Darrell A. Learn

Darrell Allen Learn was born on March 21, 1940, in Cherry Hill Township, PA to James and Hazel (Gibson) Learn. At age 6, his family moved to eastern Washington state where he would grow up working on farms, hunting and fishing with his father. While in school, Darrell played baseball and basketball, loving those sports throughout his entire life. He graduated from Colville High School in 1958 and after high school, he received a bachelor’s degree from Washington State University in Civil Engineering. Darrell earned his degree while working 3 jobs and was the first of his family to graduate from college. He would meet his wife, Linda Allen while out golfing, after two weeks of knowing each other, they married in 1963 during semester break and they shared 58 wonderful years together. They would settle in Sacramento while Linda finished her college degree and would also start a family. Darrell would work for the State of California and later a job opportunity in Oregon would transfer them to Salem, Oregon where Darrell would work as the Director of Water Resources for 11 years. In 1987, he would transition to the field of financial planning, working for Waddell and Reed until he retired just 8 years ago. Working in financial planning was a perfect fit for Darrell, he was friendly, professional and passionate about his work. While working all day, once he came home, he would farm his property. Although he had gone to college, his heart was always with his homestead. Once he retired, Darrell and Linda would become snowbirds and reside part time in Mesa, Arizona. He had many hobbies he filled his time with such as cooking, going to restaurants, traveling, crabbing and boating. He was always the captain of the ship- anytime he was on a boat! Darrell was an avid golfer throughout his entire life and would take an annual trip with his friends to Palm Springs for the last 35 years. A constant theme in Darrell’s life was his determination- and in the last weeks he visited Mount Rushmore, spent time with family and fought cancer bravely. On September 2, 2021, Darrell passed at age 81 in Salem, Oregon. He was preceded in death by both of his parents and a sister, Judy Dunham. He is survived by his wife, Linda Learn; daughters, Tracy (Mike Gotterba) Learn and Trina (Geoff) Larson; grandson, Ben Larson; siblings, Sally Hedrick, Lucy Lee, Michael Learn. A celebration of life will be held at Santiam Golf Course on Saturday, September 25, 2021 from 2-4pm. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations be made to the American Cancer Society.