Darline Young

Darline Martin Young was ‘BOI’ (Born on the Island) of Galveston, Texas on June 9, 1935. She was part of the first set of twins (of three sets of twins and then one single birth) born to Maurine (Zaring) Martin and Arthur Lee Martin.

Darline graduated from Ball High School in Galveston in 1952 and went on to attain her Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Home Economics and Teaching in August of 1956 at the University of Houston.

At the age of 21 while attending a young people’s Fellowship at South Main Baptist Church in Houston she met a handsome young man named Cecil Young. They were married in that same church on April 19, 1958. Darline was a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. During their fairy-tale marriage Darline and Cecil had three children: Karen (Jack) Alderson, Beverly (Steve) Groteboer, and Blake (Wayne Maples) Young. They were eventually blessed with three grandchildren: Kelsey (Brad) Pearse, Emily (Kaleb) Williams, Adam (Mallory) Alderson; and five great-grandchildren: Coleman Pearse, Lettie and Alden Williams, and Kip and Cal Alderson. Cecil was the love of her life and husband for over 60 years until his passing at the age of 89 in May of 2018.

Darline was a fabulous seamstress and made most of the family’s clothes through the years. After substitute teaching while her kids were growing up, Darline went on to teach full time for over 15 years in the Spring ISD in Houston mostly in the second and fourth grades.

Darline was a devout lifelong Christian. She taught Sunday School most of her adult life and all the way until the age of 83 when she was teaching the senior ladies class at First Baptist Church in Burkburnett, TX. Darline and daughter Bev attended church together since she moved to Ely in 2018, most recently becoming Charter Members of Ely New Life Church established in August of 2024. She and Cecil read the Bible together in its entirety 16 times; and her extensive collection of Bibles, each obviously well used, is a testament to her deep faith.

Her family is grateful for the many cards she has received in her last days. One that stands out was a sweet card from her younger sister Dores Mitchell thanking her for getting Baptized as a young girl which is why the whole rest of the family found God!

She was known for her beautiful smile that would light up the room and was a portal directly into her sweet, gentle, beautiful soul. She brightened even the gloomiest days right up until the day she passed and went to heaven on August 29, 2025.

Darline left behind immeasurable treasures in her heartfelt poems that she wrote about each individual in her family. Some were surprise poems only found recently as we were going through her things near the end. She was also a prolific writer of daily life journals. Not only are these treasures a detailed insight into her daily life, but they also served her well for setting the record straight anytime she and Cecil disagreed about a date, a place, or a fact as they reflected back on their beautiful memories!

Darline had an adventurous spirit. She loved being on the water! We all fondly remember the time she took her teenage kids boating by herself when at the last minute Dad got called into work on a critical system problem for a customer. More recently she also loved pontooning with family on Burntside Lake near Ely, MN.

Over the years Darline and Cecil loved to travel, almost exclusively by car, starting out with their honeymoon to Mexico; and over the course of the years they were very proud to have visited all 50 of the United States.

Darline further proved her sense for adventure when she chose to move to Ely in 2018 after Cecil’s passing. That winter, at the age of 83, she went on a dogsledding ride! She was always up for anything, even “with only 15 minutes warning,” as was often the case with Bev and Kelsey shenanigans while living in Ely!

The family would like to thank Dr. Joseph Bianco and Dr. Jeffrey Wilt and all the wonderful nurses of Essentia Health Ely. We are extremely grateful to the amazing team of caregivers and nurses at Carefree Living in Ely that have so lovingly cared for her (and us family members) over the past 2 1/2 years. We are also forever grateful to RN Joanna Leino, Dr. Keith Peterson, and a very special Hospice Volunteer who sat by Darline’s side to give family much needed breaks, along with many others that offered various other services of the amazing team from East Range Hospice over the past seven months. And finally, to the many, many friends who have so frequently come to visit her over the past many years sometimes even bringing flowers, treats, scripture, animals, or babies! She will be greatly missed.

Celebrations of Life will be held:

In Ely at Grand Ely Lodge on Friday, October 10, 2025 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (with a short service starting at 5:30 p.m.) Appetizers provided.

In Texas at First Baptist Church in Burkburnett, Texas on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. Service with luncheon immediately afterwards, then to cemetery for burial

In lieu of flowers, Memorial donations can be made in Darline’s name to the following organizations that she was passionate about:

Northwoods Partners:

northwoodspartners.org

Contented Critters:

contentedcrittersmn.org

New Life Church - Ely:

newlifeely.org

Family arrangements have been entrusted to Kerntz Funeral Home of Ely.

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