Page 60 - Lubbock Senior Link Magazine Fall 2019- Online Magazine

Del Wells Putting Himself in Other
el Wells is 90, but
the energetic and
Dknowledgeable gentleman
belies his age. He is passionate
about the law, his convictions,
and especially caring for people
who are facing the specter of
Alzheimer’s Disease.
He was born in Lakeview, Texas
in Hall County in 1929. He started
school at Littlefield, Texas but
completed most of his education
in Anton where he graduated
from high school in 1946. Anton
was also the place where he met
the lovely Chloe Herrin in 6
th
grade. His education at Texas
Technological College included
a summer class on Spanish
International Trade in Mexico
City in the summer of 1949, and
he earned a degree in Spanish in
1950.
He was drafted into the army in
1950 because of the North Korean
invasion of South Korea. “I’d been
attending Texas Tech with lots
of World War II veterans. The
country was still ‘war- minded’.
It had only been five years since
the end of WWII. It was a period
60 Lubbock Senior Link
People’s Shoes
by Jane Bromley
nobody can describe completely.”
He earned a commission,
completed officer training at Fort
Sill, Oklahoma, married Chloe in
Lubbock on April 10, 1952 and
drove to Mexico City for their
honeymoon. They were stationed
at Camp Polk, Louisiana, where
they “lived in an old house with
no air conditioning, and the only
bathroom was on the porch.”
In October 1952, Del was
assigned to the 45 Infantry
th
Division as an artillery forward
and aerial observer and was the
commanding officer of his unit.
He describes his service as “just a
matter of course.” Even though he
was on the front lines the whole
time, he doesn’t look back on that
time with regret or sadness. Like
most of his peers, Del “was a
good soldier.” He was discharged
in August 1953 at the rank of 1
st
Lieutenant.
His first job was as a rep for an
inventory finance company,
but he “has done a little of
everything.” Del was a branch
manager for Redi-Rain, an
irrigation equipment company,
and went on to became CEO of
that corporation, which involved
a cross-country commute to Los
Angeles from ‘72 to ‘75.
He retired 36 years ago in 1982,
and he and Chloe spent over
27 years volunteering together.
They always found ways to help
people who needed them. They
spent years reading to third
graders at Posey Elementary. They
volunteered for the suicide hotline
“Contact”. He has volunteered
with Meals on Wheels and also
served as Assistant Scoutmaster
for the Boy Scouts. He has been
a facilitator for the Alzheimer’s
Association and a hospice
volunteer for three years.
Del has lived in his home for 50
years, but he lost his beloved
Chloe 3-1/2 years ago. She had
suffered from Alzheimer’s for four
years, and he was able to take care
of her personally until her last 14
months when she moved into a
residential care facility just across
the street. Even then, he was able
to be with her daily and “sing to
her every night. Music was one of
the few things that was familiar.”
He is grateful for his neighbor
Dr. Richard “Dick” Weddige – a
respected psychiatrist who helped
him understand what Chloe was
going through. “We sat on this
porch many evenings, and Dick
would explain to me everything
that was going on physiologically
in her brain.”
Chloe, also a Tech graduate, had
worked as a court reporter and
was “always very capable. We
never argued. We were always
sweethearts,” Del said of his
beautiful wife. They raised one
son, Tom, also of Lubbock. The
couple had celebrated almost 60
years of marriage when Del began
to notice some familiar signs.
He had lost
his mother,
mother-in-
law, father-in-
law, brother-
in-law and
an aunt to
Alzheimer’s.
He was
prepared for Photo by Robert Suddarth
it, and Dr. Weddige’s expertise
confirmed it. “Caring for her