Earl Newman Derry

(July 17, 1928 - April 1, 2020)

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Bury your sorrow in doing good deeds

Miss me….but let me go*

Earl Newman Derry of Yakima, Washington, died on April 1, 2020, of old age. He was 91. With a lifelong commitment to family and community, his was a life well lived. Earl’s proudest accomplishments were his 69-year marriage to Dorothy Bender and being a father to five sons: Dave, Don, Dan, Terry, and Dale. He will be greatly missed by his five grandchildren and eight great-grands.

Earl’s commitment to the community was exemplified by volunteering: FFA, Boy Scouts, Yak Valley Apartment Association, Audubon Society, Bluebird Trail, Coalition for the Homeless, Union Gospel Mission, Ye Olde Lighthouse Shoppe, and the Yakima Valley Genealogy Society. Earl knew how to “stop and smell the roses” too, spending many happy months traveling around the country, including Alaska, in their Leisure Travel Van.

Earl was born to farmers, Clarence and Lucille Derry, in Powell on July 17, 1928. They had a homestead in the Willwood. He married Dot there in 1950 and then joined the Army in 1953, serving at Fort Lewis, Washington. After that, Earl and Dot moved to central Washington, where they lived for 64 years. He worked for IJ Case Co. then Irrigation Rental, retiring at 55 years old so he could pursue his real passion: serving others.

The family will hold a private celebration picnic. His ashes will be interred with his parents at Crown Hill Cemetery in Powell.

Why cry for a soul set free?*

*from a poem by C. Rossetti found in Earl’s stack of favorite things.

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