“One of my most favorite memories of the house I grew up in is laying on the living room floor in the sun looking out the bay window at our cows,” Kelbi smiled fondly as she shared. She also recalls the house being where all her friends would hang out and her mom would make it a mission to feed everyone who walked through the door. It’s reasons like these and so many more why Miss Dean was drawn to the idea of returning to South Dakota and owning her childhood home. “Knowing my kids could someday make those same great memories in this house would make me very happy,” explained Kelbi.
This is more than just a story about the purchase of a family home. Let me introduce you to Kelbi Dean and Austin Messmer, soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Messmer according to their pending August wedding date. Kelbi is from Artesian and Austin from Wessington Springs. They knew each other in high school, but the romance actually began in the ‘meat room’ on the South Dakota State University campus where they both earned their Ag Business degrees. Not the most likely place to meet your future spouse, but obviously effective none the less.
After college graduation, Kelbi’s career choices led her to Nebraska, which she says was a great experience and liked living in the Corn Husker State, but her heart never left South Dakota. Kelbi will proudly tell you she is the 8th generation in her family to call Sanborn County home and hoped she would someday return. Austin, who had made tracks back home after college, was anxious to see her return as well. He had bigger plans and needed to get her to change her area code back to 605 for his pending marriage proposal to be successful. As the stars and moon sometimes align, Kelbi was surprised with a Cargill career opportunity in a territory that landed her where she wanted to be….back in SD and sharing the same zip code with Austin. As much as Austin loved working with the cattle, sheep and crops on his family farm outside of Wessington Springs, his older brother had planned to take over the business. Austin new he would be looking for his own opportunities, which brought him to Woonsocket for an exciting new career as an Agent with Hegg Insurance. In the meantime, Kelbi’s parents, Justin and Lori Dean, had made the decision to build a new home making the homestead available. This immediately perked the interest of the newly engaged couple. “We are just two small town ag kids who value the farm life and the closeness of family so having the chance to own my childhood home was almost too good to be true,” explained Kelbi.
The cost of renting and the low mortgage interest rates are what prompted them to pursue a home purchase now versus later. Even though Kelbi’s dad is in the real estate business and was able to help Austin and Kelbi navigate through the process, the first-time home buyers wanted to learn it for themselves. “Working with James at Dakotaland was a very good experience. He kept the process on schedule, and we were ready to move in even before my parents were ready to move out,” declared Kelbi.
The young couple have already begun to invest in some cattle and sheep to populate their new nest. As their future unfolds and they make their house a home, Austin and Kelbi continue to feel strongly about their ag roots and small–town upbringing. Austin is an Assistant Coach with the Blackhawks and Kelbi is the first to take on the challenge of a local fundraiser for a good cause. “We love the idea of being a part of a community where people take care of each other,” concluded Kelbi.
