A Truly Wonderful Man and Father

 


Last November, in honor of Veteran's Day, The Brookings Register had some nice portraits on some of the local men who served our country in World War II.  One of those men was the father of Sharon Darnall. His story is found in the adjoining column.  It seems that even though the image is rather small, if you left-click on the images, they can be enlarged to allow for easier reading.  What the article does not mention is his busy schedule after he retired from his engineering duties with the city of Brookings.  He served on various committees with the Methodist Church and the Kiwanis Club.  He belonged to the National Society of Professional
                                                                                    Engineers and the South Dakota Engineering Society, and was a charter member of the South Dakota Chapter of the American Public Works Association, Brookings Area Genealogical Society, Brookings Area Development Corporation, and Brookings Area Habitat for Humany affiliate.  In 1999 he was awarded the Gip Nolan Award for Outstanding community Service from the Chamber of Commerce and Conventions and Visitors Bureau (as an aside, Brad Rufer's niece heads up that organization).





Sadly, Mr. Darnall passed away this past weekend (http://eidsnessfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Eidsne1/obit.cgi?user=74424837_LDarnall).  Had a nice visit with Sharon at the visitation.  Her older brother Brian, BHS class of '67, lives near my niece on South Medary.  His two daughters, Samantha and Sara (Sarah?) were students of mine over a dozen years ago.  Sara works at the greenhouse (Medary Acres), while Sam is in Medical School in Chicago.  She indicated that she would like to return  to South Dakota to practice some day.  Sharon's younger sister Wendy, class of '74, is an elementary teacher in Rapid City.

The Brookings library has an extensive reference shelf containing a number of books on the history of Brookings and Brookings County.  One large volume lists the history of many of the families that have settled in Brookings county.  Some of these genealogies extend back to pre-statehood days, when what is now Brookings was part of Dakota Territory.  While the roots of the Darnall family history in Brookings do not extend that far back, their origins in what is now South Dakota do reach back many years.  Their story is one among many of those families in our BHS class of 1969 that can be found in this treasured tome.  Those early settlers were extremely tough, living through blizzards and droughts in structures hardly suitable for human habitation.  If you happen to be in the area and are visiting the library, browsing through this magnificent work might prove enlightening and worthwhile..

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sharon and her family at this difficult time.