Member Spotlight

Member Spotlight
Delta Underwood

January 2018

Delta was born in Binghamton, New York, which is 10 miles north of Pennsylvania, and 4 hours northwest of New York City. Her grandfather worked at a foundry in the area making cast iron pans. Her mother came from a family of 10, and her father came from a family of 8, so although she has only one brother, she has dozens of cousins. Her mother and father both worked for the Endicott Johnson Company which manufactured shoes. Her mother put the linings into the shoes, and her father took care of the boilers.

After graduating from Binghamton North High School, Delta met her future husband, David Mosher, at church. They had six children, 4 boys and 2 girls. Four of her children still live in the Binghamton area, one lives in Texas, and one just moved to Oklahoma. Delta recently got to spend a week with each of her kids in New York when she went to celebrate her mother’s 96th birthday. Now, her family has expanded to include 12 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren, with another great on the way.
 
Raising her six fine children is what Delta considers her greatest success in life. She stayed home with the children until she divorced, and then she supported the six kids on her own by operating a paper route. The paper route was fifty miles long out into the country up into the hills “God took care of us,” says Delta, marveling that she was able to keep 6 kids fed, clothed and housed on what she earned from the paper route. Not only did she have to support the kids, but she had to pay for the gas to run the route, as well as keep the car running. “The numbers just didn’t add up. God had to be making it happen.”
 
In her own “endless pot” Stone Soup story, Delta once made stew for the family for supper. Not only did the seven in the family eat supper, but each child had a friend, and her son Wesley remembers having 3 bowls of the stew himself. Delta figures 30 bowls of stew were served. “It was only a regular sized pot,” Delta remembers. “It was a miracle that we got that many servings out of it.”
 
Those hard times had their own kind of fun. She would pick up her youngest son from kindergarten and they would drive the 25 miles to the end of the route, and then get treats and lunch from a store. He would help with the route, and his pay off was the treats. He loved riding with her. For a bit of fun, Delta used to drive 80 mph on the back roads. Because of a mutual friend, the cops would only shake their finger at her.
 
Delta remembers many good times with her kids, including packing up the crew with strollers and a picnic lunch and walking 3 miles to the beach on the lake for a day of swimming and picnicking. And if the weather was too bad to go out, they would run around the house chasing each other and having a grand time.
Delta moved to Texas 15 years ago. She worked at the Crossings Spa Center on Lake Travis. She loved it there. It was beautiful, and on breaks she could sit outside and enjoy nature. On the Fourth of July, she could sit by the pool and watch fireworks.
Delta joined Taylor FUMC five years ago. “Shelly and I came to choir rehearsal on Wednesday night, and then we sang for Sunday services, and joined the church,” she remembers. Vesta Ryan and Bob Walker welcomed her most warmly, and she has been a faithful church and choir member ever since. “I love the way that the church feels like a family,” says Delta. “If it didn’t, I wouldn’t stay!”
 
Her favorite hymn is “To God Be the Glory.” She loves it because it praises God in a robust way, and she loves to sing the harmony.
 
Delta has a hidden talent of knowing American Sign Language. She used to sign songs, and could translate although she says signing songs is much easier.
 
Delta would love to travel to Hawaii, but she confides she wouldn’t come home again. She loves beaches and spends as much time near water as she can. She has researched Hawaii, and has planned her budget, her itinerary as well as her accommodations – which would be a cabin at the edge of the jungle in sight of the beach. She’s saving up her money to go. She would love to spend the rest of her days there.
 
I, for one, hope she doesn’t save up the money too fast, because Delta is such a gift of us here for her service and her singing. Give her a hug the next time you see her.

 

By Robin McKinley


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