Mr. Arthur F. Deffenbaugh of Wagram passed away in Scotland Memorial Hospital on Monday, May 25, 2020, at the age of 90.
Mr. Deffenbaugh was born on February 20, 1930, to the late Arthur B. Deffenbaugh and Susan Rimel Deffenbaugh in Augusta County, Virginia. Arthur proudly served in the US Air Force at the end of WWII and became an instrumentation specialist on heavy aircraft including B-17 and B-36.
During his Military service, while in Texas, he met and married his beloved wife, Doris. They started their family with the birth of their first son, Rex in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their son Forrest was born later, after he left the military, in Charlottesville, VA.
He and Doris always enjoyed traveling and never missed an opportunity to see new places. Later they traveled extensively by RV. Even after his wife’s death, in 1997, Arthur continued to travel alone across the world where he made lasting friends along the way. He kept in touch with some of these friends to the very end. He was charming and a great storyteller.
He cultivated a lifelong love of tinkering and repairing things that he continued until his last hours. He maintained a lifelong fascination with mechanical things and took great pride in keeping them working long after anyone else would have given up. He continued to enjoy motorcycling until his late 80s.
Arthur enjoyed a career working in corporate supervisory positions ending locally with Abbott Labs in Laurinburg. He loved his home and the area and choose to remain here in retirement.
After retiring, he kept in touch with his work friends in weekly lunch visits, where they shared a meal and kept up with current events. He treasured these visits and came to adjust his schedule around this Tuesday tradition.
Mr. Deffenbaugh is preceded in death by his wife, Doris, and son, Rex.
He is survived by his son, Forrest Deffenbaugh (Sandra) of Candler. He also leaves behind his grandsons, Justin (Ericka) and Blair Deffenbaugh (Laura), and the wife of his late son, Patricia Deffenbaugh all of North Carolina. He is also survived by his sister, Mary Ultee of Waynesboro, VA; his nephews, John and Clay Trainum of Virginia and niece, Susan Pepin of Maryland.
The family will receive friends and family at a later date.
Care of the family is entrusted to Crumpler Funeral Home of Aberdeen.
