© 2024 | Jefferson Public Radio
Southern Oregon University
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6301 | 800.782.6191
Listen | Discover | Engage a service of Southern Oregon University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

As It Was: Farmers Bank President, Delroy Getchell, Pens Rhymes

Minneapolis banker Delroy Getchell arrived in Medford, Ore., on a sparkling day in January 1909, seeking a mild climate for retirement.  He liked the looks of the place.

Retirement did not suit him, however, and by 1912 he invested in and became president of the Farmers and Fruit Growers Bank.  Getchell ran the bank for 27 years and guided it through the Great Depression.  He backed good public water and transportation systems, participated in many social organizations and promoted the Rogue Valley.  Getchell was well-read and for many years wrote poetry that was used in programs or published in the newspaper.  One poem, titled “Old Timer,” goes like this:
 

“While now as I follow
            Where Old Timer led,

I smile at the shadows
            That fall on my head.”

“I flee from depression,
            Filled up by despair,

To roam where the vistas,
            Are pleasing and fair.”

“So, when you have trouble,
            Forget it awhile:

In flight of your fancy,
            Forget it and smile.”
 

Sources: "Delroy Getchell." Medford Pioneers, edited by Ben Truwe, id.mind.net/~truwe/tina/getchell.html. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.  N.d. MS 2006.27.1, M51C1 Known Poems of Delroy Getchell. Southern Oregon Historical Society, n.p.

Alice Mullaly is a graduate of Oregon State and Stanford University, and taught mathematics for 42 years in high schools in Nyack, New York; Mill Valley, California; and Hedrick Junior High School in Medford. Alice has been an Southern Oregon Historical Society volunteer for nearly 30 years, the source of many of her “As It Was” stories.