Raymond E. DeVore
Raymond E. DeVore
Raymond E. DeVore, 84, of Oskaloosa, died Sunday, April 22, 2012, at Crystal Heights Care Center in Oskaloosa. He was born September 9, 1927, at Van Wert, Iowa, the son of Willie Elmore and Martha Fry DeVore. On November 9, 1946, was united in marriage to Leora Jensen at Osceola, Iowa, and she died September 7, 2009. He worked on the family farm until he was 27 years old, and then worked as a mechanic, volunteer fireman, helped lay sewage pipe, electric wiring, and on and on. He often said of himself, ‘I’m a jack of all trades, and master of none’. He worked as a Snap-On Tools salesman at Van Wert for a few years. Ray took a job as a driver with Walnut Grove 4X4 feed and moved to Brooklyn. They moved him to Oskaloosa to be the office manager from 1961-1975. In 1975 he became the plant manager for the successor of Walnut Grove, Grace Feed in Des Moines. In 1976, he tired of the commute and he and Leora moved to Des Moines. He retired from Grace’s in September of 1989. He enjoyed being a part of volunteer firefighting and law enforcement and helping with crowd control at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds. In Des Moines, he and Leora parked cars in their yard for the Iowa State Fair for 32 years. As a bad back accelerated a decline in Leora’s health, Ray became her primary care giver, tending to her every need for over 12 years. He had a booming microphone voice and was a fantastic joke teller. Though he did not grow up in the technological age, he was very talented at operating and fixing computers.
He is survived by his four children and their spouses, Shirley and Alven Meppelink, Larry and Judy DeVore, Darrell and Sandy DeVore, and Nancy and Doug Verploegh, all of Oskaloosa; seven grandchildren, Bob (& Deb) DeVore, David Meppelink, Rick (& Stephanie) DeVore, Jennifer Tomlin (& Ben), Brenda (& Matt) Coffin, and Jeremy Woods (& Kara), and Doug Verploegh, Jr. Also surviving are 11 great grandchildren; a great great granddaughter, and one on the way; a brother, William DeVore of Van Wert, Iowa; and special friends, Jeannie Poole and Molly.
Besides his wife, Ray was preceded in death by his parents.
As was his wish, he has been cremated. A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. The Bates Funeral Chapel is in charge of the arrangements. No visitation is planned, and memorials may be made to the activity fund at Crystal Heights or to Mahaska Hospice.
