Darrell Sand

A memorial service for Darrell Sand, age 88, will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday January 27, 2024 at Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home, Jefferson, Iowa. The family will visit with friends at the funeral home starting at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, prior to the service. Interment will take place in the future at Minden Cemetery, Minden, Iowa. Darrell Sand was born in Wheaton, MN April 9, 1935, to Edward Sand and Mabel (Backman) Sand. He grew up on the farm just outside of Rosholt, SD with his sister Betty and brothers Donnie and David. He had four children, one son Rick and one daughter Teresa from a first marriage and two daughters Diane and Sheryl with his wife Carol of 56 years. He was also the proud grandpa of five: Mallory, Angela, Andy, Stacie, and Alex. Additionally, he had six great-grandchildren: Trinity, Liam, Genevieve, Moira, Colin, and Eleanor. Darrell is well remembered for tinkering with just about anything, especially if it was mechanical. He picked up the hobby of working on old lawnmowers. Any time he would see a lawnmower on the curb, sometimes they would even be for sale, he would bring it home. Outside of his lawn mower hobby, he also built a couple of go-carts, converted a truck to run a huge buzz saw blade for cutting wood along with a wood splitter that was later dubbed as Silver Streak, and built a tractor using a ‘72 Pinto engine, to name a few. He also enjoyed wood working; making marble boards was one of his specialties. In the 1950’s Darrell moved to Iowa to start working for Jack Hahn Construction, where he paved the way for I-29, I-80 and I-35. From 1968 to 1974, Darrell moved on to his next projects in Polk County which included construction of Saylorville Lake Reservoir, Big Creek, and cleared trees for Cherry Glen campgrounds. After Jack Hahn’s retirement, Darrell started working for Gibbs Cook Caterpillar, later known as Ziegler, as a welder on heavy machinery where he continued to work until he retired in 2002. During the time he was working on the interstates, he met Carol Oloff in Minden, Iowa, where they were later married. After their daughter, Diane was born, they lived in several cities in Iowa while Darrell was finishing up the interstates. When their daughter, Sheryl was born, they moved from Des Moines to Ankeny where they lived until 2002. After Darrell’s retirement they moved to Grand Junction, Iowa. In the late 80s, Darrell became a grandfather. His five grandchildren will remember him best as an ornery man, with a laugh that could make anyone smile, and their field trip leader to see his Caterpillars. Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home and Cremation Care, Jefferson, Iowa