Mock, Sickles Are Pioneers of the Year

WAITSBURG – Siblings Delbert Mock, 92, and Velma (Mock) Sickles, 89, have spent nearly their entire lives in Waitsburg, where their steady service has quietly touched the lives of many.

This year, the Waitsburg Historical Society will honor the duo with the title of Pioneers of the Year at the city's annual Pioneer Fall Festival.

Their father, Denzil C. Mock, was born in Grassy Creek, North Carolina, but the family eventually settled in the Huntsville area.

Denzil's father, Augustus F. Mock, was a carpenter and built caskets. He is credited with putting in the windows at the Waitsburg Christian Church and installing the elaborate wood floors in the stucco home across from the high school. He built one Waitsburg home on West 7th street and another along the Touchet River.

Velma and Delbert recall their father describing how it would take all day, traveling by horse and buggy, to go visit a friend in Eureka. "He would often spend the night under the trestle between the Eureka and Harshaw elevators," Delbert said.

As an adult, Denzil served in the United States Army as a Bugler during World War I. When he returned home from France following the war, he married Neoma Gluck in Walla Walla in 1920.

Denzil and Neoma's first child, Darrell, was born in Walla Walla in 1921. The family then purchased a farm in Benton County through the White Bluffs-Hanford Land Settlement Project, which helped veterans purchase farmland. Delbert was born there in 1924 and Velma joined the family in 1927.

In 1933 the family moved to the home that Denzil and Augustus had built along the Touchet River. Today, Roland Erikson lives in that home, located about 2.5 miles west of Waitsburg.

Delbert and Velma recall raising a big garden there and selling produce to the stores in Waitsburg.

"I especially remember the big watermelon patch and taking a large truckload of watermelon into Waitsburg to sell," Velma said. They remembered a time when Waitsburg's Main Street boasted four grocery stores

In 1943, the family moved into the city limits, where they joined other Mocks, great aunts and uncles, already living in town. Denzil worked at the McCaw hospital in Walla Walla first as a fireman, then as an electrician. He also worked in Waitsburg at Maybac Electric, as would Delbert and Velma, in later years.

Delbert, Darrell, and Velma all graduated from Waitsburg High School and each went on to own a business on Main Street. Darrell operated a service station located at the current site of the Waitsburg Clinic, and Delbert opened Mock's Electric where he sold paint and appliances. Velma assisted her husband, Bob Sickles, with the bookkeeping at their business, Plaza Insurance.

Delbert Mock

Delbert was drafted into the army during World War II when he was still a junior in high school. He served three years, starting out as an 81 mm mortar gunner and ending as a platoon leader.

He was shipped overseas in August, 1943, and fought three campaigns in the Pacific before he contracted hepatitis and was evacuated to the East Indies, where he spent nearly two months in the hospital.

Delbert said he lay in bed across from Bob Buroker, of Dayton, for probably 30 days before someone came in and used Bob's name and they made the connection. It turns out the two are "shirt tail relatives." Delbert remembers that Charles Sutton, the Waitsburg school superintendent's son, flew in to visit him in the East Indies hospital.

Back home, Delbert had the necessary credits to graduate, but was short a World History class. Delbert said he told the superintendent, "Heck, I made World History! What the heck do I want to take it for?" He was given some books to study for a few days, took a test, and was handed a diploma, he said.

Delbert worked at Maybac's, where he did repair work and laid tile and linoleum. He drove truck for Dow Wright, then bought a trailer and moved to California where he worked for Birdseye for five years.

He returned to Waitsburg and opened Mock's Electric at 141 Main Street (where The Q is currently located) in 1957. There, he sold and repaired appliances until he closed the business in 1979. Delbert continued to make service calls to appreciative customers well after he closed the store.

Delbert married Berneice Cole in 1957 and helped raise two boys, Tom and Jerry Mock. The couple later divorced and he married Louise Lingle in 1981. Louise, who passed away in 2006, had four children: Jan, Jackie, Debbie, and Rod.

After closing Mock's Electric, Delbert worked at the VA hospital in Walla Walla as a refrigeration mechanic until he retired in 1986.

Over the years, Delbert coached Little League, served as Master of the Masonic Lodge, was a member of the Waitsburg Lions Club and the VFW, and was Commander of the American Legion.

Velma (Mock) Sickles

Velma has always been passionate about music, and spent her high school years actively involved in the band, orchestra, and chorus. After graduation, she studied music at the University of Washington.

She married Bob Sickles, a fellow music lover, in 1949, and the couple made their home in Waitsburg. Bob worked at Bendix Music in Walla Walla, and Velma gave piano lessons to many children in Waitsburg from 1949 to 1968. Velma remembers packing 17 students into their home for one piano recital.

Bob eventually opened Plaza Insurance in Waitsburg, where Velma kept the books for 40 years, until the shop closed in 2010. In 1968, Velma took a job as the Waitsburg Elementary School secretary, where she served for 20 years.

Bob and Velma raised four children: Ed Sickles (Seattle), Sherrie Morris (Watisburg), Dawn Nichols (Waitsburg), and Steve Sickles (Walla Walla). Velma has 13 grandchildren, seven step-grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and two step-grandchildren. She and Bob enjoyed singing together in the Waitsburg Christian Church choir and sang at funerals and weddings until Bob's death in 2003.

Velma and Bob were both actively involved in the Christian Church throughout their adult lives. Velma served 40 years in the church as both organist and church treasurer. She is also a charter member of the Odako Club and remained an active member until the club disbanded two years ago.

Delbert and Velma say they were both happily surprised to be recognized as Pioneers of the Year.

"When I got the letter I called Velma and said, 'Well, what do you think of that?!" Delbert said.

"Well, I think it's quite an honor!" replied Velma.

Velma and Delbert will be officially recognized as Pioneers of the Year following the 11 a.m. church service on the Bruce House lawn on Sun., Sept. 18. With neither of them being one to seek the limelight, they were plotting to see which family member they could convince to give the acceptance speech as they wrapped up their interview with The Times last week. Thankfully, they've got plenty of family to pull from.