LaRayne Frances  Wahlstrom, long-time member of Brookings First United Methodist Church, died on July 17th, 2018. LaRayne is the mother of Southwest District Lay Leader Richard Wahlstrom, of Canyon Lake UMC. 

At Brookings First UMC,  LaRayne and her husband Rick, taught the high school youth class, were co-lay leaders and assisted in teaching the confirmation class. She was president of the local and district United Methodist Women. LaRayne was the South Dakota Conference mission secretary and chaired the Conference Board of Global Ministries. Internationally, she served on the General Board of Global Ministries and on the General Board of Discipleship. She served as Vice-President of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and chaired UMCOR’s 50th Anniversary celebration. LaRayne also served on the executive committee of Africa Church Growth and Development, and on the development committee for Africa University.  She visited United Methodist mission projects in 17 countries on six continents, subsequently sharing mission stories in 27 states and 145 South Dakota churches. She worked on two Volunteer-in-Mission teams to Haiti. LaRayne and Rick led VIM Teams to Africa University in Zimbabwe in 1997 and 2000. 

Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 21, 2018, at First United Methodist Church in Brookings, South Dakota. Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 20, 2018, at Eidsness Funeral Home, Brookings, South Dakota.

A complete obituary is published online here.