Feature Sponsor Story: Bartlesville’s Believer

Bartlesville’s Believer

Josef & Helen Derryberry Served Community with Their All

by Debbie Neece, Bartlesville Area History Museum

John Duffendack graduated the Kansas City Horological Institute with a watchmaking degree and arrived in Bartlesville in 1914. He worked at Arthur Hall Jewelry for ten years before becoming partner in the Duffendack and Hall Jewelry Store which he operated until retirement in 1961.

Kansas born and educated, Josef Eugene Derryberry received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Washburn University in 1949 and worked in the diamond business. He and wife, Helen, came to Bartlesville in 1961, purchased the Duffendack and Hall Jewelry Store and established Josef Derryberry Jewelers. They co-owned and operated the jewelry store until their retirement in 2003. But Josef and Helen Derryberry were much more than their jewelry store. They were pillars in our community.

Josef flew fifteen missions as the nose gunner on a Liberator Bomber Crew during the WWII European Theatre which brought him the Certificate of Valor, five air medals, four bronze stars and more. After his Honorable Discharge, he returned to Kansas to complete his education and marry Miss Helen Lorene Crampton on September 13, 1946. The Washington Park Mall Wall of Honor holds a memorial exhibit in Josef’s honor.

Beyond being members of the Disciples Christian Church, they served the community with their every fiber. Helen had a volunteer heart which she poured upon the Bartlesville Service League and both Memorial Hospital and Jane Phillips Hospital.

Josef Derryberry was a Bartlesville believer and his volunteerism dipped into every aspect of community life. Before Bartlesville’s city government operated with a City Council, the City Commission governed. Under Mayor W.A. Hensley, Josef served two terms as a City Commissioner and also served as Vice Mayor. He was President and Vice President of the Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce, President of the Downtown Association three times and was a member of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission for four years. As a total volunteer effort, he created and led the first Industrial Development team which helped create 500 new jobs in the wake of Cities Service’s exit. And much more…..

You ain’t goin’ to reach your highest peak on someone else’s ladder. You got to make each step your own, that is all that really matters. — Josef Derryberry

Josef and Helen Derryberry now rest in Memorial Park Cemetery where Josef received full military rites. One of Bartlesville’s most treasured memories is Josef’s heartfelt “Poet’s Pulpit” poetry featured in the Examiner-Enterprise and on area radio stations. Among the poems Josef penned for Christmas was: When I think about the holidays, I think of Christmas time, And then I think of New Year’s Eve and the sounds of "Auld Lang Syne." I think of Christmas Dinner time when everyone is there I think of sudden quietness when heads are bowed in prayer I think of little children sounds and hear them laugh and play And then I think of love that’s shared so many different ways There is no other time of year that brings us so much fun Nor time when we all try to see our Father’s will be done. And if you want to give a gift that says the things you should, The only place to do it right is Derryberry good.