David Irving Darelius

David I. Darelius (Dave) passed away peacefully on December 16, 2022 from complications of dementia; he was 88 years old. He was born on February 18, 1934 to Irving G. and Hannah Ellingsen Darelius in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dave is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Mary Hinshaw Darelius; two daughters Elizabeth Morse (Scott) and Kristin Roberts (Bob); 6 grandchildren-Megan, Michael, Bobby, Mac, Ryan and John Luke; 6 great-grandchildren-Charlotte, Caroline, Matthew, Clay, Keller and Mason; his sister Donna Springer; brother-in-law Dr. Charles Hinshaw, Jr.; 2 nieces and 4 nephews.

After graduating from Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, Dave worked his way through college earning a Bachelors of Business Administration degree from the University of Minnesota in 1955. He loved to tell stories about his days as a Sigma Chi, and was so pleased when he could help with the initiation of his youngest grandson, John Luke, into Sigma Chi at SMU.

Dave joined the United States Air Force (USAF) in December 1955 where he served as a 2nd Lieutenant earning his wings in February, 1957. He was trained as a co-pilot for the B-47, then served as a Wing Gunnery Officer, 379th Bomb Wing, Homestead AFB, Florida. During his pilot training at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma, he went on a blind date with a KKG from the University of Oklahoma, Mary Hinshaw. After a whirlwind courtship, Mary and Dave married on July 27, 1957 and moved to Homestead Air Force Base in Coral Gables, Florida. There, they welcomed their first daughter, Elizabeth (Liz) in 1958.

After completing active duty service in the Air Force, Dave and Mary made their home in Minneapolis where he was hired by IBM as a sales trainee, ranking 3rd in the IBM Applications Class of 1959. Daughter Kristin was born in 1960, and they continued living in Minneapolis until he was promoted to Branch Manager of the IBM office in Sioux Falls, SD.

Dave spent thirty years with IBM in various sales and management positions. In 1968, the family moved to Dallas with IBM and in 1992, he took an early retirement package after having achieved several career honors including nine IBM 100% Clubs, two IBM Golden Circles and an IBM Regional Manager’s Award. (Dave left IBM to accept other career opportunities from 1972-1977. During that time, he held various other management and sales positions at Redman Industries, the Swearingen Company, and Creative Data Research but returned to IBM in 1977.)

After retiring from the corporate world, Dave continued his career earning a Certified Financial Planner designation where he helped family, friends and clients with wealth management and investing.

A life-long golfer, Dave loved the game and played until 2017 (age 83) when he “finally realized that there was little hope of every qualifying for the Tour.” Before retiring from golf, he enjoyed his “Fearsome Foursome” golfing buddies and remained in contact with them in the years following his retirement from the sport.

Dave was a devout Christian, serving as both a deacon and an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He was a proud member of Military Order of World Wars (MOWW) and the Prestonwood Rotary Club, where he served as president. In 2016, Dave was elected to serve as a Republican precinct chair; a job he took very seriously as he worked to engage voters in our democracy. He was a strong proponent of a Fair Tax and worked to spread that message.

Dave was proud of his time in the Air Force and also with IBM, but his proudest accomplishments were raising his two daughters and being a devoted husband. He and Mary celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in July 2022.

Dave was known for his humor and famous for making Mary laugh: wiggling his ears, raising his forehead, not paying attention (“Mary, you have my undevoted attention!”). He liked to “broaden” both daughters (especially Liz) to make sure they were aware of current events and math word problems … he continued that “broadening” with his grandchildren, especially his oldest grandsons. Dave never lost his sense of humor, telling his daughter that he was “half asleep” when responding to her question about why he didn’t open his other eye when visiting with her!

Dad, Dave, we love you still and will miss you so much! We thank God for your life, humor and love. We know we’ll meet again in heaven where you are probably (hopefully) on a gorgeous golf course shooting in the 80s (or lower)!

“Love leaves behind more than death can take away.”

In lew of flowers donations to MOWW Youth Leadership Conference can be made by check. Please make your check payable to MOWW Dallas Chapter with notation "YLC in memory of Dave Darlius". Send your checks to Bill Coleman, 6643 Prairie Flower Tr. Dallas, TX 75227.

Bill Coleman is the Treasurer of MOWW's Dallas Chapter.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.teddickeywestfuneral.com for the Darelius family.