Boen DeLay

Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1926, his family moved to the Glasgow area when he was 3 and he grew up there on farms. He graduated from high school in 1943, enlisting in 1944 on his 18th birthday, attended infantry training and was sent to the Philippines and Japan. He married Nadine Scott in 1949. He worked 22 years as a sheet metal worker, 7 with his own shop. The family also farmed 7 years near the Milk River.

A lifelong interest in repairing and customizing firearms led to his next career as a gunsmith. He and Nadine ran the Fort Dalles Gun Shop from 1970 to 1983 and were hunters and active members in the NRA and the The Dalles Rifle and Pistol Club. Boen was a Hunter Safety Instructor for the first classes held in Montana.

Early retirement allowed extensive travel in their 5th wheel trailer. In the 1990s they settled into a snowbird pattern, wintering southwest of Phoenix and spending summers in Dufer, Oregon. After the death of Nadine in 2010, Boen moved to The Dalles, Oregon.

Boen was an avid storyteller with an engaging smile. Preceeded in death by his parents Floyd and Cora DeLay, by 3 siblings; Burt, Betty and Ray, by his wife Nadine and a son, Dave. He is survived by one sister; Jane DeLay, three children; Kay, Lela and Dick DeLay, 4 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

He passed away on August 2, 2013. A memorial service will be held August 17, at the Methodist Church in Dufer, Oregon, at 2 p.m..

Pie and coffee will be served immediately after the service. As Boen loved to say, “There are only three kinds of pie: hot pie, cold pie and more pie.”