked as a bookkeeper at Woolworth’s for a year then moved on to work for SDSU for 34 years.

Jo met Lyle Arndt at a singles dance and they proceeded to dance through life together by blending their families on August 20, 1977. They lived on their farm near Volga then later moved to Brookings. Besides loving her family deeply, Jo enjoyed sewing, camping, gardening, shopping, rubber stamping, and scrapbooking. She was a member of First Lutheran Church in Brookings, and the Red Hat Society. Jo was a very giving person who was constantly looking for ways to bring joy to others.

Survivors include her husband, Lyle, of Brookings; five daughters: Vicki (Ardean) Albers, Patti (Craig) Tolley, both of Brookings; Jodi Stykel (Dennis Engbrecht) of Dell Rapids, Melissa (Kurt) Lundebrek and Sheila (Frederick) Feldhake both of Alexandria, MN; 18 grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren; and three sisters: Jacqueline Braun of Sioux Falls, Janet Mehlhaff of Abilene, TX, and Royette Sweany of Brookings. She was preceded in death by her parents.