Obituary of Daryl R. Stephenson, MD

Daryl was born to Omer Carlisle Carlyle and Stella Pauline Stephenson in Thurman, IA on January 27, 1935. He contracted polio as a teenager which left him on crutches or in a wheelchair the rest of his life, but also blessed him with a passion to become a physician. He grew up and attended primary school in Omaha, NE, before attending college and medical school at Creighton University in Omaha. He graduated from Creighton with a Doctorate of Medicine in 1961 and did his psychiatric residency at the University of Nebraska, College of Medicine in Omaha, completing it at the Norfolk Regional Center in Norfolk, NE in 1965. He was a member of the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association. Daryl married Linda Deacon on September 8, 1962 in Varina, IA. The couple started a family in Omaha and moved to Norfolk in 1965 and then on to Yankton in 1969, where they made their home and raised seven children and one grandchild. Daryl practiced psychiatry for 53 years, running a private practice in Yankton for many years and also working at Sacred Heart Hospital, the Human Services Center and the Norfolk Regional Center. Late in his career, he went to full-time employment at the Norfolk Regional Center, before finally retiring in 2015. Daryl loved nature and he spent most of his free time reading about and raising a variety of birds and small animals and growing large flower and vegetable gardens. Over time, he raised many different breeds of pigeons, fish, reptiles, chickens, ducks, geese and peacocks. But his main focus and prized possessions were his Checkered Giant rabbits. He enjoyed raising these large show rabbits with help from his sons and grandsons and traveled throughout the Midwest to trade and show them, earning many national awards and making many friends. He was an active member of the American Checkered Giant Rabbit Club for 42 years, and his favorite rabbit was the one not yet purchased or born! As he slowed down in recent years, he enjoyed gardening and hobby farming with Linda, his son and grandchildren at their rural Crofton acreage, reading, playing cards, and his trips to the library and Bomgaars. He will be remembered for his great humor, his many unusual passions and hobbies, his grandiose stories and plans, and his endless interviewing of anyone he came across who would engage with him about nature, politics, history and countless other topics. Daryl is survived by his wife, Linda, of 54 years of Yankton, SD; brothers, Gary (Claudette) Stephenson and Don (Janet) Stephenson, both of Omaha, NE; seven children: Rustin (Sherry) Stephenson of Crofton, NE, Maureen (Jorge Reyno) Stephenson of Glendora, CA, Anne Stephenson of Skagway, AK, Rob (Lori) Stephenson of Yankton, SD, Colleen (Steve) Lacey of Minneapolis, MN, Dan (Jenny) of Lakeville, MN and Joe Stephenson of Skagway, AK; 17 grandchildren: David, Brandon, Jacqueline, Matthew, Laura, Dylan, Charlie, Cleo, Nate, Wolfgang, William, Hannah, Halle, Sylvia, Margaret, Pepper, and Alice; great-grandchildren: Jordan, Hadley, Matt, and Brett; many brothers and sisters-in-law and nephews and nieces. Daryl was preceded in death by his parents; grandson, Elijah; in-laws, John and Dorothy Deacon and brother-in-law, Ray Robbins.