Minnehaha Funeral Home Archives - Big Sioux Media Sports Network

Dell Rapids Chamber Gives Community Awards, Announces New President and Board Members

February 23, 2021 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

The Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce had a busy night at their annual banquet on Sunday, February 21st at Papa’s in downtown Dell Rapids. The chamber announced their annual community awards as well as new board members and new president.

The chamber announced their annual award winners and the winner of the 2nd Annual “Battle of the Buns” contest.

Minnehaha Funeral Home and the staff at the Dell Rapids Carnegie Library were both awarded the “Community Spirit” Award. Minnehaha Funeral Home was recognized for their active support with chamber for all of the events in 2020. Ahlers stated that they have done so much to support the children’s events as well as “Christmas at the Dells”. The staff at the library was recognized for their hard work and continued service to the community during the Covid pandemic and the unique ways they continued to operate and provided programming throughout the year.

Linsey Duffy was given the “Volunteer of the Year” Award. Duffy has worked diligently over the years for the Sioux River Red Rock Trail, and she will now be helping with Dell Rapids Garden Club.

Pinz was named the “2020 Business of the Year”. It was mentioned that they have made many great investments in facility and equipment upgrades, have provided increased job opportunities for the youth of Dell Rapids, brought major tournaments to town, and increased student involvement in bowling.

Pinz was also announced as the winner of the 2nd Annual “Battle of the Buns” contest held through the month of January. Pinz had an 86% rating of “Loved It” for their “Cheez-fection” burger creation.

The chamber also affirmed two members to the Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce board who have been working in that role for the past year and to also elect three new board members to fill open spots. Rebecca Fritz and Jeff Kistler were affirmed as board members. Leslie Duinkerken, Nathan O’Bryan, and Tammy McKillip were elected as new board members filling vacant spots. They will join Amber Larson and Mark DeGraw to fill the seven-seat Chamber Board of Directors. Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley will continue to serve as a liaison between the chamber and City of Dell Rapids council.

Dan Ahlers announced that he was stepping down as the chamber president during the meeting and introduced Amber Larson as the new president. Larson has been on the Chamber Board of Directors serving as treasurer for the last seven years.

Funeral Director Douglas Nohava Meets with Congressional Representatives

April 2, 2014 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

Funeral Director Douglas Nohava Meets with Congressional Representatives to Urge Support of Legislation Impacting Funeral Consumers

Photo Courtesy of Minneahaha Funeral Home
L-R: Nancy Kirk, Rep. Kristi Noem, Ken Kirk of Kirk Funeral Home-Rapid City, Doug Nohava

Garretson, SD ̶ Douglas G. Nohava, CFSP, CPC, of Minnehaha Funeral Homes in Baltic, Colton, Dell Rapids, and Garretson, recently spent time in Washington, D.C., attending the 2014 National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Advocacy Summit. The Summit, which was held March 4-6, enabled NFDA members to meet face-to-face with members of Congress and discuss issues of critical importance to funeral service. By participating in this event, Nohava is taking a proactive approach in advancing legislation that helps protect funeral consumers and benefits the communities he serves.

During the 2014 NFDA Advocacy Summit, Nohava met with meet with Sen. John Thune, Sen. Tim Johnson, and Rep. Kristi Noem to discuss the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Funeral Rule, a federal consumer protection law. The Funeral Rule has been interpreted as only applying to funeral homes; NFDA members argued that the law should be updated to include all sellers of funeral services and merchandise, including cemeteries, crematories, internet sellers and retail stores.

When the Funeral Rule was first promulgated in 1984, the funeral home was the primary source of funeral goods and services for the funeral consumer. Today, funeral consumers have a much greater variety of funeral service and merchandise sellers to choose from, including cemeteries, crematories, internet sellers and retail stores. Consumers who purchase funeral goods and services from somewhere other than a funeral home are not afforded the protections of the Funeral Rule, putting them in a vulnerable position.

To address this situation, NFDA members, like Nohava, feel that Congress should pass legislation that would require the FTC to update the Funeral Rule to reflect the current for-profit marketplace options for consumers and afford them the same protections they have under the Funeral Rule when dealing with funeral homes.

“Our funeral home staff has an unwavering commitment to the families we serve and our profession,” said Nohava. “I was proud to have the opportunity to meet with our elected senators and representatives in Washington, D.C., to help them understand the importance of updating federal consumer protection regulations.”

About Minnehaha Funeral Home

Minnehaha Funeral Home was founded in 1928 and is a cooperative owned by hundreds of shareholders in our communities. Over the years the funeral home has expanded to four locations in Minnehaha County. Nohava has been a funeral director with Minnehaha Funeral Home since 2005, and is a licensed funeral director/embalmer in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. He is also a member of the US Department of Health and Human Service’s Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (D-MORT) which responds to mass fatality disasters across the country.

Nohava is also a certified firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician with the Garretson Fire Department, and Garretson Community Ambulance. He is a past Fire Chief and current Assistant Fire Chief of Garretson, and has been a South Dakota Certified Fire Instructor since 2007. Doug is married to Karly Hegge. They have two daughters, Kalyce and Amity.

About the National Funeral Directors Association

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving 19,700 individual members who represent more than 10,000 funeral homes in the United States and 39 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

# # #

Thomas Hinz

December 27, 2013 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

Thomas Hinz, 24, of Baltic died Tuesday, December 24, 2013 due to injuries received in an automobile accident north of Renner.

Funeral services will begin at 2:00 PM Monday, December 30, 2013 at Baltic Lutheran Church, Baltic. Visitation with the family present will be from 2-4:00 PM Sunday at the Minnehaha Funeral Home, Baltic. Burial will be in the Pioneer Cemetery, Baltic.

Thomas was born September 25, 1989 to parents Troy and Naomi “Chelly” (Leamons) Hinz in Martin, Tennessee. He moved with his family to Oregon, California and to Baltic in 1997. He graduated from Brookings High School and attended Globe University in Sioux Falls. He was presently working at the Safari Bar and Grille.

Thomas loved music, his family and friends, his dog Loki, but more than anything he loved being a dad to Samuel Duane.

Grateful for having shared his life are his son Samuel Duane Hinz; mother, Naomi “Chelly” Sheppard, Arlington; his father, Troy and Sandie Hinz, Rapid City; brothers, Matthew Lavin, Brookings; Brandon Siewell, Sioux Falls; sisters, Brandy Hinz, Sheridan, Wyoming; Chelsea Hinz, Arlington; Megan Alhers, Dell Rapids; and Mallory Siewell, Sheridan, Wyoming; his grandparents, Bonnie and Rodney Norgaard, Arlington; Arlene Hinz, Baltic; Ronald and Sharon Parrish, Coos Bay, Oregon; great grandmother, Mavis Norgaard, Arlington; and special mom, Peggy Brobjorg, Baltic; and many other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by two sisters, Sarah Anne Hinz and Heather Unser and his grandfather, Don Hinz.