Derrell Mervyn Charles Ireton

Obituary

Birth: July 18, 1932

Death: February 29, 2020 (yes, leap day…)

Derrell Mervyn Charles Ireton Was born July 18, 1932, of Australian parents in Washington, D.C. where he was educated and remained until enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1954. He was posted to Heidelberg, Germany for the full two years of his enlistment. On returning to Washington D.C. he met the love of his life, Australian Val Doyle, and they subsequently got married at Old St. Mary’s in San Francisco in 1957. Derrell began work in San Francisco as a clerk at Wells Fargo Bank and within five years had been promoted to Vice President in charge of the Stock Transfer Department. When Wells Fargo opened offices in Southern California the family transferred to Los Angeles where Derrell headed up the Beverly Hills-Westside district Trust Department. Nine years later when the opportunity arose to return to San Francisco, the family happily packed up and returned and settled down in Novato for the remainder of Derrell’s life. Derrell and his wife loved to travel and enjoyed trips to England and Ireland, Europe, Turkey, the Caribbean, South America, and Australia. But their favorite destination was Mexico where they came to love not only the people, but the history and culture of the country, and enjoyed many trips south of the border. In retirement they took up RVing going off for two or three months at a time to explore these beautiful United States and Canada from coast to coast. In retirement Derrell volunteered at the Novato Police Department working on various events and assignments. He participated in the planning and operation of the very first “Every 15 Minutes” events at San Marin and Novato High Schools. He was also very proud to have set up and taught the first “Computer Basics” classes for seniors at Margaret Todd Senior Center to enable them to communicate with their families in this new world of technology. He enjoyed teaching these classes for five years. He is survived by Val, his wife of almost 63 years, beloved children, son Scott of Washington, California and daughter Dr. Candy Ireton Ollendorf of Asheville, N.C., and grand-children Scott Jr., Charlie Sue, and Kayla. Services will be held at Our Lady of Loretto Catholic Church in Novato on March 12 at 11:00 a.m., followed by a reception in the church hall. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to Hospice by the Bay.