Darlene Mae Davis

Darlene Mae (Ernst) Davis, 89, of Sioux City, Iowa passed away on Friday, March 27, 2015, surrounded by her loving family. Service will be held 10:30am on Tuesday March 31, 2015 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church with Rev. Armand Bertrand officiating. Burial will be at Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be 4pm to 8pm at the Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel with the family present. There will be a rosary at 4:30pm, led by the Catholic Daughters of America. There will be a vigil service at 7:00pm all at the funeral home. Darlene was born on April 23, 1925 daughter of William and Bertha ( West ) Ernst on a farm near Ticonic, Iowa. She was the youngest of 6 children and she attended Grant School near Ticonic. She enjoyed telling, many times, how her older sister would help her through the snow drifts on the way to and from school. Some days her Dad would take the children to school in a one horse wagon or sled. Later she and her brother would ride a horse to school. She moved with her family in 1938 to a farm east of Mapleton, Iowa, where she completed her education graduating with the class of 1942. She enjoyed returning to Mapleton for her class reunions. After graduating, she moved to Sioux City where she worked at Penney's Dept. store. During World War II she was employed at Glenn L. Martin Bomber plant in Omaha, Nebr. where the B-29's were assembled. In 1945 she returned to Sioux City to work at Katz Drug Store. She had met Jean N. Davis before the war when he visited his grandparents in Charter Oak, Iowa. She and Jean were married December 12, 1945 at the Cathedral in Sioux City after he returned from the South Pacific where he served during the war. Darlene was a homemaker, but enjoyed doing volunteer work. She was a former Girl Scout and Cub Scout leader and she also organized Cub and Boy Scouts for special education students. She established the Dandee Dance Club for disabled adults in 1979 and continued the club for 25 years. She and her husband co-founded the Disable Rollers Bowling League in 1974 and she had just finished her 41st year. They also started the KD Special Olympic Bowlers in 1986. She loved and enjoyed every one of these special people - calling them her extended family. Darlene and Jean enjoyed traveling to all part of the United States. For years, she researched her many ancestors and made scrapbooks for each of her children. She also spent many hours working in her flower gardens and enjoyed the time she spent with her many special friends and her mall lunch gang. She was a member of Immaculate Conception Church, the Altar Society, and Catholic Daughters of America since 1960, Siouxland Right to Life, Carmel Guild, and Catholic Women's League. She is survived by a son, Keith and his wife Susan of Sioux City, two daughters, Gayle and her husband Kevin Counter of Sioux City, and Karen and her husband Thomas Claeys of Hinton, Iowa. She also has nine grandchildren: Kevin Counter Jr., Jeffery Counter, Chad Counter, Jason Davis, Tracie (Davis) Blatchford, Nichole (Davis) Cason, Angela (Claeys) Schoenrock, Kerry (Claeys) Hildring, Amanda (Claeys) Brooks, numerous great-grandchildren and several great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, a son ( Duane ) and an infant daughter ( Teresa ), her parents-two brothers Orthel Ernst and Levon Ernst and three sisters Melretta Dale, Luella Redman, and Aloua Knutson. Pall Bearers will be her grandsons and Honorary Pall Bearers will be her granddaughters.