Delbert John Fickas

Delbert John Fickas was born May 2, 1931 in Baker, Oregon as the fourth and final child of William Campbell Fickas and Hazel Magdalene McCurdy. He had two older sisters, Mary Naomi and Wilma Lou and an older brother James Byron. The family lived in Baker until the late thirties when they moved to the Brooks-Scanlon lumber camp outside of Bend, Oregon. There Hazel Fickas cooked for the loggers and young Delbert went to school in the logging camp schoolhouse which was converted from old railroad boxcars. In his freshman year of high school the family moved into town where Delbert went to Bend High School, graduating in the Class of 1949. After high school Delbert enlisted in the U.S. Army in December of 1950 to fight in the Korean War. He was in the Army Corp of Engineers stationed in Japan. In November of 1953 he was honorably discharged at the rank of Technical Sergeant. Returning to Bend after his service he became reacquainted with Beverly Jane Damewood, the younger sister of his high school friend and classmate Leroy Damewood. After dating for a while the couple were married on May 27, 1955. Since funds were not available for a full blown wedding the couple had a youthful adventure and were married in Reno, NV. As a veteran V.A. Benefits were available for college. After starting at the community college in Bend, Delbert transferred to Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. He graduated in three years with a 4.0 average in June 1959 with a Bachelor of Science in Business and Technology - Business Administration and a technical minor in Geology. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society and the first member of his family to attend college. With his college credentials Delbert landed a job as an auditor for the U.S. General Accounting Office and in 1959 the couple moved to Portland, Oregon. In 1960 they bought a brand new house there and they started a family. He and Beverly had two sons, William Jeffrey and Gregory Scott. The job required quite a lot of travel and included setting up the GAO office in Anchorage, Alaska. In mid 1966 Delbert took a two year transfer to the new Anchorage office, driving the family some 2, 600 miles up the Transamerican Highway at a time when large portions of it were still gravel or dirt. This was the period not long after the great earthquake. Repairs and aftershocks were still very much to be seen. They moved back to Portland in 1968. Not long after Delbert transferred to the Department of the Interior. In 1972 he was promoted to Regional Audit Supervisor by accepting a transfer to Denver, Colorado where the family settled in the suburb of Lakewood in the house where he would live the rest of his life. The entire basement was beautifully finished by him to make rooms for his sons, a large family room, bar and a full bath. Growing in different directions, Delbert and Beverly were divorced in 1987. Delbert retired from the Dept. of the Interior in 1992. He had been an avid golfer since college days and after retiring from the government worked for a number more years as a ranger at the Foothills Golf Course where he had played for many years. He played until knee complications forced him to quit but continued to follow the golf tour religiously on television. He liked most sports, but especially followed football, car racing, and of course, golf. His constant companion during the final decade was his little friend Makana the dachshund who could be found perched beside him on the couch. He was a Life Member of the Elks Club and had been a member for 52 years. For the 38 years he lived in Colorado he was a member of Lakewood Lodge #1777. Delbert lived until the end in the house that he built so much of and raised his family in. He passed away in the early evening of June 8, 2010. He is survived by his son Greg of Centennial, Colorado, his son Bill of Denver, Colorado and his sister Wilma Merritt of Bend, Oregon.