John "Dutch" Kudrna

John “Dutch” Lawrence Kudrna, age 93, of Yankton, South Dakota, died Saturday, December 7, 2024, at the South Dakota Human Services Center in Yankton, after a lengthy illness.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 AM on Monday, December 16, 2024, at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Yankton, South Dakota, with Reverend Thi Pham officiating. Burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Yankton. Visitation is from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on Sunday, December 15, 2024, at the Wintz & Ray Funeral Home in Yankton, with a vigil service and rosary at 7:00 PM. 

Dutch was born February 7, 1931 to John William Kudrna and Mae (Becvar) Kudrna in Tabor, South Dakota. He attended Tabor Elementary and graduated Tabor High School in 1949. He married Marcella “Marcy” Kubal at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Tabor on August 31, 1953. They made their first home in Chamberlain, South Dakota before moving to Seattle, Washington where he worked at Tyee Lumber Mill. They then moved to Moses Lake, Washington where he was a carpenter with Capital Construction. 

The family spent a brief time in Phoenix, Arizona before returning to South Dakota in 1958, where they built their home for their family. In Yankton, Dutch was employed by Welfl Construction working on a variety of construction jobs in Yankton and southeastern South Dakota. In 1970, he took a position at Cimpl Packing Company where he maintained the refrigeration and heating systems until he retired in 1993 following a serious illness. 

Dutch cherished spending time with his family and loved them all dearly. He enjoyed boating, fishing, camping, family vacations and caring for the grandchildren with Marcy. Campfires, s’mores, hot dogs, riding bikes at the lake and playing games of Checkers and Connect 4 are favorite family memories. He was always willing to have his hair styled or play Pretty Pretty Princess with his granddaughters. 

Dutch and Marcy enjoyed traveling together and visited the former Czechoslovakia, home of their ancestors. They toured the US where they enjoyed many National and State Parks, good food, and visiting with people they met along the way. After retirement Dutch enjoyed working on the St. Benedict Church Funeral Committee with Marcy. He could also be found trout fishing in the Black Hills with Marcy, morel hunting, making pickles, puttering in his shop and house, and working in their yard. He was always fixing and improving something and also making sure to find a spot to sit with his family and enjoy it all. 

We celebrate Dutch for the love, affection and support he gave his family and friends, for his work ethic, as well as his enjoyment in sharing a bit of fun, a story, a laugh. We celebrate the consideration he showed when in times of sadness he would stop to listen and lend an empathetic ear and a helping hand, and we celebrate the generous sharing of his many building and mechanical skills. 

Dutch spent his last years hospitalized with Alzheimer’s disease at the South Dakota Human Services Center in Yankton. His family will always be grateful for the professional and compassionate staff and for the love and care they provided while he was not only a patient, but also a member of the HSC family. Throughout the years and Dutch’s last days, his family was also treated with love and kindness by HSC staff.

Survivors include his wife, Marcella; daughters: Jean (Dan) Orton and Kim Kudrna (Allan Ihrer); sons: Mike Kudrna and Jay Kudrna (Jessica); grandchildren: Katie (Bill) Hayes, Rachel Orton (Jacob Selgestad), Cydni Kudrna and Sophia Kudrna; and great-grandchildren: Madison, Elliott and Olivia Hayes; and many nieces and nephews,

Dutch is preceded in death by his parents; son, John Michael; and sister, Dorothy Blair.