Delmar Eversole

Delmar Eversole, 83, of Ripley, Ohio, laid down his working tools and passed away peacefully in his home on November 30, 2022.  He is survived by his wife, Rebecca Walton Eversole, his daughter, Lisa Eversole Safran, and his granddaughter, Alexandra Elizabeth Safran.  He is preceded in death by his first wife, Elizabeth Helton Eversole, his sister, Carol Eversole Williams, and his parents, Granville and Sadie Eversole.

Delmar was a dedicated Mason of Sardinia, Ohio Lodge #254 and achieved the rank of 32nd degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Cincinnati.  In addition, he was also part of the Honorary Order of Kentucky Colonels, as well as a member of the Courts Fussnecker American Legion Post 367 in Ripley and the Disabled Veterans Association.

Born in coal country in Hyden, Kentucky, Delmar was always proud of his origins, as well as his family's heritage and long history of honorable military service.  Not only did he have a wide variety of interests, but he also possessed a rare blend of intelligence, athletic ability, and personality that enabled him to excel in anything he chose to try.  

He graduated valedictorian of his class at Leatherwood High School in Leatherwood, Kentucky. However, it was his skill on the basketball court and particularly on the baseball diamond that won him a full-ride athletic scholarship to Cumberland College (now the University of the Cumberlands) in Williamsburg, Kentucky, where he majored in history and chemistry and graduated cum laude.  During his time at the university, he served as student body president, led his college baseball team to its first-ever championships, and was selected for the All-American team in baseball.  

After graduation, Delmar received offers to play for both the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals baseball teams, but instead, he joined the Navy to follow his lifelong dream of becoming a naval officer.  Chosen to be a member of one of the first Navy SEAL teams, he served two tours of ship duty and two tours in Vietnam.  During that time, he earned numerous honors and medals, including a Purple Heart and the Navy Unit Commendation Medal.  Later, he was assigned to the Navy MSTS in Saigon, where he held down a commander's billet.  His performance earned him a placement in the prestigious Naval Postgraduate School, where he earned an MBA.  After being transferred to Washington to serve at the Pentagon, he began studies on his own at American University for a doctorate in education, which he later finished at the University of Cincinnati.  Though he loved his career in the Navy, family needs led him to decline a promotion to lieutenant commander and re-enter civilian life.

From his parents, Delmar gained a deep appreciation of the value of education and a love of learning.  He believed education was the key to making opportunities available for everyone, particularly children in disadvantaged areas, and often pointed to his own life as an example.  He saw his educational career as a way of paying forward the debt he owed to those teachers and professors who took an interest in him and helped him achieve what he wanted to do.

He began his educational career as an instructor at Scarlet Oaks in Cincinnati and then as a high school business education teacher at Western Brown High School.  Shortly thereafter, the Western Brown School District hired him as Clerk-Treasurer, then promoted him to Assistant Superintendent, in which capacity he served for over a decade. 

Though a gifted administrator, Delmar was also a born teacher and missed getting to work directly with students.  When the position of principal at Mount Orab Elementary became available, he took it and spent the rest of his career at Western Brown in that position.   

During his tenure at MOE, he worked with his teachers to improve student performance until the school became one of the top elementary schools in Ohio.  Always an innovator, he was instrumental in getting computer classes and classroom computers into his school years before other schools adopted them.  MOE was then the largest K-8 school in the state, and he managed it without an assistant.  Despite this, he always found time to visit the classrooms every day, to talk to the children and teachers, and knew every one of his 1200+ students by name.  

After over twenty years with Western Brown, Delmar retired to his hilltop farm in Ripley, living in a log house he personally designed and built by hand using timber he cut himself from the Eversole family homestead in Kentucky.  He started a small organic tree farm, worked to improve his land and restore its wildlife, and indulged his love of learning both by taking a year of law school for fun and learning practical crafts like welding and small engine repair.  Most of all, he loved rising to watch the wildlife in the early mornings and walking over his land down to his pond at sunset, enjoying the peace and beauty around him.

His family and friends remember him best for his sense of humor and his love of teasing and practical jokes, as well as his wonderful skill as a storyteller and his gift of being able to share his knowledge and make any subject interesting and relevant.   In his service to his country, he demonstrated outstanding courage, honor, and dedication to duty.  

Most of all, though, we remember him for his love, loyalty, and devotion to his family.  His loving wife Rebecca, his daughter Lisa and his granddaughter Lexi wish him fair winds and a following sea on his final voyage.  He is deeply missed.

Memorial services will be private.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be given in Delmar's name to the Shriner's Hospital for Children at scottishriteforchildren.org