Amber Wright Gauger was born on December 9th, 1964, the oldest child of Ardell and Yvonne (Wright) Gauger. Amber passed away on December 12, 2025, at Avera Main Campus, Sioux Falls, SD, at the age of 61, from Thyroid Cancer. She attended Clear Lake Elementary and High School in Clear Lake, South Dakota, and graduated in 1983. After high school, she attended the European campus of the Parsons School of Design in Paris, France, for art. She then attended college at Presentation College and graduated from Stuart's Beauty School in Aberdeen, SD.

Amber then moved to Oceanside, California, and worked there for a few years. She returned to South Dakota and settled in Sioux Falls to start her long career in hair design. She worked for JCPenney's and Younkers, owned Your Unique Salon, and also provided that service at several care facilities in Sioux Falls.

Amber was a greeter/personal shopper at Hy-Vee and worked in the dietary department at Avera Hospital. Amber and Wayne Tol enjoyed traveling to Las Vegas each year to watch PBR Bull Riding. They followed several Sioux Falls teams, enjoying the Storm, the Skyforce, and the Canaries. She followed the Vikings and the Twins. They traveled twice to Hawaii and California.

She is survived by her sister Deedra Wright (Gauger) Koenecke and husband Paul of Sioux Falls, her brother Guy Wright Gauger and wife Billie Jo (Boeke) Gauger, her nephew Thatcher Koenecke and his wife Kimberly, and her great niece Ava Yvonne Koenecke, her nephew Wyatt Gauger (Morgan) and her great nephew Cutler Gauger, and nephew Ryker Wright Gauger.

Amber was preceded in death by Wayne Tol, her parents Ardell and Yvonne, her Aunt Janice Gauger, and her Grandparents John and Julia Gauger and Harold and Mable Wright.

A Catholic mass in her name will be held at St. Joseph's cathedral in Sioux Falls, and a private family burial service will be held at a later date.