Valerie Pulscher

Valerie “Val” Louise Pulscher was born Aug. 13, 1953, in Hot Springs, S.D., to the late Ernie and Eloise Pepin of Custer, S.D.
On April 14, 1973, Val married William “Bob” Pulscher, from Egan, S.D., and they celebrated 50 years of marriage in April 2023. They had three children: Shawn (married to Maureen Borbely), Cheyenne (married to Jeff Lawrence) and Sara (married to Pete Schaich), and were blessed with six grandchildren—Chloe and Alexie Lawrence, Nicholas and Jacob Schaich, and Lily and Cameron Pulscher. Val loved spending time with all of them.
From the time she was married, until Bob retired from the Army 30 years later, Val was a soldier’s wife, traveling the world with her family and serving as first lady of seven different Army units. She moved her family nearly two dozen times, circling the globe in the process. No matter the distance, she took her children to visit her family in South Dakota every summer.
Val held a variety of jobs in her life: she was a legal secretary, a teacher (once, when working as a substitute teacher, she caught her fourth grade son swapping name tags with friends in an attempt to “sink the sub”), and an office manager.
After leaving military life and finding stability in Rock Island, Ill., Val spent 20 years working for Case New Holland, where she was known for two things: 1. making sure the office ran as efficiently as any organization on Earth, and 2. telling everybody within earshot, “if it ain’t red, leave it in the shed!”
Val lived life to the fullest, loved and supported her country and spent as much time with her family, friends and pets as possible. She loved playing cards:  Pinochle with soldiers, Hearts with her family, and Cribbage with anybody who dared challenge her.
She was a great dancer, a decent–but super enthusiastic, darn it!–bowler, and the No. 1 fan of whichever sports teams her grandchildren were playing for. She was also a warrior in her own right, flat out refusing to accept her initial cancer diagnosis of having just six months to live, and instead squeezing out nearly 10 additional–and incredibly full–years of life.
In summary, Val was a loving, tough, foxy lady who will be sorely missed by all who knew her.
Val passed away peacefully Feb. 9, 2024, surrounded by her family. She was 70.
She absolutely adored, and is survived by, three siblings, brother, Steve,  older sister, Linda (married to Tom Nelson), and younger sister Denise (married to Marshall Burtzlaff). As much as she loved them, she loved beating them in card games even more, and she was still doing so just days before she passed.
Memorials may be made to the University of Iowa Care Health Care system (319) 335-3305 or www.givetoiowa.org/healthcare).  Please recognize Dr. Mark Karwal and RN Julie Lynch in the Oncology Department for the years of life they gave Val.
Online condolences to wheelanpressly.com