Darlene Konrad 05/14/2025

Darlene Helen Konrad, 86, of River Falls, WI, passed away on May 14, 2025. She was born January 31, 1939, to Martha and Charles Knafla of St. Cloud, MN. She graduated from Technical High School in St. Cloud in 1957. On October 25, 1958, she married her soul mate, Jerry Konrad. They were blessed with two sons and 58 years of marriage. Darlene was devoted to her husband and sons. They spent many weekends camping as the boys grew up; fishing was a favorite hobby. Darlene and Jerry retired to Pine River on Hand Lake. She loved the hours spent around the firepit visiting her children and grandchildren.
Throughout her life Darlene had worked as a secretary. While her sons were in school, she worked for the school district in Pierz, MN, to match their schedules.
Over the years she offered her talents to her community. She belonged to a quilting club; during wartime this club made quilts to send to veterans. They also donated quilts to shelters. Her grandchildren and children were also blessed with quilts made by Darlene throughout the years. She was a skilled seamstress as well, often sewing clothes for her sons and husband. Creating art was another hobby, she enjoyed painting kits and crafts. Earlier in her married life, she had run her own shop selling her wares, later, her family and friends became the recipients of Darlene’s crafts. Much later in life, when her fingers could no longer function creating fine details, she donated her time to the American Legion working nearly every Friday Bingo night.
Darlene had a way of making everyone feel welcome and made many friends wherever she lived. She was a social butterfly and approached everyone with an open and friendly attitude. Darlene is survived by her two sons, 8 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. Russ (Patti) Konrad of River Falls, WI, Wayne Konrad of Rice, MN, Grandchildren Kristin (Brian) Timmer of Sauk Rapids, MN, Linzi (Brent) Fredrich of Clear Lake, MN, Jenna (Ryan) Christenson of Becker, MN, Hannah Konrad of Mankato, MN, Emma Konrad (Jared Leger) of St. Paul, MN, Holly (Jordan) Seiler of Galesville, WI, Marcus (Jessi) Heller of Columbus, WI, Lisa Heller of Oshkosh, WI, and Sutton and Deklon Jeurissen-Konrad of Rice, MN. Her great-grandchildren are Isabella Kamrowski, Bodin Clark, Parker and Peyton Timmer, Calvin, Lola, and Mallory Friedrich, and James and Jer Christensen. She is survived by her sister Mary Lou Speckman of Bemidji, MN, and by nieces and nephews who enjoyed visiting Darlene at the lake.
There will be a celebration of life for Darlene on June 22, 2025, at the American Legion in River Falls, WI from noon until 2:30pm. In lieu of flowers, memorials or donations are preferred to The American Legion Auxiliary of River Falls, or the organization of the donor’s choice in Darlene’s name.
The family wishes to express special appreciation to St. Croix Hospice for the excellent care, understanding, and compassion that they showed Darlene and we offer our thanks to WisconSibs and On Call Clinicians LLC for providing flexibility to Patti as she cared for Darlene the last few weeks. We also want to express a thank you to Pattie Evans, Darlene’s neighbor who helped Darlene throughout the last month. Letters, cards, flowers, and prayers for Darlene were greatly appreciated by her and the family.  Cremation services provided by Bakken-Young Funeral & Cremation Services.