Dean Willard Darrington

Dean Willard Darrington, 99, of Rushford, Minn., former longtime Hesper area farmer, died Monday, November 11, 2024, at Gundersen Healthcare in La Crosse, Wis., surrounded by family. 

Dean was born on October 3, 1925, on the farm in Hesper Township of Winneshiek County, Iowa, to Willard and Cora (Lee) Darrington.  He attended the Darrington Country School and graduated from the Mabel High School in 1943. After high school, he started farming and on June 19, 1949 was married to Shirley Olson at the Hesper Lutheran Church. From that marriage, Dean and Shirley had four children, Julie, Steven, Joan and Edward. Dean had a dairy herd for many years until 1972 when he started up an egg production facility with tens of thousands of chickens. When he first started farming, his dad bought him two horses which had previously pulled the Mabel school bus.  So in his lifetime of farming he went from horses to work the land to the last tractor he drove which was self-steering. He retired from farming in the fall of 2005. Shirley passed away on February 4, 2005.  After Shirley’s passing, Dean took up dancing again with a group from Decorah at Nob Hill.  This is where he met Diane Rostvold. They were married on October 19, 2007. They continued to enjoy dancing and took many trips together including Hawaii and Alaska. They spent many winters in Venice, Fla., near his brother Davis and wife Shirley. In 2020 they moved back to Minnesota permanently to be closer to family.  At 93, Dean took up building dollhouses and lighthouses and just finished a dollhouse the weekend before he passed. 

Dean was a member of the Hesper Lutheran Church where he was the treasurer for 29 years. He also served as president of the Winneshiek County Cattlemen’s Association and was on the board of directors of the Mabel Creamery.

Dean is survived by his wife Diane of Rushford, his children Steven D. (Donella), Joan (Rich) Smith, and Edward; son-in-law Melvin Laisy, stepchildren Michelle (Darin) Cole, Rusty (Jill) Rostvold, and Tiffany (Aaron) Wilcox; grandchildren Matthew (Jenessa) Laisy, Rebecca (Noah) Wilcox, Andrew (Niki) Darrington, Melissa (Chris) Wicklund, Patrick (Nikki) Darrington, Amy (Jon) Doerrfeld, Maria (David) Romero, Heidi (Bryce) Muenchow, Joseph (Lorien Sopchak) Darrington, Jonathan (Wren) Darringway, Zac (Kelly) West, Dalton (Natalie) Rostvold, Violet and Tony Cole, Ethan, Sarah, Ben, and Addie Wilcox; twenty-one great-grandchildren, his brother Davis (Shirley) Darrington and his sister Harriett Hoff. 

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Shirley; a daughter, Julie Laisy; daughter-in-law Lois Darrington, a grandson, P.J. Smith; great-grandson Adler Darrington, and brother-in-law Lyle Hoff.   

Funeral service will be 1 p.m., Saturday, November 23 at the Hesper Lutheran Church in Hesper, Iowa. Visitation will be 11 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. at the church prior to the service. Burial will be in the Hesper Lutheran Cemetery. The Mengis Funeral Home in Mabel is assisting with arrangements.