Darel Burns

Darel Burns, age 93, of Storm Lake, Iowa passed away in his home with his family at his side on September 12, 2025. Memorial Mass will take place Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be held Tuesday, September 16, 2025 from 5-7:00 p.m. at Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in STORM LAKE. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the St. Mary's Catholic School in Storm Lake or St. Croix Hospice. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Darel Dean Burns was born November 5, 1931 on a farm Northeast of Sac City, Iowa. He was baptized and confirmed at Grace Lutheran Church, Marathon, Iowa. Shortly after his birth his parents moved to rural Marathon, Iowa. He began his education at Lincoln Lee Consolidated School located a few miles East of Rembrandt, Iowa. While in the Second Grade his parents moved to a farm Southeast of Marathon, Iowa. He graduated from Marathon Consolidated High School in 1949. He attended Iowa State College the fall of 1949 and again the fall of 1950. On February 4th, 1952 he entered the United States Army. He attended Basic and Advanced Basic Training at Fort Bliss Texas. After completion of his training he was sent to the 420th Antiaircraft Battalion located on the West side of Puget Sound near Seattle, Washington. This unit later became the 513th AAA Bn. After two years of active duty he was discharged and returned to his parent's home in Marathon, Iowa. He then purchased a livestock and grain truck and started Burns Trucking in Linn Grove, Iowa. It was here that he met the love of his life Kay Ann Graff. On Easter Sunday of 1955 he joined the Catholic Church. Kay and Darel were married August 15th 1955 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Sioux Rapids, Iowa. They moved to Maxwell, Iowa where Kay taught 5TH grade and he enrolled at Iowa State College in pursuit of a BS Degree in Civil Engineering. In the summer of 1956 they purchased a small house trailer and moved into Pammel Court, a married student housing area at Iowa State College. He received his BS degree in Civil Engineering in June 1958. He served two years as Assistant County Engineer for Hancock County, Garner, Iowa. After receiving his Professional Engineering License in Civil Engineering and Land Surveying he was a Staff Engineer for Kruse Engineering in Spencer, Iowa. He was next employed as County Engineer for Audubon County, Audubon, Iowa. In February 1963 he began employment with the Buena Vista County Secondary Road Department as Drainage Engineer and Assistant County Engineer. He enjoyed the challenge of the design, supervision and construction of Drainage and Highway Projects. He retired from this position on June 30th 1994. Over the next three years he worked for FEMA assessing damage to roads, bridges and government buildings from natural disasters at various locations in the United States. Preceding him in death were his parents Clifford and Ruth Burns, his parents-in-law Peter and Anna Graff, an older brother James Albert Burns; and a number of brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. Surviving Darel are his wife of 70 years, Kay Ann Burns, his children Cindy (Richard) Sippel, Michele (Shannon) Kelly, Patti (Richard) Wolff, Thomas (Barbara) Burns and Paula Burns (Mike Ellis), 12 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren, in addition to numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins, as well as his sister Shirley Smith and brother Nyle Burns, and one sister-in-law Nan Graff.