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Darrel L. Daley Putney, VT QCWA # 31784 Chapter 146 |
Darrel L. Daley, 82, of Putney. Died Dec. 16, 2018 at his home. Born in Porterville, Calif., to Leonard and Helen (Scharlepp) Daley, he grew up in this farming community in the Great Central Valley of California.
Upon graduation from high school, he joined the Navy and became a navy musician. His first "overseas post" was Kodiak, Alaska. There he met Marion Collani, who was doing her first year of teaching after graduating from Montclair (N.J.) State Teachers College. They married in December 1957.
After his discharge from the Navy, he returned to California to attend Pasadena City College and then Cal State-Los Angeles. After he earned his B.S., Darrel and Marion took teaching positions in Chugiak, Alaska.
Their original plan was to teach there a couple of years and then return to the "lower 48." That time period stretched out to two decades. They both taught at the elementary level until the new Chugiak High School was built. Then Darrel took the position of music/band director. He continued at that job until retirement in 1983.
Back in the early 1960s, Chugiak could be described at a pioneering community. Folks were pushing through roads, drilling wells, building their own homes on Home Site properties. Darrel undertook the building of a huge addition to their log home. This he succeeded in doing, and the family moved into their expanded quarters in 1974. By that time they had two sons, Daren and Matt. Darrel took his sons on hunting and fishing trips, camping in some of the most beautiful and rugged country that Alaska has to offer.
In 1978, the family piled into their pickup and camper to drive to Putney, where Darrel was to attend a photography workshop. They discovered the beauty of the Green Mountain State and bought 10 wooded acres in Putney. Each following summer, they traveled to Vermont to work on the land. When Darrel retired, the family moved everything they owned by U-Haul and trailer to Putney where the house was to be built on land overlooking the Connecticut River and the Great Meadows. They moved into their new home in 1984, and have been there ever since.
Darrel was a man of many talents: house builder, photographer, chess player, and musician. The hobby that gave him the most pleasure was ham radio. When the house was designed, there was a darkroom and a "Ham Shack" included. He spent many hours enjoying many aspects of that hobby.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Marion; two sons: Daren Daley, his wife Debbie, their daughters, Kayla Daley and Brittany Parker, and great-granddaughters Caitlyn and Melynnie, all of Texas, and Matt Daley, his wife, Reiko and their daughter, Amanda, who live in Hokkaido, Japan.
Memorial information: A celebration of his life will be held in April at Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro.
Donations to Centre Congregational Church, or the West River Radio Club. P.O. Box 8087, North Brattleboro VT 05304.
From QRZ.com
I was first licensed in 1978 in Alaska as WL7ADU, then quickly became KL7DN. I got my Extra ticket around 1985 and my vanity call, K1KU, in 1998.
I was the band director in Chugiak, Alaska at Chugiak Jr/Sr High School from 1964 to 1983. My wife Marion and I retired to the bucolic village of Putney, Vermont in 1983 where we still reside.
My main Ham radio interest is chasing DX and contesting but I'm also actively involved in the VT RACES program and take part in 4-5 drills annually.
I have been a NCS for the Green Mountain Net since 1983.
My station consists of a Yaesu FT-2000D, an Ameritron ALS 1300 linear, and a Force12 C-4 beam at 50' plus some wire antennas. I have an ICOM 7000 for a backup rig and a Yaesu FT-857D and a Sidekick for mobile operations.
My YL and I love to travel. We were in Japan in August of 2002 and visit Alaska every other year. We did two cruises in 2005, one of them being the QCWA convention cruise from Seward, Alaska to Vancouver, BC. We did a Norwegian Cruise Lines cruise in HI in January of 2007. We were in Japan in 2010. We'll also met some local Hams and sopped up the beautiful Hokkaido scenery.
We visited Alaska again in 2012 for more cruising and to visit friends. We also made our third visit to Japan. Our shared belief is that if we don't spend it now, then our kids definitely will after we're out of the picture.
I belong to the Yankee Clipper Contest Club and am a volunteer worker for the W1 Incoming QSL Bureau. I am also the VP of the West River Radio Club, edit their newsletter, and organize our Field Day effort. I also teach club classes and serve as a VE.
ARRL Life Member
FISTS #5173
INDEXA
Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Green Mountain Net
Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society (ARLHS)
Active member of the West River Radio Club (www.westriverradio.org)
"Life may not be the party that we had hoped for, but while we're here we may as well dance."
73 de Darrel