DELVEN WOODROW4 DEVORE (ROSA EDYTH3
FRANK, AUGUST HERMAN2, OSCAR1) was born
March 19, 1920 in Graysville, OH. He
married MARY ETHEL POULTON December 25, 1941 in Lewisville, Ohio, daughter of
FRED POULTON and EDNA FORAKER. She was
born December 9, 1917 in Rinard Mills, OH Monroe County, OH.
Delven Woodrow Devore was the
only child of Forrest Grover and Rosa Edyth Frank Devore. He was born near
Graysville, Ohio where he lived throughout his high school years. He left the
area to attend college at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. In high school, Del
was quite an athlete. During his senior year in 1938 he helped his Graysville
High School basketball team win the County Basketball Tournament by winning 26
games in a row. His team was finally defeated in the sectional tournament which
was held at Marietta. Graysville High School lost by two points with three of
their regular varsity players, including Delven Devore, unable to play because
of the flu.
Following high school, Del enrolled at Ohio University
in Athens, Ohio where he studied to become a teacher. He graduated in 1942 with
a Bachelor of Science in Education. While still in college, at the age of 21 he
married the lovely Mary Ethel Poulton on Christmas Day
in 1941. Ethel lived in the little town of Rinard Mills about 10 miles south of
Del's hometown of Graysville, Ohio.
Shortly after his marriage to Ethel and only a month
before Del graduated from Ohio University, tragedy struck. Del lost his father
who died from an accident that occurred on the job in the oil field.
Del graduated from Ohio University in June of 1942 and
took a position as coach and science teacher at the Hannibal High School. After
one year at Hannibal he was assigned at the Woodsfield High School. During the
1943-44 school year Del suffered from appendicitis that required an
appendectomy.
In June of 1944 Del enlisted in the U.S. Navy and went
to boot camp at Camp Perry, Virginia. Following boot camp, he was assigned to
the Hospital Corps School at Bainbridge, MD where they were in need of teachers
and because of Del's training in biology. After a little over a year in the
Navy Del contracted rheumatic fever while at Bainbridge and was discharged on
October 31, 1945.
Instead of returning to teaching, Del worked in the
oil field between 1945-46. Then, faced with an offer that was too good to turn
down, he accepted a job as Principal at the Clarington High School beginning in
the fall of 1946. He spent four years in that position.
In 1950 Del returned to Ohio
University where he earned his Master's Degree. In that same year he became superintendent of the Woodsfield
schools, a position that he retained until 1965. Then in 1965 with the
consolidation of five school districts, he became assistant superintendent of
the Switzerland of Ohio School system. A year later he became the
Superintendent of the Switzerland of Ohio School system. Del
served in this position until he retired in 1979 having served a total of 35
years. All but two of the 35 years were served in administration as opposed to
teaching.
Delven is a member of the United Methodist Church
where he has been active teaching Sunday School and singing in the choir. He
received his 50-year pins for membership in the American Legion and Masonic
Lodge. He is a member of Monroe County Veterans Commission and Eastern Stars,
the Monroe County Community Action Committee, and a member of the local, state,
and national teachers association. He was as a member of Kiwanis for 45 years,
the Monroe Co. Library Board, a volunteer fireman, and many other
organizations.
When I first met Delven Devore in 1995, he was retired
but not idle. Since retiring from the School system he has been active in real
estate sales and appraisal through January 2002 when again retired. In the year 2002, at the age of 82 years,
Del was still quite active doing his own yard work, mowing, trimming shrubs,
flowers, and also much of his won home repairs as well.
Over the years Del has been an avid hunter taking
deer, grouse, turkey, and small game.
However his favorite sport is fishing and he has made a number of prize
catches. He and his wife enjoy
traveling an have visited England, Canada, Mexico, and all the 50 states aside
from Texas and New Mexico. He enjoys
sports, particularly, basketball and football.
He has been interested in the family genealogy and has been an important
contributor to this book on the Frank Family history.
Children of DELVEN DEVORE and MARY POULTON are:
i. MICHAEL LYNN5 DEVORE, b. March 5,
1944; m. (1) GLORIA CHEPKO, 1970; m. (2) LINDA CINCO, about 1983.
ii. DAVID ALAN DEVORE, b. December 8, 1946.
iii.
RICHARD OWEN DEVORE, b.
July 25, 1956.
Click
here to go to the next name in series (this generally follows family-branch)
Click
here to return to the Alphabetical List of Names
Click
here to return to the List of names arranged family-branch