Darlene Black

Darlene Helen (Jahnz) Black, formerly of Amboy, passed away on Jan. 16, 2024, at Birchwood Cottages, North Mankato. Services are scheduled for Wednesday morning, Jan. 24, at St. John’s Lutheran Church Willow Creek, rural Vernon Center. Darlene was born June 9, 1935, to Alvin and Helen (Kietzer) Jahnz on the family farm in Pleasant Mound Township, Blue Earth County, Minn.

She was baptized and confirmed at St. John’s Willow Creek and graduated from Truman High School in 1953. On Jan. 10, 1954, she married Delbert Black at the church parsonage. They were married 56 years. Delbert passed away in 2010. She moved into Birchwood Cottages in the fall of 2020.

She enjoyed being a homemaker and farm wife and helped with the fieldwork and as a shuttle driver giving rides to and from the field. Delbert even had her running the combine. She had a very strong faith in the Lord and loved her church and church family. She was a member of the Mary Martha and Altar Guild and also served as a 4-H leader. She enjoyed gardening and exhibiting her flowers and vegetables at the county fair and sharing her bounty with neighbors and friends. She loved to attend the sporting and school events of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her high school friends turned into lifelong friends and she enjoyed going out to lunch with them to celebrate birthdays until last year.

Survived by her children, Randy Black and Jeannie (Bruce) Ward all of Amboy; grandchildren, Gini (Tony) Brummond, Nicole Kettner Geistfeld (Scott), Matthew Black, Rachel (Craig) Hanson, Kami (Caleb) Jordan, Cassie (Joe) Flynn, Trevor (Amberlea) Ward, Jenn Sandmeyer and Matt Olson; 24 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; brother, Jerry Jahnz; sisters-in-law, Madeline Jahnz and Arlis Black; brother-in-law, Alvin Stauffer; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Preceeded in death by her husband, Delbert; daughter-in-law, Gail Black; parents, Alvin and Helen (Kietzer) Jahnz; brother, Waldo Jahnz in infancy; brother, Harold Jahnz; and in-laws, Wilbert and Cora Black.