Donald K. “Skip” Raridon, age 79, of Bennington, NE, and formerly of Carroll, IA, passed away on Monday, February 19, 2024 at Methodist Hospital in Omaha, NE.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at the First United Methodist Church in Carroll with Rev. Terry Plocher officiating. Music for the service will be by Ellen Severin. Pallbearers will be Todd Ommen, Bruce Kempkes, Hendry Rilantono, Jaden Rilantono, Graeme Kempkes, Andy Soper, Erin Soper, and Lia Rilantono. Burial will be in the Carroll City Cemetery.
Visitation will be held at the First United Methodist Church from 9:30 – 10:15 A.M. on Saturday prior to the service.
A livestream of Skip’s funeral service may be viewed on the church’s YouTube page at: https://www.youtube.com/@carrollfumcvideo4367
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll and online condolences may be left for the family at www.dahnandwoodhouse.com
Skip was born in Carroll on November 12, 1944, to Guy and Dallas Raridon. He received his diploma from Carroll High School in 1962, attended the U.S. Postal Academy in Oakbrook, Illinois, and married classmate Nancy Jensen in 1964. They were blessed with three daughters: Tamara, Jill, and Holly. For 38 years he worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Carroll until his retirement as Superintendent of Postal Operations in 2004. In 2013, Skip moved with Nancy to Bennington, Nebraska, an Omaha suburb.
Skip loved music, and it brought him great joy throughout his life. He was a singer who enjoyed nearly every kind of music. He sang in the Elks Chorus. He sang with the Community Chorus. He sang with the Flexibles, a men’s quartet. He sang at weddings; he sang at funerals. He sang in the First United Methodist Church Choir in Carroll for over 50 years. When an old favorite was playing on the radio, he sang in the car. He even sang when mowing the lawn.
Family, friends, and community were important to Skip. He served two terms on the Carroll Community Schools Board of Education. He participated in Carroll Community Theater productions, chaperoned Carroll High School Show Choir trips, and belonged to Kiwanis and the Carroll High School Alumni and Friends Group. He enjoyed sports, playing racquetball for many years and watching “his” Chicago Cubs on TV. He was fond of games and regularly played cards with family, while devouring sweets. (He’d freely admit he never met a dessert he didn’t like.)
Intense as Skip’s love of music was, it was nowhere near his love of family. Surviving him are his wife of 60 years, Nancy of Bennington, Nebraska; daughters Tamara (Todd Ommen) Raridon of Omaha, Nebraska, Jill (Bruce) Kempkes of Earlham, Iowa, and Holly (Hendry) Rilantono of Omaha, Nebraska; grandchildren Erin (Andy) Soper of Omaha, Nebraska, Jaden and Lia Rilantono, and Graeme Kempkes; and great-grandchildren Anna and Lily Soper. He is also survived by sister Judy Raridon, sisters-in-law Linda Jensen and Debra Jensen, and brothers-in-law John (Trudy) Jensen and Jeff (Paula) Jensen, and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers C. Wade Raridon and Delbert Raridon, sister Barbara Raridon Mueller, and parents-in-law Thomas and Ila Jensen.