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Obituary
Bob,94, died March 23, 2020. The last of the Derry brothers, he rookied in 1943 before enlisting in the Navy and serving in the Seabees until the end of the war. Bob was involved in landings in the Marshall Islands and spent eleven "miserable months" on Kwajalein. He was a heavy equipment operator in Spokane 1946-49 before joining the Douglas Co. Fire Department for a 30-year stint as Fire Chief. Bob was approximately 17 years, and a month old when he rookied in 1943. Bob remained in excellent physical condition as he aged as anyone who worked with him on the NSA Trail Projects can attest. He continued to bike, ski, kayak, row and run in later life.
Derry was interviewed as part of a smokejumper oral history project currently housed at the University of Montana (UM) Archives and Special Collections. You may read or listen to the transcript by going to the UM digital collections here: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/smokejumpers/2/
Identifier
Derry_Robert-L_Missoula_1943
Publication Date
3-25-2020
Keywords
Smokejumping; Smokejumpers -- United States; National Smokejumper Association; Wildfire fighters; Obituaries
Disciplines
Forest Management
Recommended Citation
National Smokejumper Association, "Smokejumper Obituary: Derry, Robert L. (Missoula 1943)" (2020). Smokejumper Obituaries. 524.
https://dc.ewu.edu/smokejumper_bios/524
