Connie Earley, 82, of Dell Rapids, passed away on Friday, June 26, 2026, at the Avera Dells Area Hospital. Her funeral service will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 9, 2026, in the Dell Rapids Lutheran Church. Interment will be in the Restlawn Memory Gardens in Huron. Visitation will be on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at Kahler-Brende Funeral Home from 5–7 p.m.
Connie Lee Earley was born July 10, 1943, to Walter and Maxine (Dammeier) Kamenz in Huron, S.D. She was baptized and confirmed in the American Lutheran Church in Huron. She graduated from Huron High School in 1961 and from South Dakota State University in 1966 with a B.S. degree in child development. She taught in the Omaha Public School system with the Head Start program from 1966–1970. On New Year’s Day 1967, Connie met Thomas J. Earley. She married Tom on Aug. 23, 1969, at St. Martin Catholic Church in Huron. They lived in Omaha, Overland Park, Kan., and Sioux Falls, where they both worked for Lutheran Social Services as group home parents. They moved to the Dell Rapids area in 1974 and into the city of Dell Rapids in 1978.
Connie was a member of the Lutheran Church Dell Rapids, where she was active with the choir, WELCA, Ladies Circle and the Prayer Shawl Ministry. She was also a member of the Dell Rapids Lions Club, the Sioux Valley Genealogical Society, the Dell Rapids Area Garden Club, the South Dakota Federation of Garden Clubs Inc., Rocky Mountain Regional Garden Clubs and National Garden Clubs Inc. and the SD Horticulture Society. Her favorite activities over the years, besides her love of family, were gardening, reading, refinishing family furniture, genealogy, stitching, sewing, knitting and participating in Bible studies. The highlights of their travels were their trips to Israel and to Ireland, where she met Tom’s cousins.
Connie is survived by her husband, Tom, her sister, Jean Eckmann of Huron; nephews Dean Eckmann and Jim (Carol) Eckmann, both of Cavour, S.D.; grandnephews Allen Eckmann of Sioux Falls and Aaron (Allie) Eckmann of Orange City, Iowa; grandnieces Amie (Aaron) Delgado of Dell Rapids and Andrea Eckmann of Sioux Falls; brother and sister-in-law John and Sandy Earley of Center Valley, Pa.; and numerous cousins. She always felt blessed to be godmother to eight children.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother-in-law, Ervin Eckmann. Memorials can be made to the Lutheran Church Dell Rapids or the Dell Rapids Area Garden Club.
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