Delbert Shirley Fennell

He was born in Eugene, Oregon on August 1st, 1925. He quit Lebanon High School to join the Navy during World War II and served in the Pacific theater as a sonarman on the destroyer USS Wedderburn. He was later granted an honorary degree from Lebanon High and received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from the University of Oregon.

Deb pursued a life in the field of education. He began his career teaching in Shedd, Oregon, in 1952. He became the principal/superintendent of Metzger schools in 1953. He was named superintendent of the Tigard school district in 1958. In 1969, residents of the Tigard, Metzger, Tualatin and Durham elementary school districts voted to become Tigard School District 23J. Many attribute the district’s successful unification vote to the community’s confidence in Deb’s leadership.

The Tigard School District’s reputation for innovation and excellence began under Deb’s guidance. Tigard was one of Oregon’s first school districts to offer kindergarten and was a leader in providing special education services. The district was also on the forefront of supporting teachers by creating an award-winning professional development program during his tenure. He retired in 1985.

Deb participated in community organizations too numerous to list. He was active in Rotary Club and served as president of the Tigard chapter. He belonged to the Tigard and Tualatin Chambers of Commerce. He was regional director for the United Way, and served on the Meridian Park Hospital Foundation Board of Directors. He was chairman of the Oregon Education Service District Task Force. Deb was the superintendents’ representative to Oregon School Board Association, and the Oregon delegate to the American School Administrators. He was a board member of the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory. He served as president and as board member for the Oregon Association of School Executives, and as chairman for the University of Oregon Bureau of Educational Research, and taught post graduate level classes at Portland State University. The list of organizations to which he gave his time goes on and on.

Deb loved the outdoors. He taught his boys, Greg and Randy, the art of fly fishing and how to pursue elusive steelhead. He hunted pheasant and chukar behind his dogs. To the amazement of his hunting buddies, his best ever bird dog was Duchess, a boxer.

He felt honored that the Broadway Rose Theatre Company had its home in a facility bearing his name and went to productions there as often as possible. He enjoyed Pink Martini and did his best to attend a concert of theirs at least once a year.

He was an enthusiastic but terrible golfer. His tennis game was even worse, so bad he was voted Worst Tennis Player in Portland in a KEX radio contest. As a result, he got to team up with tennis great Jimmy Conners and they defeated Portland personality Jimmy Hollister and Blazer star Dave Twardzik in a doubles match in the Memorial Coliseum in 1980. He was a huge fan of Duck and Beaver football and basketball, and was a Trailblazer season ticket holder for years. He was never short of opinions on how any of those teams could improve.

He was married to Mana Marie Amburn, who predeceased him in 1997. He is survived by his sons Greg (Carla) and Randy (Kazuyo), grandchildren Sarah (Cody), Casey, Jessica, Jeremy, and by his great grandson Brody.

A memorial service will be held in the Deb Fennell Auditorium at Tigard High School on Saturday, September 30th, 2017 at two o’clock pm. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation (OnwardOHSU.org) will continue Deb’s passion for helping others.