Walter Ronald DeRosia

Walt (also known as Ron to his family) was born in Portland (Multnomah County) Oregon. Parents were Artemus and Lena. He was the oldest of 5 siblings, he had two brothers, Artie and Alan, and two sisters, Verlene and Phyillis. They lived in multiple areas around the Portland and Milwaukie area until Walt left home in 1961 to pursue the military. As a youth Walt was always involved in scouting. He was in Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and eventually moved over to Sea Scouts (Sea Explorers) in 1959. He really enjoyed the aspect of boating not to mention girls were allowed in sea scouts and that was a little added bonus. He used to always kid about that. This experience sparked an interest in the military for him. He graduated from Benson Polytechnic High School in 1961. During his time at Benson he sang in the Choir and Glee Club and was a member of the Polysteppers Dance Club. During his senior year he signed up to go into Navy and when he graduated he was off to boot camp. He wasn’t in long when he decided to get out and move over to the U.S. Army National Guard to fulfill his commitment. However, in 1962 a couple of his friends were joining the Navy and they convinced him to re-join with them. He served 28 years in the Navy before retiring in 1990. He spent most of his career as an Ocean Systems Tech (OT). His tours of duties were as follows: Pearl Harbor, HI (1986-1990) Retired - OTACS (Senior Chief) Seattle, WA (1982-1986) - Recruiter (Top Honors) Adak, AK (1979-1982) - OT/Career Counselor Coos Head, OR (1976-1979) - OT Coronado, CA (1973-1976) - OT Adak, AK (1971-1973) - OT Bermuda (1965-1970) - OT Coronado, CA (1962-1965) - Re-enlisted/Training Fort Ord, CA (1961) - Cook (Left Navy to join Army Reserves) Walt married his first wife Leeanna in 1964 in San Diego, CA. They had two beautiful children while stationed in Bermuda, son Walter and daughter Sandra. Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t work out and Walt and Leeanna parted ways in 1973 at the end of the Adak tour. Walt’s next tour was in San Diego and when he got there he looked up Cheryl and asked her out on a date. Before Cheryl agreed to go out with him she told him she would have to call him back. What Walt didn’t know at the time was Cheryl called Leeanna first to ask her if it was okay since Cheryl and Leeanna were old high school friends. Leeanna said yes it was fine. One of Dad’s running jokes was “I met my wife at my wedding” which always threw people for a loop and then he would explain the story. Walt and Cheryl were married July 20th, 1974. Cheryl’s son, Jim was 9 years old at the time and at the age of 10 Walt legally adopted him. Walt and Jim were active in scouting together. Jim was in the Weblos at the time and was getting ready to transition into Boy Scouts. Walt was all in as he loved this stuff. When the family moved to Coos Bay, Walt became the Scoutmaster of the troop located on the NAVFAC and turned it into one of the top troops in the county. He guidance and encouragement helped Jim archive the rank of Eagle Scout which was a very proud moment for both of them. Walt has always enjoyed wood working. Every place that he lived he would find the native wood of that region and make all sorts of things out of it like lamps, footstools, clocks, picture frames, etc. He used his own fruit woods to build a spinning wheel for Sandra to spin wool on. He also loved making puzzles out wood, metal, and rope. When he retired, he went into full swing making crafts of all sorts and peddling his wares at local craft shows. He loved to talk with people and share stories and different craft ideas. He was famous for his whirly gigs. He would go to every home show, craft show, fair that he could get to. He had every known fair gadget known to mankind! He was an avid fisherman, crabber and clam digger. No matter where we were stationed, he would always bring home fresh seafood. He made his own crab pots that we would throw off of a bridge and wait. I can still remember the excitement of pulling up the crab pots to see what we got. We used to get those long neck clams and I can still picture him pounding those tongues out to tenderize them before we cooked them up. Jim graduated high school in 1981 and left Adak to go back San Diego. Walt and Cheryl finished out their tour there and then got stationed to Seattle WA. During this tour they bought a house in Tacoma and eventually settled there when he retired in 1990. During his Seattle tour he switched rates from an Ocean Systems Tech to Recruiter and was very successful at it. He was one of the top recruiters. His final station was Pearl Harbor, HI and boy did they take advantage of that. They had all of the family come over to visit and took them to every Luau, dinner cruise, pineapple tour that Oahu had to offer. They really lived it up! Once Walt retired, they moved back to Tacoma to begin the next chapter of their lives. Unfortunately, their excitement was short lived because Cheryl was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) only 6 months into retirement. Walt spent the next 5 years being the caregiver from heaven. He figured out a way to rig up Cheryl’s scooter with all of her equipment so that they could tool around and continue living life to the fullest. He loved her so much and went above and beyond to take great care of her. We love my dad so much for that. Cheryl passed away Feb, 1995 leaving a huge hole in Walt’s heart. Walt eventually picked himself up and began attending some singles events. The main one that he loved to go to was the SRC (Singles Resource Club) dances. There he met many wonderful friends and eventually met his current companion Peggy. They were like two pees in a pod. They both had bubbly outgoing personalities and they loved to have a good time. Walt served one term as the club’s president. Walt also belonged to a square dancing club, “South Sound Singles”. He loved to dance and it was only fitting that he had his heart attack at a square dance doing what he loved to do. Walt loved to tend to his garden. He had many grape vines and began making his own wine. Each year he would have all of his friends over for a wine tasting party and BBQ. Each of them would bring over a bottle of wine to share. Boy did they have a good time! Walt and Peggy did quite a bit of traveling and “camping in the motor home” over the years and they really enjoyed each other’s company. He called her his “Georgia Peach” since she is a southern girl from Georgia. We can’t thank Peggy enough for all of the joy that she brought to him. Some of Walt’s fondest camping memories were at Woody Acres, sitting around a bonfire playing guitar and singing songs, or teaching his granddaughter Raychel her first guitar chords by a bonfire or playing a mean game of sequence with his friends. Walt belonged to many organizations and was active in all of them. He belonged to the VFW, AMVETS, FRA, Eagles and the Elks. He made so many wonderful friends over the years and loved them all like brothers and sisters. Walt is survived by his mother, brothers, sisters and children and his 5 grandchildren. He loved and adored them all; Devin (his only grandson) and Taylor, Raychel, Bree and Heiley (his four beautiful granddaughters). A memorial service will be held at 3pm, Oct 21st at the Lakewood Elks Lodge, 6313 75th St. W, Lakewood, WA 98405.