NEWELL—Every birthday is special and worth celebrating, but reaching 80 is a milestone that calls for something a little extra! That’s exactly what the family of Darlene Stapp had in mind when they planned a special gathering of family and friends in Newell on May 9 to celebrate her 80th birthday.
Born in 1949, Darlene has seen a lot of changes during her lifetime. But change is something she is used to, beginning with her move to Newell, a small place on the edge of South Dakota. It was a big change from where she grew up in Massachusetts. “Yeah, it was a big change, but I adjusted, that’s just what you do, you know, you just get on with it,” declared Darlene.
She met her husband, Tom, when he was in the Navy. He was from Newell, so after they were married, they made South Dakota home. “My husband’s dad—they were raising pigs, and he threw me in the pen and told me to catch a baby pig, but he didn’t tell me how to catch it! So I tried to catch it this way and that way, and finally, he says, ‘grab them by the back leg and flip them,’” shared Darlene. “Well, yeah, that was really easy after you learned how to do it! He was a character!”
The Stapp family has deep roots in Newell. Darlene shared, “We used to live here when my husband was alive. He was raised here, and I lived here for 35 years with my husband.” She has since moved to Spearfish.
Darlene and Tom have three children: Brian, Chad and Sundi. They have since lost both Sundi and Tom. Darlene has eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Much of her family traveled to Newell to spend her birthday with her. “That’s my two great-grandboys, they just met each other today,” shared Darlene.
She worked for the Newell School District for 32 years as a special education paraprofessional.
Darlene was happy with the turnout for her party. She said she got to visit with old friends from the school and the community too. “It was a good day, I’m glad! I don’t know about this 80, but so far, it’s doing good,” she said. “My friend from Spearfish, she was 80 on January 1 and she said, ‘No, we’re just going to be 79 plus, we don’t like 80’!”
The party almost didn’t happen. Her first instinct was to say no when her son asked her about it. “First I told him no, I don’t want a party, don’t have a party,” she said. Then around Easter, she suffered a heart attack. She was visiting her son Chad and his family, and lucky for her, he is a doctor and her daughter-in-law is a nurse. “So thank God they got me in. They did all that nonsense—I’m on three heart meds and doing good,” she said.
But then she decided she was still alive, she survived a heart attack and maybe a party would be fun! “Let’s do it! Let’s party, because I’m here to do it! Let’s celebrate life,” said Darlene. “My kids did a great job! That was lovely, I loved it!”
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