Delbert LeRoy Church, 79, of Canistota, SD died at his home on Sunday, July 5th, 2026 surrounded by his family. Funeral services will begin at 10 am on Thursday, July 9th at the United Church of Canistota. Visitation with family present will be held on Wednesday from 5 – 7 pm, also at the church, with a prayer service at 7 pm.
Del was born to Clarence and Bernice (Mains) Church on January, 18th, 1947 joining a sister, Sharon, and rounding out the family. In the spring of 1965, Del graduated with 998 fellow classmates from Richfield High School. He then attended Minneapolis Vo-tech and got a degree in Hotel Restaurant Cooking and Baking. He worked all over Minneapolis in numerous restaurants, but his favorite was The Diamond Jim’s Supper Club where he was able to fraternize with entertaining stars and has autographed photos from people like The Andrew’s Sisters and Gomer Pyle, just to name a couple.
Del moved to southwest Minnesota and went on a blind date in July of ‘74 meeting Starlyn Tarrell. It went rather well because they were married on June 28th, 1975. The couple resided in Worthington, MN for a while, but then moved to Starlyn’s home town of Canistota and opened Del’s Kitchen restaurant in Canistota. They were blessed with a baby boy, Cody James, but quickly realized running a restaurant isn’t easy with a family. Starlyn then went back to teaching music, and Del entered the insurance business with New York Life. The couple was then blessed with a girl, Heidi Lynn, and the family was complete as they raised them in a loving and Christian home. Before becoming an independent agent, he worked for Woodmen Accident & Life (that then became Assurity) and HomeTown Insurors Inc, the insurance and investment branch of Home Federal Bank, semi-retiring in 2005. The last 27 years he sold for Farmer’s Mutual of Nebraska (fmne) from home.
After moving to Canistota in 1975, he joined the United Church of Canistota even though he was a die-hard Baptist. He sang bass in the church choir and rang handbells with the United Ringers, both under the direction of Starlyn. He was the talented staunch bass that Starlyn could rely on giving the choir a great musical foundation to build all the other melodies on top of. He also stepped into the custodian role at the United Church around 2010, but even before that, Del was a huge component of the Turkey Supper every October at the United Church. He was Betty Parry’s second in command until he took over, and then passed it down to the next generation just a few years ago as he taught his secrets for gravy and other fixin’s.
His favorite positions after semi-retirement were working at Homestead Orchard and County Line Nursery, both in rural Parker, SD. He would keep us updated, nightly, as to how many hundreds of seeds he had planted at County Line that day. You could usually find him reminiscing about his days as he enjoyed peanut butter on toast, his absolutely favorite snack anytime of day!
More than anything, Del loved his 7 grandchildren. Papa loved going to concerts, ball games, or any event they had going on because he enjoyed supporting them and watching them grow in whatever activity they were pursuing at the time. He really enjoyed traveling and earned many trips through his insurance agent years in the US and abroad, but shared his motto of “drive the first time” so you could see and enjoy God’s creation along the way. Camping was another love, especially when able to take the grandchildren along. Camping was an enjoyable activity all throughout life, and he wasn’t deterred from it even when a mama bear took a sleeve of saltines directly out of his hands when he was only 10.
He is survived by his wife, Starlyn Church of 51 years, son Cody (Erin) Church and grandkids Hadassah, Malachi, Mara, and Obadiah of Canistota, SD and daughter Heidi (Kevin) Skadeland and grandkids Lydia, Rachel, and Kaleb of Larrabee, IA.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, and his in-laws Ernest & Gladys Tarrell.
In lieu of flowers, please send any memorials to the United Church of Canistota.
