Darlene R. Pecha

Darlene R. Pecha,69, formerly of Gilbert and Soudan, died Friday, August 19, 2016, at Evergreen Terrace in Grand Rapids.
She was born on August 10, 1947 to Anton and Rose (Kalsich) Pecha in Soudan, where she grew up and attended grade school.
She graduated from Tower-Soudan High School in 1965, Ely Jr. College in 1967 and from UMD, with a Bachelor Degree in elementary education in 1969.
She started her teaching career in the fall of 1969 at the Gilbert public School and continued there until May of 2004, retiring after 34 years of dedicated service.
Darlene was a respected and beloved teacher and was nominated as "Teacher of the Year" several times. She also served as chairman of the March of Dimes in Gilbert for a number of years.
After she retired and moved back to her hometown of Soudan, she did substitute teaching in the Tower school for several years.
Darlene enjoyed gardening, reading and was an avid Vikings fan. She was a member of St. Martin's Catholic Church of Tower.
She is survived by her brother, Tony Pecha of Clear Lake, MN; sisters-in-law, Margaret Pecha of Grand Rapids and Rosemary Pecha of Virginia; numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Donald, Ronald and Robert Pecha; sister, Delores Johnson; sister-in-law, Karen Pecha.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 1, 2016, at St. Martin's Catholic Church in Tower, with Rev. Father Drew Braun as celebrant. Visitation will be for one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be in Lakeview Cemetery in Tower. Arrangements are with the Mlaker Funeral Home of Cook.