Del was born in Camp Douglas, Wisconsin and joined the Navy right out of high school in 1943.  He was a naval cadet at St. Peters, Minn., then went to Purdue in 1944.  With the war coming to an end, the Navy didn’t need pilots, so he went to electrician school.  He served in the Pacific aboard the USS Harry Lee and was honorably discharged in 1946 as a Fireman 1st class.

Having been discharged in California, he remained there after the war.  Del rode and raced motorcycles off-road in Southern California, and was eventually inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 1998.

Del was a Long Beach, CA police office for 2 years, then a California Highway patrolman for 28 years, retiring in 1979.  He married in 1948 and had a son.  He lost his first wife to cancer after 25 years.  He married again, had 2 children and will soon be married 40 years.

Del and wife, Vicky maintain a website called TheGrandfathersofMotocross.com with lots of photos. It also honors WWII vets.