David L. Degroff

David Louis DeGroff, 73, of Orange, died September 25, 2006, at his residence. Born August 19, 1933, in Clinton, Michigan, he was a son of the late Louis Kenneth and Vivian Belmore DeGroff. He spent his early years in North East, Texas. Mr. DeGroff was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church and a retired Master Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He joined the Marine Corps in 1953 and was attached to a tank unit and entered Vietnam in the first wave with the Second Platoon, A Company, Third Tank Battalion. He returned to Vietnam in 1968 with the Marine Corps Counter Intelligence. Mr. DeGroff retired to Twenty-Nine Palms, California in December 1977 and retired a second time as a security supervisor from the Salt River Project in 1989. Survivors include his wife, Joyce DeGroff of Orange; a daughter, Lesley DeGroff Morrow and husband, Thomas, and four grandchildren, Thomas IV, Madalyn, Andrew and Michael Morrow, all of Manassas. A graveside memorial service will be held Monday, October 2, at 11 a.m. at Quantico National Cemetery with full military honors. The Rev. Forest Porter and Father George Pucciarelli will officiate. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of the Rapidan, P. O. Box 7515, Culpeper, Virginia 22701 or Katrina Relief, Virginia Conference U.M.C., P.O. Box 1719, Glen Allen, Virginia 23060. Preddy Funeral Home, Orange, is in charge of arrangements.