Darlene Kainz

Darlene Bernice Kainz was born March 13, 1939, in Grand Marais, Minn., to Walter and Alta Hall Schulte.
She loved growing up on the North Shore of Lake Superior. As a child she sang on the radio station owned by her grandfather Emil Hall.
As a teen she worked as a soda jerk at Leng’s Fountain, where she met Richard “Dick” Kainz. They were married at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais, Minn., June 29, 1957.
Darlene and her family spent the next eight years traveling across Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas with Kainz Contractors, providing some of the first electrical service to rural areas. They settled in Custer, S.D., in 1965, where they raised four children and built a home together on their little piece of heaven in the Black Hills.
Darlene loved singing, playing guitar and creating art including oil paintings and stained glass. She was a founding member of the Winter Singers, performing throughout the Black Hills for many years. She sewed, cooked, baked, gardened, raised chickens, and occasionally worked at the local flower shop.
As a tour guide for Golden Circle Tours, she enjoyed sharing the history and beauty of the Black Hills with visitors from around the world. She helped establish and was active in Custer Lutheran Fellowship and the French Creek neighborhood friends’ group. In later years she enjoyed travelling to visit her children and grandchildren, meeting with her friends and touring with the church senior group.
Darlene passed away Jan. 30, 2023, at Fountain Springs Health Care in Rapid City, S.D. She was 83.
She was preceded in death by Dick, her husband of 54 years, in 2011; her brother, Don; and her beloved sister-in-law. Melva Smith Schulte.
Darlene is survived by her brother, Walter “Butch” (Rhonda) Schulte of Grand Marais; children, Greg (Sherry) Kainz of Arvada, Colo., Kristi (Allen) Scott of Brookings, Lisa (Michael) Schaertl of Shortsville, N.Y. and Jeff (Lara) Kainz of Mt. Vernon, Wash.; 11 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10 at Chamberlain McColley’s Funeral Home in Custer.
Memorial services are at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Custer Lutheran Fellowship, followed by committal services at Custer Cemetery and then a luncheon at Custer Lutheran Fellowship.
Arrangements have been placed in the care of Chamberlain McColley’s Funeral Home in Custer.