Friends, leaders remember David Barranco's gift for engaging all
Mourners celebrate life of late Sioux Falls city councilor known for making others feel heard, scrutinizing government spending
Within five years of moving to Sioux Falls, David Barranco had become woven into the fabric of South Dakota’s largest city.
His election to the Sioux Falls City Council in 2017 reflected what colleagues said Wednesday ultimately defined his legacy: a gift for connecting with people.
“Anyone who knew David also knew that he was far more than goals and budgets and council meetings. He was much more than that,” former Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken said during a celebration of life for the 53-year-old husband and father of two, whose death earlier this month prompted statewide mourning and brought public officials, constituents and community leaders to Carnegie Town Hall.
Barranco died July 6 after an intestinal infection became life-threatening in the fall of 2025. A subsequent Stage IV cancer diagnosis came only months after the city councilor, who chaired the council’s Audit Committee, announced he would forgo seeking a second term to instead run for state auditor.
TenHaken, Sioux Falls Mayor Christine Erickson and other speakers said Barranco’s rise in South Dakota politics reflected how quickly he was embraced by his adopted community. They said the attorney, writer and former journalist had an uncommon ability to make people feel heard.
“David had this presence about him. He carried that huge smile ... to nearly every room he entered,” TenHaken said. “It was often disarming, especially during moments when government had a tendency to take ourselves a little too seriously, which we do sometimes.”
Former Gov. Dennis Daugaard noted how unusual it is for South Dakota voters to elect newcomers.
“We were lucky they chose to live here. Just five years later, David successfully ran for city council. That’s impressive,” he said. “I was born here and it took me 43 years.”
Catherine Barranco told The Dakota Scout the loss of her husband remains raw and will leave a lasting void for both her family and the community.
But she said Wednesday’s service also reminded her of the support surrounding her family.
“The messages of support have been getting my family through this,” Barranco said shortly after the celebration of life at Carnegie Town Hall.
More than 100 family members, friends and city and state leaders gathered to remember the former councilor, who represented the Southeast District from July 2022 until his death this month.
“That was the hardest day of my life,” Catherine Barranco said.
Before the ceremony, a long line of mourners formed in the lobby to offer condolences to Catherine Barranco and her sons, Christopher and William. They then entered the council chambers, where a podium displaying a photograph of David Barranco and a memorial U.S. flag embroidered with his council term greeted attendees.
Speaking at the podium, Erickson pledged the community’s continued support for the Barranco family.
“Please know that we are wrapping you all in love, prayer and support in the days ahead,” Erickson said. “You have an entire community and state standing behind you, the people and the place David loved to serve.”
TenHaken, who served alongside Barranco throughout his time as mayor, opened his remarks with a prayer before reflecting on their years working together. He described Barranco as a “fiscal hawk” who “believed government should be thoughtful, disciplined with the resources that were entrusted to it.”
But what TenHaken remembered most was the pride Barranco took in his sons.
“He was so incredibly proud of you guys,” TenHaken said. “His love for them was evident, not only in what he said, but in the way his face lit up when he talked about them.”
Council Chair Rich Merkouris, who was elected alongside Barranco in 2022, recalled his colleague’s ability to strike up conversations with anyone, including strangers.
“The picture that comes to my mind of David is: He’d walk into an office or even a conference room, sit in one chair, pull out the next chair, and these big cowboy boots went up on the other chair ... like we’re in the comfort of our own living room,” Merkouris said. “Next thing you know, you’re talking taxes and regulation or whatever.”
State leaders also reflected on Barranco’s life.
Daugaard said Barranco’s death reminded him of losing his own father to cancer more than two decades ago. Even when death is expected, he said, it still arrives with profound grief.
That experience, Daugaard said, taught him the importance of connecting with loved ones “every chance we can.”
“We must show that through time spent and through those little things, over the days and years of our shared existence, that we love them, not in some elaborate bedside speech in those last hours, but through years of shared times and mutual experiences, joys and sorrows shared in those thoughtful meetings, birthdays renewed, and small accomplishments celebrated,” Daugaard said.
Merkouris said the best way to honor Barranco’s legacy is to follow his example of engaging with others.
“David was a great public servant because David was willing to engage with anyone on anything. The picture that comes to my mind of David is you walk in to an office or even a conference room, sit in one chair, pull out the next chair, and those big cowboy boots went up on the chair right there, like we’re in the comfort of our own living room,” he said. “The next thing you know, you’re talking taxes and regulation or whatever. David just sat down and engaged.“
