Church to Honor Tulare's Dumermuths

Tulare - Ask someone about Derryl Dumermuth and his wife Wanda's name will make its way prominently into the conversation. The reverse also is true and this is why it is not at all surprising Tulare United Methodist Church is honoring both on Oct. 18 for their service to the congregation and to the larger community.

“They're together all the time,” said Ellen Gorelick, director-curator emerita of the Tulare Historical Museum, where both have shared their time and talents. “They're really inseparable.”

The Dumermuths, married 62 years, have lived in Tulare since 1962 when he was hired to head up the Mathematics Department at Tulare Union High School, a job he held till his retirement 28 years later. She taught vocal music at Cherry Avenue Middle School for five years.

As a couple the Dumermuths have read scripture daily and have taken 15 cruises and traveled to 55 countries. He also wrote and she edited two books about Tulare, “Tulare Legends and Trivia from A to Z” and “A Town Called Tulare” and they donated all the proceeds to the Tulare City Historical Society, which operates the Tulare Historical Museum.

“He got all the financial backing for the book before it was printed and it was really a tremendous financial boost,” Gorelick said.

Derryl Dumermuth, who said he likes to read historical fiction and “pure history,” also writes a monthly history column about Tulare for the Tulare Voice.

For many years, the Dumermuths also worked with vocalist Mary Kinder Morton to prepare an annual themed musical program for the Historical Society.

Morton described the couple “as absolutely devoted to one another, their family, their church and their community.”

Wanda is “one of those consummate talented musicians who just feely gives and doesn't expect anything in return,” she said.

“They've both mentored young people all their lives,” she added. “They've taken several groups of teens to Europe.”

They also have been “pillars” of their church, said Gerry Soults, a member of United Methodist who prepared a biography of the couple.

Wanda was involved with the choir for 11 years and then spent the next 26 years as organist, Soults said, adding that at the same time she held various offices in the church's women's division.

In the 1970s, she also directed “Sounds of Faith,” a group organized by the late Amanda Perry that included choir members from various Tulare Churches.
A loyal supporter of the annual CROP Walk for 20 years, she raised more than $25,000 during that time period. She was later involved with the Tulare Relay for Life.

As for Derryl, he holds the record for serving as secretary of United Methodist Men – 37 years. He has held other positions as well, including president of the administrative Board and terms on the Trustees and Finance committees, Soults said.

Their community involvement also has centered around Wanda's membership with P.E.O., which they describe as an international, secret organization in the U.S. and Canada that does philanthropic work.

He is also a member of the Tuesday morning Kiwanis Club and they have both been active in Sons of Norway.

Iowa Roots

Derryl and Wanda Dumermuth are both from Iowa and met their senior year in high school in Fayette County.

While they both enrolled at Upper Iowa University after graduation, they eventually went to separate schools. She enrolled in a small college in Cornell, Iowa, where she was known as “the little girl with the big voice,” Soults writes. He transferred to Iowa State in Ames to study math and engineering.

Derryl served in the Marine Corps later as a radar technician and had just had his tonsils yanked out, when he received a birthday/get well card from Wanda, who had run into his sister at church. This led to their getting reacquainted. They were married on June 6, 1947 at the Fayette Methodist Church.

Their first home was in New Providence, Iowa, where he taught for five years before his asthma forced him to leave.

They then moved to Marana, Ariz., where they lived for 10 years.

He was looking for advancement and new opportunities when he came to Tulare to interview at Tulare Union, he said.

When he saw the dense collection of sycamore trees that arched Sycamore Avenue, he said he called Wanda to say Tulare reminded him of his home in Iowa and this is where he wanted to make his home.

The couple settled into a house on North Manor Street, where they raised their children, John and Deanna, who attended Tulare schools, where they continue to live today.

They said they were “surprised” and “amazed” when they learned the church was going to honor them.

“It's not why we do what we do,” Derryl said.

The above story is the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.