Jennifer Warneka

services for Jennifer Warneka, 47-year-old Gillette and former Buffalo resident who passed away suddenly Monday afternoon South of Buffalo will be held Monday, June 27th at 2:00 p.m. from the Harness Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Shane Haynes officiating. Visitation will be held on Sunday from 1:00 pm until 9:00 pm and on Monday from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. A private family interment will take place at a later date. Donations in Jennifer’s memory may be made to the Jennifer Warneka Memorial Fund to help the family with final expenses, in the care of the Harness Funeral Home at 351 N. Adams in Buffalo.  Online condolences may be made at www.harnessfuneralhome.com

Jennifer Lynn Warneka was born on October 23, 1974, in Big Fork, Minnesota to Lee and JoAnn Warneka. She grew up and went to school in Big Fork and graduated from Big Fork High School with the class of 1992.  She was married in 1993 in Big Fork to Robert Salmi and they made their home in Big Fork.  Jennifer attended Concordia College in St. Paul, Minnesota where she received a B.S. and M.S. in Education.  Following a divorce, Jennifer was married in 2001 to David Sandy and they lived in Burnsville, Minnesota, and later moved to LaCrosse, Wisconsin where she was a Teachers Aide. David and Jennifer were divorced and she moved with her family to Red Lodge, Montana where she was a daycare teacher and later worked at the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch in Billings.  She lived in Story, Wyoming, and later Clearmont where she married Stephen Covall in 2016.  Following a divorce in 2019 she moved to Buffalo where she was a dispatcher for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and also a Vet Tech for Dr. Kathy Ilgen.  She moved to Gillette in 2021 where she lived until her death. She is survived by three daughters, Hannah Nielsen and her husband Kolter of Buffalo, Grace Sandy of Gillette, Wyoming, and Shelby Salmi of Minnesota; one son Jordan Salmi of Minnesota; her mother Joann Buck of Florence, Arizona, and three grandchildren, Briar and Arya Nielsen of Buffalo and Mason Salmi of Wisconsin.