Delsie M. Bessinger, of Kenton, formerly of Smyrna, passed away on Saturday January 16, 2010. She was 96.
She was born October 15, 1913, in Henderson, MD, to the late Thomas A. Emerson and Mollie Cahall Emerson.
The career of Mrs. Bessinger included working in Handloffs, a five and dime store; sewing at Belbers, a luggage-making company; and working for Air Mod at the Dover Air Force Base. She retired in 1976, at 62 from the Smyrna Post Office where she had been a postal clerk for 15 years.
Some of Delsie’s activities were playing piano for the Church of the Nazarene, volunteering at the Food Pantry in Smyrna, and at the gift shop in the Delaware Home and Hospital for the Chronically Ill. While a member of the Twentieth Century Club of Smyrna, she had held various offices. As a member of the Duck Creek Historical Society, Delsie had volunteered to serve as a tour guide at the Smyrna Museum. A retired federal employee in the NARFE organization, she had been awarded the honorary life membership from NARFE Chapter 1174. She had been proud of the longevity of her membership in the American Legion Auxiliary, Unit #14.
Her husband, Martin K. Bessinger Sr., and Delsie’s six siblings, preceded her in death.
She is survived by her son, Kenneth Bessinger and his wife Margaret, of Milford, DE; her daughter, Virginia Brown and her husband George E. Brown, of Kenton, DE; five grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; several great and great-great-grandchildren.
Services will be held Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m., at Matthews-Bryson Funeral Home, 123 W. Commerce St., Smyrna, where friends may call at noon. Burial will be in Templeville Cemetery, Templeville, MD.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggest contributions be made to the Duck Creek Historical Society, PO Box 335, Smyrna, DE 19977.
To send a condolence letter, visit www.delmarvaobits.com.
Arrangements are by Matthews-Bryson Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Smyrna.
