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Darwin Hurd, the Dar of Dar’s Pizza, died on March 8. Contributed photo
Dar’s Pizza has been a staple in the Pipestone community since 1969. Now, about 55 years after it opened for business, the restaurant is still going strong, but the man for whom it was named, is gone. Darwin “Dar” Hurd died Friday, March 8 at the age of 93.
His daughters, Gloria Smidt and LeDar Bartholomaus, both of Pipestone, described him as a worker, always happy, always smiling, a lover of sports, involved in the community and good with a face and a name. He was a firefighter, a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, and he loved horse racing and owned race horses that raced in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Chicago and Canada.
His daughters said family was very important to Hurd. That family included his wife of 47 years, Leah (Jacobson), five children (LeDar, Gloria, Thomas, Douglas and Timothy), 11 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.
When Hurd and Leah decided to open a restaurant at the corner of Eighth Avenue S.W. and Hwy. 30 in Pipestone, they considered a pancake house and a pizza place. History suggests they made the right call.
Interestingly, Hurd’s family said that the Dar of Dar’s Pizza, didn’t like cheese and didn’t eat pizza.
“I know I’ve never seen him eat a slice of pizza in my life,” said Jeremy Smidt, Hurd’s grandson and owner of Dar’s Pizza with his wife, Maritta.
The cheese is one of the things that sets Dar’s Pizza apart. The mozzarella comes in 40-pound blocks of mozzarella and is sliced rather than grated, according to the family.
The family recipe also includes homemade dough and sauce. The original sauce recipe included several hours of cooking.
“My mom would cook it at home and then bring it there,” LeDar said. “Our house smelled like sauce for months.”
The family later changed the recipe to a cold preparation method.
While the pizza is what makes the corner of Hwy. 30 and Eighth Avenue S.W. a local landmark, the family’s stake in that land started long before the pizza arrived. LeDar and Gloria said their family bought the property over 100 years ago in 1923.
The corner of state Highway 30 and Eighth Avenue S.W. in Pipestone, where Dar’s Pizza is today, has been owned by the same family for over 100 years. This gas station and grocery store was opened there by Russell Fields in 1923. Contributed photo
Their great-grandfather, Russell Fields, bought the property and five generations of family lived there. Fields also operated Fields Station and Grocery there. Then it became Fields and Jacobson, after Gloria and LeDar’s grandfather, John Jacobson, joined the business. Jacobson later built a grocery store onto the building that was already there. The store later became Jacob’s IGA.
In 1958, Hurd opened Dar’s Texaco at the former gas station and grocery store site. The gas station was sold to Butch Miller in the early 1970s. That part of the property then came back to the family and LeDar’s husband, Daryl, had a cabinet shop there; Tim, had Exhaust Pros there; and Gloria had a travel agency there for a short time. Today it’s used as storage.
“A lot of the family members have been there,” Gloria said.
Dar’s Pizza was opened where Jacobson’s IGA had been. Syl and Sal Eischens leased the restaurant in 1978, but it’s always been owned by Hurd’s family. Gloria and her husband, Rodger, bought it in 1979, and Jeremy and Maritta bought it in 2002 and still own it today.
In 1985, Dar’s Pizza was destroyed after a gas leak caused an explosion and fire. Fortunately, no one was there at the time. Gloria said the community was very supportive after the fire and that there was no hesitation in the decision to rebuild.
“They got letters from kids in school that said, ‘I hope you’re going to rebuild,’” LeDar said.
Now, nearly 40 years after rebuilding, the business continues. Family members said it’s great to see the business still going in the third generation of family ownership. It’s not yet clear whether a fourth generation of the family will step up to take the reins in the future. Jeremy said he didn’t think he would, but that’s what happened.
“It feels pretty good,” Jeremy said. “It’s an honor.”
