Donald Earl Sikkink, 88, of Hinckley, Minn., went to be with his Lord on April 15, 2026, after a short battle with lymphoma. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Don was born at home in Hinckley on Sept. 14, 1937, to Stuart and Elizabeth Sikkink. He helped on his parents' farm at an early age. He later remembered missing a month and a half of school in seventh grade to help his father hand-pick corn. He once won a race at the county fair on his horse named Dan Patch. As a young man he learned to shear sheep at a school in Grand Rapids, Minn., and later became a champion sheep shearer at the state's Junior Livestock Show, winning a trip to Chicago.

Don attended Sikkink Country School, a one-room schoolhouse, through 8th grade. He graduated from Hinckley High School in 1955 and later earned an associate's degree at the University of Minnesota School of Agriculture. He served for six years in the Air National Guard.

He wed Janet Rypkema on April 23, 1960 at First Presbyterian Church of Hinckley, then took her on a honeymoon to Texas. They lived in Pine City and Hinckley before starting to farm in 1963 about a mile from his parents' home on what became known as Sikkink Road. At age 88 he was still farming there: Only a cancer diagnosis earlier this year convinced him to stop working. He was a patient and loving father to his four children, who remember him giving them piggy-back rides to bed and reading "Little Visits with God" to them every night.

Donald's faith in Jesus Christ was central to his life. He served as an elder and later elder emeritus at First Presbyterian. He always used formal language for public prayers, often starting them with, "Our heavenly Father, we thank thee that thou art our God." For most of his life he read the Bible before milking his cows at 5:30 a.m. He faithfully lived out the instruction found in 1 Thess. 4:11-12, "to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one."

Don was a member of the Tri County Cattlemen's Association and the Hinckley Saddle Club. He served as the family historian and could recall stories from both sides of his family as well as his wife's. He was known for sayings that charmed and perplexed his children and grandchildren, such as "The poor must work," "It's daylight in the swamp," and "That's no way to win friends and influence people." When they were small, he would give his grandchildren McDonald's coupons for their road trips home. Don loved visiting with friends, drinking A&W root beer, reading books about history and cowboys, and playing the card game Rook (and almost never bidding, to the consternation of his partners).

Donald is survived by his children, Julie Essley of Alexandria, Va., David Sikkink (Karen) of Fairview, N.C., Dan Sikkink (Kari) of New Richmond, Wisc., and Doug Sikkink (Sue) of Fargo, N.D., as well as grandchildren Lenny (Esther), Derek, Garrin, Liz (Homere), Bret, Christa (Jordan), Anna, Bethany (Chapman), Drew, Caroline, Luke, Joey, and Rebekah; great-grandchildren Julianna, Lewis, Elias, Asa, Eliana, Mabel and Annie, born April 10. He is also survived by his siblings Betty Carlson, Lyle Sikkink and Carolyn Schaefer. He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Janet. His beloved older brother Herb beat him to heaven by four days.

A visitation will be held Thursday, April 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Hinckley, followed by a prayer service. The funeral will be Friday, April 24 at 10:30 a.m. at First Presbyterian, followed by a procession to Rosehill Cemetery and lunch.