Obituary: Darrell Bymoen

Born Nov. 20, 1941 in New Rockford, N.D. to Arnold & Josephine Bymoen, he was the second of three children. He passed away quietly in his home in Las Vegas on March 5, 2021.

He spent his early years on the family farm, where he especially liked driving the tractor and any work that related to that. His first years of school were in a one-room school house, where he was usually one, of only two, students in his grade. The family eventually moved to Sabin, Minnesota, where Darrell attended and graduated from Moorhead High School in 1959. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from NDSU. By 1964, he was working for the Navy as an engineer on defense systems at Point Mugu, Calif.. He was then transferred to the China Lake, Calif. Naval Weapons Center. After relocating to China Lake, Darrell soon met and married his first wife, Billie Jeanne Higbee, and to this union a son was born.

Recreational time was spent exploring the beautiful landscape of California by ski, dirt bike, Jeep and private aircraft. Darrell got his pilot's license, joined the local airplane club, and eventually owned his own Cessna. He worked on many programs for the Navy, including mine warfare; update to the Sidewinder Missile Guidance System for Vertical Launch ASROC; and, many other implements for individuals at the tip of the Navy’s Spear, making several trips to Vietnam to instruct Navy Seals on the use of these instruments. In retirement, his interests turned to metal detecting, traveling in his RV and treasure hunting. Darrell relocated to Lincoln County, N.M. in 1994, where he purchased an 80-acre apple orchard in Nogal Canyon. Time was spent on the slopes of nearby Ski Apache, assisting in ski instruction for students of NM School for the Blind & Visually Impaired. Darrell joined with friends to improve and sell dielectric constant fuel meters for use by NHRA and SCCA racing. These allowed sanctioning bodies to keep competitors from modifying the fuel in race vehicles. He also tinkered with perfecting the air-powered potato gun, ideas for waste oil furnaces and making bio-diesel.

The last three years of his life were spent in Las Vegas, Nev., where he put on bingo tournaments, taught basic computer usage to others of his generation, and played lots of bridge with his new friends. He is survived by his son Leif, wife Anna Marie, and two grandsons, Walker and Colin; by his younger sister Evelyn and her husband, Tony Karppinen. He was preceded in death by his parents, his older sister, Delores Krabbenhoft, and his wife, Billie Jean Higbee.