RAPID CITY | Darlene Faye Claussen, 72, passed away March 26, 2015, at Rapid City Regional Hospital Auxiliary Hospice House after several years of declining health. Darlene was born on June 26, 1942, in Atlantic, IA, the daughter of Wm. Melbourne and Joyce E. Claussen. The family lived in Omaha, NE, during the war years and moved to Storm Lake, IA in 1946. She graduated from Storm Lake High School in 1960 and attended Buena Vista University before going to a Minneapolis Business School. Taking a job in Chicago, she met and married Edwin Earle and began her professional life as a bookkeeper. Later, she relocated to Houston, TX, where she continued with her work and enjoyed trips to the beaches in Galveston. In 1982, Darlene accepted a position with the Swedish Medical Center in Denver, CO, where she worked the remainder of her professional life. In semi-retirement she moved to Rapid City and worked a number of years at the Minneluzahan Senior Center. Darlene loved her pet cats, fishing, playing cards, watching sports (especially the Denver Broncos), making crafts and being with family. She was preceded in death by her parents and husband. She is survived by her sisters, Carolyn (Mark) Mollers of Rapid City, and Marolyn McDiarmid, Pittsboro, NC; cousins (Kay (Herschel) Plowman and Linda Petersen, along with nieces and nephews and good friends. Cremation has taken place and no services are planned at this time.