DelRae Dickes

DelRae A. Dickes, age 93, formerly of Yankton, South Dakota, passed away on May 27, 2024, at Dow Rummel Village in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 AM on Monday, June 3, 2024, at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Yankton, South Dakota, with Reverend Joe Forcelle officiating. Burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Yankton next to her late husband, Donavan. Visitation will be from 3:00 to 5:00 PM on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at the Wintz & Ray Funeral Home in Yankton with a rosary and vigil service at 5:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, please honor DelRae’s legacy of charitable giving by offering memorial donations to Sacred Heart Catholic Schools in Yankton (www.yanktoncatholicfoundation.org).

Pallbearers will be DelRae’s grandsons: Christopher Dickes, Matt Arend, Nathan Dickes, Patrick Dickes, Eddie Dickes, Jeremy Arend, Michael Dickes, and Charlie Dickes. Honorary pallbearers will be DelRae’s granddaughters: Amy Westering, Sarah Zuk, Julie Mruz, Amanda Preisler, Erin Dickes, Danielle Birch and Kristina Erickson.

DelRae was born September 30,1930 in Fordyce, Nebraska, to Anton “Tony” and Regina (Boeckman) Weinandt. She was the oldest of five children and helped with family responsibilities after her mother passed away when DelRae was only eleven years old. Her father owned a small farm and the General Store in Fordyce. DelRae attended Mount Marty High School for girls in Yankton. After graduating in 1948, she attended Sacred Heart School of Nursing and graduated in 1951. She worked as an RN at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital from 1951 until her retirement in 1995. DelRae married Donavan Dickes on May 26,1953 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fordyce. They were married for 59 years before Donavan passed away in 2013.

DelRae was the most loving caregiver throughout her entire life: for her siblings, her dad (Tony Weinandt), her stepmother (Evelyn Weinandt), her husband (Donavan), her children through all their illnesses, and the countless patients she cared for during her nursing career at Sacred Heart Hospital. She was committed to her Catholic faith. She sang in the women’s choir and was an active member of the Catholic Daughters. She loved her bridge club as well as being a wonderful pie maker. She will always be remembered for her scrumptious apple, peach, and rhubarb pies!

DelRae is survived by her four children and their spouses: David (Marcene) Dickes of Yankton; Deb (Paul) Arend of Ankeny, Iowa; Dan (Bev) Dickes of Sioux Falls; Donna (Steve) Wagner of Sioux Falls; as well as her sister-in-law, Dottie Weinandt of Yankton. DelRae’s four children raised 15 grandchildren, who are proud parents of 26 of DelRae’s great-grandchildren. 

She was preceded in death by her husband, Donavan; parents, Tony and Regina Weinandt; stepmother, Evelyn Weinandt; two brothers, Dee Weinandt and Gerard Weinandt; two sisters, Vi Atchison and Maurita Diehl; and half-sister, Opal Smith.

The Dickes family is sincerely grateful for the wonderful care DelRae received from the staff of Avera Majestic Bluffs in Yankton and the staff of Dow Rummel Village in Sioux Falls.