Cornelius Dering

Cornelius (Case) Dering was born on May 31st, 1935 in Leeuwarden, Holland, one of five children. As a child, he was full of energy and mischief, but still quite studious. Following college in Holland, he was drafted into the Dutch Marine Corps. He signed up for an additional year and went to Curacao, where he rode his Indian motorcycle across the island and swam in the warm waters. Upon his return, he began work as an actuary and met his forever love and future wife, Jenny Roorda. Their 59 years of marriage (6/1/60) included immigrating to California, many road trips, lots of parties and the raising of their four children: Tony, Mike, Richard and Lisa. His first job in America was as a janitor at a hospital, but a chance encounter with a fellow Dutch Marine led him to his 36 year career at Southern Pacific Pipeline where he worked himself up the ranks to Senior Forecaster by the time of his retirement in 1997. Much of his life was spent nurturing his relationships with his children, wife, grandchildren, relatives, neighbors and friends. He was a social butterfly and could often be found chatting up whoever would be around him at any given moment. His passions included gardening, playing his beloved accordion, reading, genealogy and his favorite of all-golf, which he enjoyed his whole life, often with his son Richard as his partner. In his retirement years, he helped attend to the needs of his older son, Tony, who had become disabled in 2002. He will forever be remembered as a smart, caring, funny, compassionate, righteous man and will be dearly missed by his family.