Kari Ann Enstad, age 39 of Sioux Falls, formerly of Walnut Grove, passed away Saturday, August 22, 2020 at Sanford Sioux Falls Medical Center. A Private Family Funeral Service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, August 29 at Old Westbrook Lutheran Church, rural Westbrook. The public is invited to listen to the funeral in their cars in the church parking lot via FM transmitter. Public visitation will be held 4:00-8:00 p.m. Friday at the Westbrook Funeral Home with a 7:30 p.m. prayer service. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at church on Saturday. Due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, GUESTS WILL BE REQUIRED TO WEAR A MASK and practice social distancing guidelines. A 50% indoor occupancy restriction will be maintained. Burial is in the church cemetery. Stephens Funeral Service – Westbrook Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
Kari Ann Enstad was born December 3, 1980 at the Worthington Regional Hospital in Worthington, Minnesota to Don and Carolyn (Klima) Enstad. She was baptized and confirmed at Old Westbrook Lutheran Church near Westbrook. Kari attended Westbrook Walnut Grove High School and graduated in 1999. During high school at Westbrook Walnut Grove, Kari was involved in many ways. She served as President of FFA, Senior Class President, Minnesota State Pork Ambassador in 1998, and kept busy with sports, band, choir, and theatre. Kari also enjoyed spending summers being involved with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant, and a number of years in Girl Scouts where she earned the Gold Award. While in junior high, Kari and a couple classmates, as members of Future Leaders of America, developed an AIDS Quilt Project, making many quilts for babies born with AIDS. They took their project to the National Level and were given the Silver Award. Kari earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Waldorf College in 2002. During her time at Waldorf, Kari spent a semester abroad, studying at University of Oxford in Oxford England. Kari continued her education at the University of South Dakota, earning her Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy in 2005. She was then hired at Sanford Sioux Falls Medical Center as a physical therapist, where she made it her passion to help hundreds of people return to a normal way of life following injury and illness. Kari loved the farm, gardening, wildflowers, reading, swimming, and watching movies. She loved traveling to Arizona to check on her parents in the wintertime, and one of her favorite destinations was Hawaii, which she was fortunate to visit a couple different times. Kari was currently serving on the Waldorf University Alumni Board. Kari will be remembered by her never-failing care and concern for others and her servant’s heart. Even in death, Kari served others by being a donor through Dakota Lions Sight and Health and gave the gift of sight.
Kari is survived by her parents, Don and Carolyn Enstad of Walnut Grove; brother Brennan (Erin) Enstad of North Mankato; nephew Luke Enstad; special friend Rhett Johnson of Windom; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends. She is preceded in death by her grandparents: Lloyd & Hazel Enstad and Andrew & Ann Klima.
