Darrell G. Triplett

died at home in Bismarck

on December 1, 2019. He

died as he had lived, with

a gentle, quiet dignity.

The visitation will be

from 6-8 p.m., Tuesday,

Dec. 3rd, at Bismarck

Funeral Home. Funeral

services will be at 11:00

a.m., Thursday, Dec. 5th

at Tolley Lutheran

Church with interment

following at McKinney

Cemetery in the Souris

River valley west of

Mohall along Highway 5.

Darrell was born July 6,

1923, in Renville County,

ND, to Guy and Hazle (El-

liott) Triplett. He was the

fourth of eight siblings.

After graduating from

Tolley High School in

1941 and brief training as

a welder, Darrell relocated

to the State of Washing-

ton. He worked in the

U.S. Navy shipyard adja-

cent to Bremerton, Wash-

ington, repairing and

modernizing battle ships

for the war effort. During

the early part of WWII,

that employment earned

him a draft deferral. The

deferral ended abruptly

after he missed three days

of work while hospital-

ized with an injury.

He served the

remainder of the war in

the South Pacific with the

United States Army Air

Corps (5th Army Air

Force/43rd Bombardment

Group/65th Squadron). He

was a top turret gunner in

a B-24 ‘Liberator’ bomber.

With his crew, he flew 47

island-hopping missions

toward Japan.

Darrell considered his

military service the singu-

lar great adventure of his

life. He was proud of his

service and always

amazed at his good for-

tune in returning un-

scathed. He was a lifetime

member of the

Irgens-Weber American

Legion Post #249 of Tol-

ley, ND.

Following military ser-

vice, Darrell returned

home to farm with his fa-

ther. Later, he farmed in

partnership with his

younger brother Bobby,

until Bobby’s untimely

death in 1971, after which

he farmed with sons

Michael and Craig.

Darrell married

LaVerne Marie Irgens in

October 1952. They had

five children together, all

born between 1954 and

1961. Darrell valued edu-

cation greatly. He served

twelve years on the school

board for Tolley Public

School during the 1960s

and ’70s. Darrell and

LaVerne retired to

Bismarck in 2008.

Taking care of family

was always his priority.

At various times in his

life, depending on age and

health, his favorite ac-

tivities included the thrill

of dare-devil horseback

riding, the strategy of

baseball, the camaraderie

and competition of shoot-

ing league pool with good

friends, dancing, and

playing card games and

fixing jigsaw puzzles with

his family.

The constants in his life

included a special affec-

tion for babies and tod-

dlers, a voracious appetite

for reading, and pleasure

in the close observation of

his surroundings while he

worked the land.

Darrell was a man of in-

tegrity, generosity, and

equanimity. He could be

stubborn; he was always

stoic. He was a man of

few words, but the twin-

kle in his eyes conveyed

pure love as well as any

poem ever written.

Darrell is survived by

LaVerne, his wife of 67

years; one sister, (Mar-

gery) Pearl “Sis”; children

Michael, Connie, Tim,

Craig, and Kelly; 15

grandchildren, 20

great-grandchildren; and

many nieces and

nephews.

Darrell was preceded

in death by both parents;

brothers Lynn, Voyle, Del-

bert, Kenny, and Bobby;

sister Marilyn; one

still-born grandchild and

one step-granddaughter,

Samantha Vogel.

Memorials are pre-

ferred to the American

Red Cross. Please visit

www.bismarckfuneralho

me.com for more details

about Darrell or to leave

online condolences for

the family.