DARLENE M. GUSTAFSON , 90, of Cherokee, Iowa, passed away Monday evening, December 28, 2020 in the Cherokee Regional Medical Center due to complications of COVID-19.

Private family services will be held on Monday, January 4, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. Pastor Jane Johnston will officiate. Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery at Cherokee, Iowa. Public visitation will be held on Sunday afternoon January 3 ^rd from 12 Noon until 5 p.m. with family present from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. Please practice social distancing and masks will be required. The funeral service will be live streamed for the public on the Boothby Funeral Home website with the assistance of Fuller Digital Solutions. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to the Lutheran Lakeside Camp or the Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

Darlene Mildred Gustafson was born September 13, 1930 in Lytton, Iowa to Ray A. and Emma (Hinrichs) Haden and was welcomed by brothers Earl, Dean and Melvin.  She graduated from Lytton Consolidated High School in 1948 and from teachers training at Buena Vista College in 1950.  Darlene taught country school for a year in Calhoun County.  She taught second and third grades in Fonda and then Aurelia. While in Aurelia she caught the eye of Charles Filmore Gustafson. They were married on May 24, 1955 at the First Presbyterian Church in Lytton Iowa.  Her career switched to farm wife and mother, as Cathy, Steve, David, Ann, Bruce and Mary arrived over the next 10 years.

As the years passed Darlene was involved in many activities at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. She was an active member of Bethlehem Lutheran Women of ELCA. She taught Sunday school, sang in the choir, attended bible studies, participated in Wednesday quilting and helped in any way she was asked.  Her passion was sewing quilts and putting together health kits for Lutheran World Relief.  Darlene and Filmore have been strong supporters of Lutheran Lakeside Camp in Spirit Lake, Iowa.  She facilitated the donation of many, many quilts for the annual quilt auction each year. She had a strong and steady faith.

She enjoyed volunteering in the community in a variety of roles. One point of interest was teaching adults and children to read. She also enjoyed being a Girl Scout leader and leader of the After Lucky Clovers 4H Club.

Socially, Darlene was an active participant in weekly Bible Studies.  She enjoyed participating in a local birthday club with family and friends.  She and college friends from Buena Vista maintained a round robin letter that lasted 70 years.

Her greatest joy was her husband and children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She orchestrated the schedules of five kids with school, music lessons, tennis, softball, baseball and wrestling while keeping pace with Filmore's farming, livestock and real estate businesses. If you know Filmore, you understand she spent 65 years "keeping him in line" as best she could.

She and Filmore enjoyed attending all family events.  Picnics, smores, walks in nature, museums and travel were favorite activities with her family.  A trip to Germany was a travel highlight. She wrote and maintained family history and photo albums. As a grandmother and great-grandmother she made sure all had plenty of books, quilts and a sweet treat or two. Though 2020 has been a year of struggle, Darlene was happy to celebrate her 90th birthday and 65 years of marriage to Filmore in 2020.

Darlene enjoyed sewing clothes and teaching her grandchildren to sew.  There was not a tear she couldn't mend whether it be jeans or a beloved toy.  Darlene most recently patched some items with her love in November 2020.

She was preceded in death by her parents, son David Scott Gustafson, three brothers Earl, Dean and Melvin Haden, her in-laws Oscar and Linnea Gustafson, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law and a niece Sara Gustafson.

She is survived by her husband Filmore; five children: Cathy (Mark) Penney of Osage, Iowa; Steve (Gayle) Gustafson of Cherokee, Iowa; Ann (Larry) Larson of St. Cloud, Minnesota; Bruce (Lynn) Gustafson of Capitol, Montana; Mary Gustafson (Gayle Scott) of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; 9 grandchildren: Dan (Libby) Gustafson, Matthew (Casey) Gustafson, Bradley (Cameo) Gustafson, Kent (April) Penney, Scott (Hollie) Penney, Hallie Larson, Joanna Larson, Haden Scott, and Avery Scott; 19 great grandchildren: Cole, Lilah and Annabelle Gustafson; Madison, Lincoln, and Hudson Gustafson; Hayden and Braidyn Garlow, Harley and Nova Jo Gustafson; Violet, Brek, Dax, Daphne and Duke Penney; Addilyn, Reagan, Amelia and Jack Penney.