Deral Leon Rawlins
Born: September 2nd, 1930
Died: September 28th, 2016
Obituary
Obituary for Deral Leon Rawlins
Deral Leon Rawlins was born on September 2, 1930 in Gould, Oklahoma, to parents Frederick and Cora Rawlins. He lost his dad at age 12 due to an automobile accident. Being a single parent, Cora had to split up the siblings with other family members. Burt and Deral went to live at Grandma and Grandpa Rawlins. His younger brother Pete, and sisters, Virginia and Ernestine went to live with Grandpa and Grandma Gower. Cora then traveled to California and lived with her brother and sister-in-law to… find work and a place to live. After approximately a year, she and her children were reunited at Visalia, California. Deral finished the 11th grade in Visalia. He then joined the Army at age 18 and was sent to basic training at Fort Ord, California. Afterwards, he was sent to Fort Lewis, Washington, Artillery Division for approximately one year. He later transitioned to Army Reserves for the next 6 years.
While living at Visalia, California, he enrolled in a special trade school to learn the dry cleaning business. After he was married, he worked in construction. Deral later moved to Shafter and worked for Richland School District as a custodian and a bus driver. He became known as one of the top table tennis players during the lunch breaks. Before retirement, Deral was assigned the position of Maintenance and Operation Transportation Supervisor. After 20 years with Richland School, he worked another 10 years with Halliburton before retirement.
Deral was an avid outdoorsman. He loved to hunt and fish. His last hunting trip was at age 84. Deral met his love, LaDona Enterline at a church function in Visalia. They were married in a double wedding in 1950. They had four children. Most recently they celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary.
Deral was preceded in death by his parents, Frederick and Cora; and older brother, Burt. He is survived by his brother, Pete; and his sisters, Virginia and Ernestine. He also leaves behind his wife, LaDona; and four children, Viki, Dave, Randy and Karen; 12 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.