Pyra Ann Billick was the daughter of David Calfern and Eva Stines Billick. She was the third of twelve children. The Billicks moved to Nebraska where they lived at the town of Towers (commonly called the Iron Post) just on the corner of the boundary mark of the Old Fort Randall. On the 28 of April 1900, Pyra and John Stout were married by a country preacher, Howard Coen, at his home near Gross. George and Alice (her sister and brother-in-law George Mathews) stood up with them. George had a dry sense of humor and always told this story about the wedding. “The preacher’s sister-in-law was mopping the floor that day and John stood with one foot on the clean floor and the other on the dirty floor during the ceremony.” They left that same day and went across the river to Wagner, South Dakota to visit John’s sister Lizzy. John owned a house in Wagner and did carpenter work so this is where they made their home. On September 23rd 1901, Sam and John Miller were on their way to Wagner with a load of wheat. They each had two teams hitched to their wagons. After they crossed on the ferry they had a long hill to go up out of the river hills. When they reached the top of the hill they were met by a man bearing the message that Pyra had died. They unhitched Sam’s team of mules and tied his other team and wagon behind John’s wagon so he could take it on to Wagner. Sam took the team of mules and came back. He gave the message to Grandpa (David Billick, Pyra and Nina’s father) who came to the house to tell them of the sad news. Baby David had been born that morning. As soon as the doctor had delivered him and was finished with his duties he had left and gone uptown. Very soon after he left Pyra started suffering with terrible pains. John (Stout)had gotten on his bicycle and went for the doctor buy Pyra died about an hour after the baby was born. The doctor could give no explanation as to what had caused her death. A lady named Mrs. Friday took baby David right away after Pyra’s death. She kept him for quite some time, then John’s mother (Rebecca) took him and cared for him till he died of pneumonia at age six.