Darrel Westerman, 84 of Chancellor, died Saturday, April 20, 2024 at Pioneer Memorial in Viborg surrounded by his family. Funeral services will be at 10:30am Saturday, April 27, 2024 at Chancellor Reformed Church in Chancellor with burial in the church cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7pm Friday evening at the church. Arrangements by Hofmeister Jones Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to the Chancellor Reformed Cemetery, Union Gospel Mission or a charity of the donors choice.
Darrel was born on January 11, 1940 to Otto and Emma (Alderson) Westerman at his parental home southwest of Chancellor. When he was 8 years old they moved to the farm south of Chancellor where he lived 69 years until moving to Chancellor.
His early years were a difficult time for his family. His brother Dale died at age 10 when Darrel was 2 ½ years old. His brother Delmar died at age 20 when he gave his life for his country at the Battle of Iwo Jima. He had very limited memories of both Delmar and Dale. His parents and his sister, Dolores, kept memories alive of both of them by telling stories, most of which included personality traits and humorous incidents. The stories resulted in memories and a sense of patriotism for Darrel which he passed on to the next generation.
Darrel attended elementary school at District 90, a country school southwest of Chancellor, until age 8. He then attended Chancellor Public School where he graduated from high school in 1958. In high school he was active in basketball, track, band, school plays and other, sometimes mischievous, not necessarily “school sanctioned”, activities. One of his classmates was Karen Naatjes, a country girl from north of Chancellor. One of his favorite quips about her was that she was from the hills of Turner County and he had to teach her to wear shoes. In spite of their cultural differences, they became high school sweethearts and married in 1960.
Darrel attended Dakota State University (then known as General Beadle State College) for two years, majoring in math. He loved mathematics, which was appreciated when family members were struggling with algebra or geometry. It also proved useful in his lifelong career of farming. Farming was his passion, his life. It also was the most important building block for his family.
Kent was born in 1961, Lisa in 1963 and Mark in 1966. A daughter, Tova, was born in 1969 with severe birth defects and lived only 6 weeks. One thing Darrel brought to his family was a sense of having priorities. There were times when, even in a busy season, an important track meet or some other event the children were involved in, he would be there and the farm work would wait.
Darrel served on several local boards of directors and also held offices in his church. He was active in South Dakota Pork Producers, Farmers Oil Board of Directors, Germantown Township Board, Lennox School Board, Dakota Heritage/Security State Bank Board, Chancellor Reformed Church Deacon, Elder, Sunday School teacher, and building committees for remodel projects. He was Sexton of the Chancellor Reformed Church Cemetery, a position he held for decades.
He loved sports, taking up running in high school and making that his lifetime activity for good health. He played fastpitch softball into his 40’s, ran the Lennox Firecracker Race until he was almost 80 (often winning his age group). He and Karen did the Mickelson Trail bicycle ride the year it opened. He rode parts of the Tour deKota ride with Kent and Mark. He continued riding when he moved to Chancellor and could often be seen riding through town. Darrel was always up for an adventure whether it involved carnival rides, trek, testing one’s courage/sanity such as towing saucers behind a snowmobile, or challenging his kids to a foot race which he typically won even with a cowboy boot handicap.
Other interests included a love for Twins baseball, travel, classic cars – especially his prize ‘57 Ford which was his first car – car shows, restoring old tractors, playing cards, and his pets and grand-pets. He was also quite the handyman and would take on most any project.
He leaves his wife of 63 years, Karen, his children Kent (Roxanne) Westerman, Lisa (Mike) Round, Mark (Christy) Westerman; grandchildren Sara Westerman, Kyle (Kathryn) Meyer and Bryce Meyer; Marissa Round, Isaac Round; Nic Westerman, Devin Westerman, Erica (Cameron) Thompson, Kelsey Westerman and Sean Westerman; great grandchildren Elijah, Noah, Abigail and Camden Meyer, and Connor James. He will be missed so much by both his immediate and extended family and a host of friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his siblings (Delmar, Dolores, and Dale), and infant daughter Tova.
