Delbert Newland Blomquist

He was born on December 20, 1924 in Tulare to Ona and Newt Blomquist. He attended Tulare schools including Wilson, Central Grammar and Tulare Union High School from where he graduated with the Class of 1942.

He joined the U.S. Navy in December 1942 and, after boot camp in Farragut, Idaho, was stationed at Treasure Island in San Francisco where he was then assigned to the USS Ganymede, a Navy cargo ship, for a 28 month tour of the South Pacific. He returned to Tulare after his Navy service on his 21st birthday in December 1945.

While back in Tulare, he met Sue Knickerbocker in February 1946 and they were married in July 1946. She passed away in 2008 after 62 years of good, loving family life.

Del spent a short time working for Valley Refrigeration, but his real interest was working on aircraft, so he went up to the Oakland Airport and signed up at Aero Industries Technical Institute. After 13 months of technical school there, he went to work for California Eastern Airways. He joined the Naval Air Reserve, located at Oakland Airport, in 1950 shortly before the Korean War broke out, so he was called back into service in the Navy for two more years as a result of that conflict.

Upon returning from his Korean War service, he worked for two years at United Airlines and two years for NASA. He then took what he called a terrific opportunity, a job with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines as a field representative providing liaison services, including customer training and technical support, to customers on their site. This required a lot of moving. He was the first Pratt & Whitney rep assigned to NAS Lemoore. His other assignments were in the Philippines, Belgium, San Diego and Las Vegas’ Nellis AFB. He said it was a great career and one of the best things that ever happened to him.

Del said that it was a real pleasure to move back to Tulare in 2011 after so many years away. He got reacquainted with many old classmates, including Betty Jo (Stone) (Brown) Adams. Del and Betty met in the 3rd grade. They went through school together, graduating with the Class of 1942. They were the best of true friends all those years. She passed away in April 2018.

He had played trumpet for four years when at TUHS and then, in his later years, in Tulare Community Band.

In 1972 Del learned to fly gliders. In 1973 he bought a Schweizer I-26 single place glider S/N 144. For the next 40 years, Ole 144 not only showed Del what the joy of soaring is, but also flying in I-26 contests and other events around the USA. Del met so many wonderful I-26 pilots, their families and friends. All of these friends are truly great friends and a real treasure.

He is survived by his two sons, Randy Blomquist of Redmond, OR and Brad Blomquist of Tulare, CA; three grandchildren, Paige Blomquist of Newport News, VA, Katie Yutuc of Norfolk, VA and Nik Blomquist of Bend, OR as well as five great grandchildren.