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Submitted: 5/2/21 • Approved: 5/5/21 • Last Updated: 5/8/21 • R272054-G272054-S3
Denny Merritt
November 9, 1947 - November 12, 2019
Dennis Dale Merritt, 72, of Sioux Falls passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at Avera Hospital due to complications from surgery.
He is survived by his true love and his first “sweetie,” Susan Merritt, as well as his three children Matt, Sam, and Angela.
Denny was born Nov. 9, 1947 in Centerville, SD. He was a loyal Centerville Tornado and phenomenal athlete through high school. He attended St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN, where he also played football.
Following college, Denny served in the US Navy. He later attended graduate school at the University of South Dakota.
Denny worked in the state and federal probation systems in Rapid City and Sioux Falls during his career. He retired in 2006 as Chief of US Probation Services for the District of South Dakota.
He was an active athlete and competitor his whole life, one of the steady old-guy members of YMCA noon ball, where he’d park on the baseline until the kids quit guarding him and then make them pay. He loved golfing with his friends, and they should all take a mulligan for Denny next spring as his parting gift. He imparted his knowledge and love of hurdling on anyone who would listen, be it his own children or random high school kids out on the track.
Denny married his love, Sue Frandsen, in 1974. He was a devoted father and husband, and anyone who met him knew he loved Sue more than anything in the world. He was up each morning at 6 a.m., doing the crossword puzzle or sudoku in the paper, waiting for her when she woke.
“Family first” defined his life. And he wasn’t stingy about letting people into his family. He was as much a father to his daughters-in-law Jodi and Lauren as he was to his children. He was as much a brother to his friends and in-laws as he was to his siblings, Donna, Ron and Patti. His church, Christ the King, and his many friends from its congregation were part of that family as well. He was devoted heart and soul to his wife, Sue.
For all those people and more, Denny always showed up. He barely had time for problems of his own, because he was always the person others leaned on for love and support during their struggles. He never judged us. He just loved. He saw the greatness in all of us, and he was so proud of us. He was a spiritual man. He laughed often. He was the embodiment of grace.
Before they passed, Denny visited his parents, Dale and Skip, every weekend in Centerville. He spent time with his grandkids in Sioux Falls three or four days every week, grabbing them to go golfing or play basketball, to color, to sit in his lap and watch Tucker Carlson on FOX. He maxed out the lease mileage on his cars making trips to see his grandkids in Minneapolis. He chased his daughter around wherever she was, from California to Utah to Hawaii.
Denny was a generous man, with his time, his money and his heart. He was not about material comforts, outside of loose-fitting sweatpants. He used what he had to build relationships and communities.
Denny’s passing was not expected, and the depth of our pain is a testament to the enormous role he played in our lives. We wish he’d waited a little longer to go, but there is no doubt where he went.
He will be remembered by too many people to list. But his immediate family are his wife, Sue, his children Matt, Sam and Angela, his daughters-in-law Jodi (Holman) and Lauren (Rheault), his grandchildren in Sioux Falls Ben, Thomas, Joel and Natalie and his grandchildren in Minneapolis Livie and Millie. He is also remembered by his brother, Ron, and wife Marcene and their five children and his sister Patti Drui and her husband, Bill. His sister Donna (Ryken) preceded Denny in death, but the Ryken family will also keep his memory alive. He will be in the hearts of the family he married into but loved just as strongly, all the Frandsens and Hantens from the Platte and White Lake area.
Besides Donna, he was preceded in death by his parents Dale and Skip Merritt.
Visitation for Denny will be at Christ the King church in Sioux Falls on Sunday, Nov. 17, 3-5 p.m. with a rosary and prayer service at 5 p.m. His funeral mass will be Monday at 11 a.m. with lunch to follow. A private family burial will be Tuesday.
In lieu of flowers kindly direct memorials to Christ the King
Section 23
Contributed on 5/2/21 by 9katz
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Record #: 272054