Delver Leslie Mobley

Delver L. Mobley December 3, 1928 - September 13, 2023
Del Mobley passed peacefully on September 13, 2023, at his home in Winchester overlooking the North Umpqua River and backyard swimming hole that gave him, and his grandchildren, great joy.
Throughout his life Del would grudgingly admit he was born on December 3, 1928, in Medford ... then quickly add, " but I had the good sense to get out of there when I was 6 months old." On the eve of the Depression, Carl and Marjorie (Beers) Mobley moved their two young sons, Del and his brother Cork, to a ranch on the lower Umpqua mid-way between Elkton and Scottsburg. The Mobley Ranch at Sawyer Rapids, where Del was raised during the 1930s, became a community gathering place known for Victrola barn dances, card parties, trophy steelhead fishing, and feeding passing hobos (who'd help chop firewood). Del slept in an unheated attic sleeping porch and grew up milking cows, working the ranch, and fishing with his Dad, an avid outdoorsman and former race car mechanic. Del's idyllic rural childhood came to an abrupt end with the sudden passing of his father in 1941 and subsequent move with his Mom and Cork to Eugene.
The transition from one room schoolhouse (Long Prairie and Paradise Creek) to Woodrow Wilson Junior High (300 students) wasn't easy. After merciless teasing about his long "farm-boy" hair, Del earned the respect of his new classmates when he put his years of milking cows and legendary vice-like grip to good use subduing the school bully. During high school Del worked multiple jobs helping support his Mom, hustled pool games, and bought his own car. Graduating from Eugene High in 1946, Del joined the Navy and was sworn into service on June 30, 1946. Enroute to the Philippines on the USS General William Mitchell later that year Del liked to recount how he came to "lose" his 18th birthday; as it happened, the ship crossed the International Dateline at 11:45 pm on December 2, 1946, and the captain chose to strike December 3rd from the ship's log ... in so doing postponing Del's 18th birthday for another 365 days and setting-up his later claims to be "a good bit younger than my driver's license might indicate." During 1946 and 1947, Del worked in the Philippines with Seabee units decommissioning WWII bases on Calicoan, Sumar, and certain operations at Subic Bay; he made great friends, weathered typhoons, distilled "raisin jack" hooch, tamed pet monkeys, and played poker for cigarettes and money.
After his discharge from the Navy, Del enrolled at the University of Oregon, where he joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity, fell in love, and graduated with a Degree in Business. On graduation day (June 14, 1954) Del married his college sweetheart, Sally Dante McKinney, capping a courtship of fraternity-sorority dances, memorable central Oregon hikes, and trips to the coast. Setting out for California on their honeymoon, Del and Sally auspiciously spent the first night of their 68 year marriage in Roseburg, not realizing at the time it would soon become home for the balance of their lives. Del launched his career that same busy summer when he joined Longbell Lumber's sales training program in Weed, California. Following moves to Longview and Lake Oswego, Del was working as a scout sourcing fir and pine logs in 1956 when he fortuitously discovered Roseburg Forest Products' impressive log decks in Dillard. Visiting RFP's office to negotiate a log purchase deal, Del discovered that his boss in Lake Oswego and RFP's Earl Blyle were good friends, a connection that enabled Del to negotiate an opportune two-way deal, that procured logs for the mill in Lake Oswego and, in turn, landed him a new job at RFP. So began Del's rewarding four decades at RFP, where he worked initially in sales then for another 30+ years as Transportation Division Manager, negotiating with railroads in support of RFP's rapid expansion under Kenneth Ford's leadership into a major nation-wide supplier of lumber, plywood, and particle board. Back in the Umpqua Valley to stay, Del and Sally put down roots, had three children, Kurt (1956), Karen (1960), Katie (1964), and became active members of the Roseburg community. Del served as a Deacon and Elder at the First Presbyterian Church, and on the boards of the Douglas County Rodeo, the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Roseburg YMCA, and the YMCA Camp at Diamond Lake. He was particularly proud of his work with the Jaycees on Oregon's Centennial celebration (and commemorative wagon train from Kansas City) and his role in the YMCA's move to its present location in Stewart Park.
At the age of 65, Del retired to five beautiful acres in Winchester overlooking his beloved North Umpqua. It was said he picked the location for its natural swimming hole, picturesque rapids, and jetty of rocks extending well into the channel close to steelhead and salmon runs. His retirement was active and involved fishing (with moderate success), a lot of tennis (proud Roseburg Tennis Club member for 30+ years), water skiing (avid Taperflex slalom skier into his late 70s), 10k road races (proud age group competitor into his late 80s), occasional poker nights with friends (success unknown), periodic ski trips (perfecting a legendary snowplow), and daily summer swims in the river ("feet forward -- butts up" he'd yell to the grandkids when they joined his ritual swims down the rapids). To his family, Del was a strong loving father, hard-working provider, and loving devoted husband. In their later years, Sally and Del enjoyed the ever-changing moods of the river, the abundant local wildlife (squirrels and deer welcome, turkeys not so much), and caring for their dogs and each other.
Following Sally's passing in April 2022, Del faced the indignities of advancing age with humor and grace, endearing him to the wonderful caregivers who enabled his dream to remain at home overlooking the river until it was his time to go. In leaving, Del modeled how to age, and eventually pass, with courage, acceptance, gratitude, and dignity. He is survived by his children, Kurt Mobley (Tammy) of Ross, CA -- Karen McGuire (Gordon) of Roseburg -- and Katie Glasson (Mike) of Napa, CA; by five grandchildren (Mari, Logan, and Luke Mobley and Mitch and Samantha Glasson), and his great grandson, Levon (son of Mari and Brian Lesh). His family is deeply grateful for the loving care Del received from his caregivers and the empathetic devotion of the nurses at Amedisys Hospice. In lieu of a service, his family will gather privately to send his ashes on a final swim down the river he loved, past his childhood home at Sawyer Rapids, and forever out to sea.