Del Moen
We are grateful for the long life and many joyous moments we were able to spend with her, but now mourn her passing which occurred May 7, 2024 in Santa Barbara, her retirement retreat since she fell in love with “The American Riviera” in 1993 and never left. Del Moen was born Mary Melly in a Norwegian neighborhood in Ballard, Washington, on April 5, 1930, to Oscar and Mary Melly. Her parents separated while she was very young and she grew up knowing only naval officer Joseph De Luca, who retired as a Lt. Commander, as her father. She and her mother followed him around the country and as a result, she attended thirteen different schools before graduating Long Beach (California) Polytechnic, class of ‘48. She learned to make friends quickly and not get too settled. Soon after, she met Tom Tatham Jr., who was also the child of a naval officer, in Bremerton, Washington. He was an engineering student at University of Washington. They married and relocated near Coney Island in New York. Soon after, they decided to pick up and move closer to family as they began a family of their own, and switched coasts to San Diego. They had five children: Linda Jo of Battle Ground, Washington, Jeffrey Wayne (Laurie) of Nashville, Indiana, Gregory Thomas (Vine) of Santa Barbara, Steven Robert (Mary) of Orlando, Florida, and Carol Mary (Pete) of New York City. They survive her, as do her twelve grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren. Tom Tatham passed last year and her second husband, Richard Moen, passed in 2006. She is also preceded in death by her half- brother, Joseph (Jackie) of Enfield, Connecticut.
She was known for her impeccable fashion sense. She studied interior design for a while, took painting classes, and enjoyed creative endeavors, but her yearning to be a full-time mother was her consuming passion. She did teach Sunday school at the beginning of her marriage and, for a time, after her divorce, worked as a dental/orthodontic technician and officer manager, first for Dr. Davis of Santa Ana, then Dr. Tagawa of Brea, California, and finally for Dr. Kuhn of Santa Barbara.
More than anything, she loved to laugh. And keep others laughing. She was known for her witticisms, such as professing in “the positive power of negative thinking,” which are words we all now live by, at her urging, to keep expectations low and chances of happiness high. She was an excellent contract bridge player and was a Life Master. She made many friends over the course of her life through this avocation. When she wasn’t playing bridge, entertaining her grandchildren, enjoying the company of her cats, admiring sleek black coupes, dining with friends, or cheering on her beloved Lakers, she enjoyed the peace of walking on the beach or gazing at the cherished view from her living room, of the Pacific Ocean, which will forever remind us of her loving warmth and yes, her contagious laughter.
As she was a lover of animals, any charitable contribution in her name to the Humane Society of the United States (www.humanesociety.org) would be appropriate and welcome.