Del graduated from Wishek High School in 1952. He received bachelor of science and bachelor of arts degrees from the University of North Dakota and attended the University of North Dakota Medical School, later transferring to, and graduating from Northwestern University Medical School in 1959.
Interning at Evanston Hospital in Evanston, Ill., Del then became a fellow in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in the early ’60s. At Mayo, Del was also trained in the then new medical art of oncology, the chemical treatment of cancer. Del practiced medicine with Quain & Ramstad Clinic (Q&R) from 1964 until his retirement in 1998, serving on Q&R’s board of directors and leading Q&R as president during the 1980s, during which time Q&R built a new clinic building.
As a founding member of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group headquartered at the Mayo Clinic, Del was a member of the clinical investigative program until his retirement. The program investigates and tests the efficacy of new cancer treatment drugs.
Del was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, where he served as deacon, chairman of the board of deacons and chairman of the committee responsible for choosing a new Casavant Freres Limitee organ for the church. He was a director of Northwestern Bank from 1985 until his retirement and a founding board member of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra. Del was an accomplished organist, member of the Bismarck-Mandan chapter of the American Guild of Organists and an avid horticulturist throughout his life.
Del was preceded in death by his parents, Edward Peter Pfeifle and Lydia Wolf Pfeifle; one son, Richard Delano Pfeifle; his brothers, Armand and his wife, Elsie, Raymond and his wife, Irene, Myron and Floyd Pfeifle; his brother-in-law, Vernon Pepple; and his daughter-in-law, Hope Taplin Pfeifle.
Del is survived by his wife, Lou, Riverside, Calif.; his son, Tom and fiancee, Debora Cormay; and his daughter, Ann and spouse, Kimberly Earhart. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Tracy (James Badarak), Amanda, Sarah, Kimberly, Mary and Myles Pfeifle; one great-grandson, Elijah Pfeifle-Badarak; blended grandchildren, Keane Fillipi (Katie) and Tiffany Fillipi Granillo (Tony); four blended great-grandchildren, Sofia, Olivia, Nolan and Sydney; two sisters, Marlene Okeson (Lee) and Luetta Pepple; two sisters-in-law, Lois Masterson and Ann Pfeifle; and numerous extended family.
Del’s profession and his family were the all-consuming passions of his life. Memorial services will be held later in the spring. Please send memorial gifts to your local hospice or your local chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Obituary courtesy of the Bismarck Tribune.