Ms. Darlene Elaine Williams Kupke, age 57, of Allen, Texas passed away April 30, 2010. She was born February 10, 1953, in St. Louis, Missouri to Arnold Jay and Phyllis (Day) Williams. Darlene attended Cleveland High School in St. Louis, and graduated near the top of her class in 1971. She was a National Merit Finalist and was offered multiple scholarships to excellent universities. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Washington University in St. Louis. Later in life she earned a master’s degree in liberal arts from Southern Methodist University in Dallas; not for career purposes, but out of a genuine love of knowledge. Darlene was a voracious reader and a lover of knowledge, music and art. In 1983, in support of her then husband Joseph Kupke, she moved to Dallas, TX where he co-founded a software company, Micrografx. As one of the first employees of the company, she helped to get it off the ground and held a number of positions there, including controller. She made many contributions to the company’s growth during the following years as the company grew into a multi-national public enterprise with hundreds of employees. As she achieved success in life, she shared it very generously. She established a scholarship at Washington University in St. Louis, and gave generously to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and numerous other causes. Her kindness and generosity was always felt by her children, Julia and Jason, and by all who knew her. Darlene loved to travel and took many trips to Europe and other places, usually taking her children or other loved ones. Like so much of her life, her travel often focused on the pursuit of knowledge. She visited the cell where Socrates was said to have been held, toured great museums and even worked on an Etruscan archaeological dig in Italy for several weeks. She spent her last three years with the new love of her life, David Strudell. Darlene and Dave brought each other many joys during those three years, and settled together in a lovely home in Allen, TX. Their time together was far too short, and her illness consumed much of the last fifteen months. Dave was stalwart through her illness and provided her with much love as well as emotional and physical support. Darlene is survived by her son, Jason Adam Kupke of The Colony, Texas; daughter, Julia Anne Kupke of Denton, Texas; her love and companion, David Strudell of Allen, Texas; former husband, Joseph Kupke of Sachse, Texas; mother, Phyllis Allison of Fulton, Missouri; father, Arnold Jay Williams of St. Louis, Missouri; sisters Terry Hug of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Anita Saverens of Westerly, Rhode Island and Andrea Dinken of Versailles, Missouri; brother, Ronald J. Williams of Columbia, Missouri; and numerous other loving relatives and many friends. A graveside service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 4, 2010, at Restland Memorial Park. The family will receive friends during a visitation from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m., Monday evening at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home in Allen, Texas.