Alva ?Russell? Derry, an 88-year-old resident of Princeton, died Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2004 at North Kansas City Hospital.
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Alva ?Russell? Derry, an 88-year-old resident of Princeton, died Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2004 at North Kansas City Hospital.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 30, 2004 at the Princeton Christian Church. Rev. Gary Watkins will officiate. Graveside services will follow at the Princeton Cemetery. Masonic services will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29, 2004, followed by the family visitation from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Greenlee-Middleton Funeral Chapel in Princeton.
Mr. Derry was born Oct. 7, 1916 near Princeton, the seventh and youngest son of Abraham Russell and Margaret Jane McHargue Derry. Two months before his birth, his father was killed in an automobile accident. He grew up in a family that played all sports. He graduated from Princeton High School in 1935, where he excelled in football and baseball. He and his brothers were involved with the Princeton Town Baseball Team and the American Legion Baseball Team for decades.
Baseball was the passion that wove throughout Mr. Derry?s entire life. During his 19-year professional baseball career, he won several achievements and honors. One of the outstanding highlights was hitting two home runs, one a grand slam, for the Yankees on opening day 1945, becoming the first Yankee and the first American League player to hit a grand slam on opening day. Babe Ruth congratulated him following the game. In 1949, Mr. Derry set the records for home runs (42) and bases on balls (134) in Rochester, NY, that remain unbroken. At the end of the season, the fans presented him with an International Harvester tractor. For his last professional at bat in 1954, Mr. Derry hit a home run for the Modesto, CA team that won the game, the playoffs and the league title. In 1989, he was selected as a charter inductee for the Rochester Red Wings Hall of Fame. In 1999, Mr. Derry was chosen by the fans as a member of the Red Wings All Century Team.
While he traveled extensively for his career, Mr. Derry also came home to his farms and cattle in Mercer County. He was a member of the Princeton Masonic Lodge for over 50 years, the Sons of the American Revolution, a lifetime member of the Association of Professional Ball Players of America and a member of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni. He also served on various Mercer County committees throughout the year.
On July 4, 1940, he was married to Elna M. Craig in Trenton. She survives him of the home.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Judy Mahoney and her husband, Wesley, of Kansas City; and several nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his brothers, Francis Harless Derry, Olin Frederick Derry, Ava Abraham Derry, Paul Samuel Derry, Harley Jacob Derry, and Forrest Dewey Derry.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Russ and Elna Derry Scholarship Fund? at Princeton High School. The fund was founded anonymously in 1997 as the ?Blue and White Scholarship Fund?. Contributions may be mailed to the school at 1010 E. Coleman St., Princeton, MO 64673.