Darlene Emma Rust passed from this world in the early morning of February 8, 2020. She was three weeks from her 96th birthday.
Memorial Services will be Friday, February 14, 2020 at 1pm at the Rock of Ages Church in Gordon, NE.
Darlene spent her entire life with the family that she loved, except for several years in California during WWII, where her husband William “Bill” worked as a machinist for Douglas Aircraft Corp. Batesland was her home.
As a young girl, Darlene spent her summers herding the family’s cattle on horseback with her brother Orville on open range north of Batesland to the American Horse Creek area. She attended high school at Batesland until her marriage to Bill in 1941. She moved to Los Angeles and came back to Batesland during the war. She and Bill bought a small farm west of Batesland in 1946 where she lived until her death.
Three children were born to Darlene and Bill, Delbert in 1943, Virgil in 1944 and Virginia in 1946. Three foster children arrived in the early 1960s after their father’s death, the twins, Valentina, Katrina and Gregory.
In addition to being a mother, homemaker, care giver, and gardener, she also spent 25 years as a baker at the Batesland Public Schools. She and husband Bill organized and led the Batesland Troopers 4-H Club for a number of years.
After retirement from the school system in 1990, Darlene busied herself with home cooking, always finding a place at the table for a new guest. Darlene’s roast beef dinners with potato salad will be missed. Collecting cookbooks and patchwork quilts gave her additional pleasure. We will miss her greatly.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Herman and Mary Schwarting, her siblings Marvin Schwarting, Loveletta Kehn, Orville Schwarting, Lowell Schwarting and Evan Donald Schwarting.
Darlene is survived by her children Delbert (Carol) Rust of Idaho, Virgil Rust of Batesland, SD, Virginia “Ginny” Mueller of Batesland, SD, grandchildren Eric (Shannah) Rust of Washington, Aaron Rust of Idaho and great granddaughter Avery Rust of Washington,her brother Norman (Eloise) Schwarting of Gordon, her sister Alice Thurlow of Colorado and their extended families, and many nieces and nephews throughout the nation.
A memorial has been established for the Rust Memorial Homestead Scholarship Fund and donations may be sent to First National Bank, PO Box 290, Gordon, NE 69343.