Darrel DeBoid Mattson

On January 5, 1921 Darol DeBoid Mattson was born, the second of six children, to John and Ellen Mattson in Alexandria, Minn. The first thing you will think as you read the previous sentence is, the writer of this doesn’t even know how to spell Darrel’s first name. The answer is that Darrel’s birth certificate does show the spelling of his first name as Darol. His mother knew her baby would be born around Christmas time, and not knowing the baby’s gender, she had a name already picked out for a baby girl, Carol, a Christmas Carol. When the baby was a boy, the name change was easy, replace the ‘C’ with a ‘D’.

Darrel was very close to his mother, and when she needed to visit his aunt in a nearby town, Darrel volunteered to drive her, which he did, at the age of 11. Unfortunately, the next year his mother passed away, and being the second oldest, he was assigned the duties of cooking, cleaning and laundry. That turned into him becoming a great cook. He not only performed these responsibilities joyfully, the experience developed him into a very caring person to all of those around them.

In 1940, Darrel proposed to his sweetheart Vivian Johnson and they were married that year. They found life difficult to raise a family of 2 young children farming in Minnesota. When Vivian’s brother, (who’d just gotten out of the Navy), offered to loan them $40 to move their young family out West, Darrel grabbed it and soon found a job working in a saw mill in Shelton Washington. He happily paid back the $40.

Except for a few years driving a city bus in Seattle, Darrel’s jobs were always related to the timber industry. In his early 30s, Darrel was given the opportunity to become a saw filer for large band saws at sawmills cutting huge logs into lumber for home builders. By the time he was in his early 40s, Darrel reached his major vocational goal, he became “Head Filer” at one of the largest sawmills in the United States in Red Bluff, California.

God and family were everything to Darrel. Having been brought up in church and accepting Christ at the age of 11, he trusted the Lord to provide for his needs and the needs of his family. Darrel said, “My parents became Christians when I was three. That fact changed my life, having supportive parents is so important,”. When attending church in Shelton, he was able to see his wife accept Christ as her personal Savior as a young mother. Together they committed their lives to live for Jesus and raise their children to love Him too. That’s why he was determined to model being supportive Christian parents to his children, and prayed the same for his 8 grandchildren, his 22 great-grandchildren, and his 10 great-great-grandchildren, with 4 more on the way.

Here is a short extraction from a paper Darrel wrote entitled,

“Words to Live By”

Psalms 1, vs 1-3

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

I highly recommend words such as these, because they have been tried and been a part of me for these many years. When we moved to Tucson, I didn't think anything good would come of it. It seemed like everything I had done so far in my life turned to ashes. Little did I know, God was still in control. Even though I didn't feel like it, I remembered the scripture that said, "In every thing give thanks, for this is the will of God for you." I remember Patsy asked me, how did you do it Dad? I said "every morning I thanked God for the mess I was in." A take off of the verse mentioned.

This is not the end of the story. If it is, then what is going on? Can the Lord make anything good out of this? So glad you asked! Yes, there is more. Another scripture that I have asked the Lord to be a part of my life is found in Isaiah 61: 3. "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. that He might be glorified."

In my life the tree in Psalms 1 has become one of the trees in Isaiah. Through it all we are blessed and the Lord made it good. The Lord brought Lois into my life, who had also been tested. What a wonderful partner and helpmeet! Who would have thought God had already planned this marriage. Such contentment in this time of life wasn't expected.

Another extraction from one of Darrel’s writings

Vivian

We were married very young. Patsy was born first. What a beautiful baby. I think I became a man when I first looked at her in the basket. We lived near Osakis when Larry was born. He was allergic to milk, but he grew out of it when he was 4 months old. After that he was a happy baby.

Patsy and Larry

The greatest pleasure of my life. I often wonder why they were so easy to raise. Now, as I observe them, I see how important our life as Christians are when we are raising them.

Tucson

Vivian wanted to move to Tucson as she thought this climate would be better for her. We bought a mobile home and chose Harrison Hills park to live in. After Vivian had lymphoma, I rented a small shop and began a saw repair shop to provide for us. Patsy, Bill, Larry & Darlene planned and came for my 75th birthday on January 5, 1996. However, Vivan died on January 1St and was buried on 1/4/1996.

Tucson

I met Lois on the 3rd of April, 1996 at the prayer meeting at El Camino Baptist Church. She introduced herself and we talked at most for 2 minutes. When I got into my car, I asked the Lord if this woman was to live with me the rest of my life. We met again at Church the next Sunday, went to lunch and that evening to Marie Calendars for pie and coffee. We soon realized we were meant for each other, and after getting Patsy and Larry’s blessing were married in June, WOW! What a wonderful blessing to have been her husband.

Darrel spent the last 16 years of his life in Tucson at a fantastic retirement community called Fellowship Square. It was here that he was able to bless, comfort and meet needs of so many people. It really didn’t matter what stage of life, or where he lived, he was a blessing to everyone he came in contact with, and is remembered by all as that “Great Guy who always made me feel important”.