Dennis L. White

Dennis White

TEA, S.D. — A Memorial Mass for Dennis L. White, 64, Tea, S.D., will be 10:30 a.m., Aug. 31, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Laurel. Rev. Jerry Connealy will be the celebrant.

Visitation will begin one hour prior to the Mass at church.

Home for Funerals – Randolph is in charge of arrangements.

Dennis passed away peacefully at his home in Tea, SD on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024, surrounded by his family, following a long and courageous battle against cancer.

Dennis Lee White was born May 16, 1960, to Marlyn (Lee) and Duane White in Sioux City, Iowa. The third of seven children, he was raised on a farm outside of Dixon, NE. He attended Laurel High School, from which he graduated in 1978, and met his wife of 43 years, Kelly Helms. They were married on July 17, 1981, and resided in Nebraska until 1987, when they moved to Inwood, Iowa. There, they raised their two daughters, Meggan and Brittney.

Dennis graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1995 with a degree in nursing. He worked for a brief period at Sanford Hospital, then turned to his other passion and started his own construction business, building homes throughout Northwest Iowa and Sioux Falls for many years. He then decided to return to nursing in 2008, and obtained his master’s in nursing in 2015. He and Kelly moved to Tucson in 2016, where he continued his nursing career managing rehabilitation clinics and centers throughout Tucson. They returned to South Dakota in 2021 to be closer to family following Dennis’s cancer diagnosis.

Anyone who knew Dennis knew he was full of life and had the gift of gab, always the first to start a conversation, and usually the last to end it. He had a great sense of humor and could even get a stranger to laugh, and had the biggest heart, always stopping to lend a hand to someone in need.

He loved to play guitar and played for several years in a band with his brother and nephew. Dennis also loved to hunt, fish, golf and cheer on the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Kansas City Chiefs, but his favorite pastime was woodworking.

Dennis is survived by his wife, Kelly; daughters, Meggan (Chris) Narum and Brittney (Thad) Berreth; grandsons, Rylan and Dax Berreth; parents, Duane and Marlyn White; brothers, David (Kim) White, Dale (Kelly) White, and Danny White; sisters, Denise (Jay) Fisher, Dianne (John) Delaney, and Deb (Brian) Swann; and many nieces and nephews.