DeLloyd Lester Roush

DeLloyd Lester Roush, age 102, and a long time resident of Upper Arlington, passed away on December 2, 2025. De, as he was known, was born in Rutland, Ohio to the late Rev. Dr. Lester Leroy Roush and Ruth Shain Roush.

De was preceded in death by his wife of 72 years, the love of his life, Joellen Hall Roush; and his brothers, John and Edwin, and his sister, Prof. Mildred Roush.

De’s survivors include his sister Miriam R. Trumbull, his sons Thomas L. Roush (Cheryl) of Boise, Idaho, and Douglas Coleman-Roush of Logan, Ohio, and daughter Jayn Roush Mayton (Craig) of Worthington, Ohio. De had seven grandchildren, Hunter, Jonathon, Nathan, David, Stephen, Molly, Nancy, and four great grandchildren.

De was a member of the Greatest Generation; about six years old when the Great Depression began, and 18 when World War II began. The family lived in southern Ohio. De’s early schooling was in Portsmouth, Cincinnati, Worthington, and he graduated from Columbus North High School in 1941.

After high school, he took employment at City National Bank, but soon enlisted in the Navy Aviation Cadet Program. Initial Navy flight school was followed by advanced flight schools. De switched to the Marine Corps to fly the F4U Corsair, the most powerful single-engined fighter at the time; being flown only by the Marine Corps at that time, because the Navy had not yet learned how to fly it onto carriers. Brief stateside duty on anti-submarine patrol was with VMF Squadron 112, based at Santa Barbara. That was excellent duty; he continued to learn to fly the Corsair, and received combat pay because a Japanese submarine had once surfaced offshore and fired a few shells that landed at the airfield. Instant combat zone!

Later, as a member of Marine Attack Squadron VMF 311, he shipped out to the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, arriving with planes and squadron personnel on the newly liberated island of Roi-Nemur. In March 1944, VMF 311, as part of Marine Air Group-31, began a year of aerial warfare against the Japanese against their bypassed bases in the Marshalls. For the first time, MAG-31’s squadrons used the Corsair as a dive bomber. The Marine Corps was still learning the limits and best tactics of the Corsair. In those days, they did some of that in combat, and VMF 311 was part of that. In 1944, Charles Lindbergh toured the Pacific theater as a civilian representative of United Aircraft. He flew P-47’s, P-38’s, others, and Corsairs, evaluating capabilities and recommending techniques and changes. Lindbergh visited Roi-Nemur to work with pilots and engineering personnel of MAG 31 to convert the Corsair from a fighter to a fighter-bomber. September 3, 1944, De flew a dive bombing mission to Wotje Atoll with Charles Lindbergh and other VMF-311 planes, to test dive bombing in the Corsair. This was part of an effort to determine how much weight, in bombs, the Corsair could fly with, until it couldn’t. Lindbergh flew with three 1000-lb bombs. Then, the next day, he tested 2,000-lb bombs, in a bomb rack designed and built there by Marine Corsair engineers and mechanics. On a later strike, he carried 4,000 lbs. Lindbergh flew a number of strikes with VMF-311. Lindbergh was legendary as a flyer, but his Corsair landing technique was worrisome, and dad wrote, “While we would never question his flying skill, his propensity for short take-off runs and bone jarring stalled landings in a plane with notoriously dangerous slow speed flight characteristics, (sudden tip stalls) made us quite apprehensive for not only his own safety but also for those of us who might later be assigned to fly that same plane.”

Following his year in the Pacific dodging bullets, anti-aircraft fire, and exploding Japanese concrete block houses, De returned stateside to serve as a flight instructor and await reassignment for the invasion of Japan. De’s medals include the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with six gold stars, and others.

After the war, De married the love of his life, Joellen Hall Roush September 6, 1947. Dad and mom were married by dad’s father the Rev. Lester Leroy Roush, at the North Broadway Methodist Church.

De attended and graduated with a Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University’s College of Commerce and Administration in 1948, and then the College of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctorate degree in the class of 1950. De continued in the Marine Reserves, flying the Corsair in the Marine Reserve Squadron at Port Columbus. When the Korean War broke out, De was recalled to Active Duty. Being an attorney, he served as a Judge Advocate General, (JAG). The UCMJ first took effect in 1951, and he was part of the first group of lawyers to introduce it to the Marines. In 1952, he was assigned to a highly unusual case: two enlisted Marines, non-pilots and maybe ever so slightly drunk, stole a C-119 Flying Boxcar and, amazingly, flew it, at night, from Dallas to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, landing it successfully. The event made headlines, and De was assigned to be their defense JAG. Upon release from Active Duty, De continued to serve as a Marine Reservist, again flying the Corsair out of Port Columbus. In 1962, De retired from the Marines as a Major, in favor of his law career.

Upon release from Active Duty, De’s civilian job was Job Coordinator for commercial construction projects in Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York. Projects included chemical plants, banks, bakeries, office buildings, and warehouses. Subsequently, he entered the insurance business, with Nationwide Insurance Claims Department and then The Automobile Club Insurance Company. After a distinguished career there, De retired as Vice President, General Counsel in 1988.

Past memberships include the 1971 President of the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, (OACTA), American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Columbus Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, President of the Ohio Defense Association, President of the Central Claim Executives Association, Statutory Agent for Roush (Rausch) and Allied Families Association of America, Inc., Columbus Athletic Club, Scioto Country Club, OSU Golf Course, Motts Military Museum, The University Lodge F&AM, Scottish Rite Valley of Columbus, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Upper Arlington Senior Center and the Audubon Society. Volunteer activities include the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and Riverside Methodist Hospital.

The family wishes to thank the wonderful caregivers and agencies who enriched De’s days and ensured his recent years were as healthy and meaningful as could be: from Home Care Assistance, now The Key, Lori and Brooke, with caregivers Kim, Rebecca and Annie; Care.com providers Tanisha, Nicole, Ruth, Linda, Doreen, Olivia, Ann, Landia, Beth; from Synergy Homecare, Ron, Kim, Dawn and Susan; from the Veterans Affairs Clinic Home Health Aide department, Melissa and her social workers; Rachel at Botkin Rehab Services; Hospice agencies Heartland and Nurse Michael, Ohio Health Hospice and Nurse Chrystal and dedicated team, and Capital City Hospice and Nurse Tiffany, also with a large and talented team. We also wish to thank the wonderful and kind caregivers and the incredible staff at Dublin Retirement Village’s Memory Care facility. They made dad’s final months safe, comfortable, and as enjoyable as possible.

Our family has been blessed to share in our dad’s care and companionship as his birthdays reached through the 90’s and into his 100’s. When asked his secret to his long life, he liked to say, “It is better to be lucky than good.” He also naturally had many characteristics that experts agree contribute to a long life — healthy habits of moderation and disciplined routines including early morning walks and frequent golf games, A review of the letters he received from colleagues at his retirement after 30 years of working together at Automobile Club Insurance Company reveals the frequent use of the word “integrity”. But he will be best remembered by his friends and family for his kindness. De consistently put the welfare of his caregivers and his family above his own. His subtle, self-deprecating humor brought out the best in those around him, and he always had a wry witticism ready to bring out smiles. One of his gems was, “Keep a steady hand on life but always keep your eyes on the horizon for opportunities.”

The family will have his graveside ceremony with military honors on his birthday, Thursday March 12th, 2026, at Pleasant Cemetery near Mt. Sterling, Ohio. The family suggests a contribution in dad’s name could be made to the National Veterans Memorial & Museum, on West Broad St., in Columbus. Here is the link: https://give.nationalvmm.org/give