Robert S. DeZur

Robert “Bob” DeZur was a force of kindness, loyalty, and humor throughout his life (July 17, 1928 – May 5, 2025). Born in the tiny iron mining town of Iron Belt, WI, he ended up in Silicon Valley for 40 years, and then he eventually settled in Oneonta, NY, where his daughter lives.

Bob valued education very highly. He earned his Bachelor of Science in mathematics at the University of Montana, his Master of Science in mathematics from Montana State University, and then his PhD in mathematics from University of Oregon. He was selected as a Rhodes Scholar to attend Oxford University, an opportunity he chose not to take because he wanted to get married, which the program did not allow. He was briefly an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Wyoming, and he returned to teaching at the age of 76 for several semesters at SUNY Delhi. In fact, at 70, Bob went back to college to learn software engineering and then worked for Steve Jobs at Apple Computer doing software testing for five years. Bob also loved languages, and he was familiar with German, Russian, and Japanese.

After high school, Bob served at the end of World War II in the Army Corps of Engineers in Japan, rebuilding railroads and contributing to other infrastructure projects as well as playing basketball for the Army team. After his honorable discharge, he continued his dedication to the safety of America. The bulk of his career was devoted to being a contractor for the Department of Defense (through Martin Marietta, ESL, and TRW), where he helped design anti-missile systems and worked as a satellite intelligence analyst. He may or may not have shown his daughter some satellite images of a secret Russian airstrip when she was five. After watching a 1990’s Tom Clancy movie, when asked if satellites could do all that was represented, he responded with, “I can’t talk to you about that.” This clearly meant “yes.”

His most thrilling job, and the one he most closely identified with, was as a Smokejumper for the U.S. National Forest Service. Smokejumpers are like the Navy SEALS of fire fighting. They parachute into remote wilderness areas to help control fires often started by lightning strikes. He had many stories about his Smokejumping days. For instance, he had a tense encounter with a mama black bear and her two cubs. On one jump, another jumper drifted beneath him, stealing his air and collapsing his chute, forcing him to land on top of the other jumper’s parachute. He crawled to the edge and got tangled in the lines. Luckily, the working chute landed in a tall tree, which left him dangling upside down only ten feet from the ground. He also was on the rescue mission to recover the remains of those jumpers who died in the Mann Gulch fire in August 1949. He barely missed being part of that crew because upon arriving at headquarters in Missoula, he ran to the jump list and signed up in the #2 spot. The day of Mann Gulch, there was an earlier call for a two-man fire, which he and another jumper could not find. Twenty minutes before they returned, the next crew of 15 were sent out, of which only three survived. Among the lost was Bob’s best friend, Eldon Diettert. Nonetheless, he continued to smokejump during the summers for a number of years and said he was happy that he got to help save the forests.

Bob loved music, and in high school he played the tenor saxophone. He and his friends would serve as the community’s swing band for dances. Not one to be kept out of the spotlight, he later took Arthur Murray’s ballroom dance classes and won several competitions. He continued to dance even behind his walker, and he sang and hummed swing music until the very end.

Bob was well known for his jokes and shenanigans at both the assisted living place and the nursing home where he lived. He was crowned Valentine King and showed his rebellious streak when he broke into the utility room multiple times to turn off the assisted living facility’s air conditioning when he felt cold. He loved word games and counting things—you were going to know how many ceiling tiles, how many lights, how many decorations, how many flowers, how many tables and chairs and people eating there were, no matter what. The man was also completely motivated by cookies and ice cream (especially chocolate and strawberry).

Bob is survived by his daughter Kathryn DeZur, son-in-law Keith Humphreys, and granddaughter Gwen Hilson, who will miss him very much. He was predeceased by his mother Mary, father Joseph, and brother Donald.

The family will be having a private service. Donations can be made in Bob’s honor to Helios Hospice Care in Oneonta, NY (https://www.helioscare.org/donate/), the Mathematical Association of America, of which he was a member for over 50 years (https://maa.org/), or the National Smokejumpers Association (https://jumpergoods.com/).