Stephen Deller, 81, of Columbia went to be with his Lord on Friday, October 24, 2014 after a long battle with a relatively rare bone marrow disease. A memorial service will be conducted at 2 o'clock, Monday, October 27th at First Presbyterian Church, 1324 Marion St, Columbia, with The Rev. L. Craig Wilkes and Dr. John R. deWitt officiating, after which the family will receive friends in Jackson Hall. A private burial at Greenlawn Memorial Park will precede the memorial service.

Mr. Deller was the husband of Ellen Jacobus Deller to whom he was married for 58 years. He was blessed by a good wife who was his crown (Proverbs 12:4). He found his wisdom, understanding and happiness from the Lord Jesus (Proverbs 3:13).

Mr. Deller was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of the late Dr. and Mrs. Hans Deller. He and his parents escaped from Nazi occupied Austria in July 1938 and immigrated to the United States where they became naturalized citizens. The family first settled in New York City and then moved to Seattle, Washington. Following high school, he attended the University of Washington.

In May 1953, during the Korean conflict, Mr. Deller enlisted in the US Army, and in 1954, he received an OCS commission as a Second Lieutenant from the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. His final active duty assignment was to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he met Ellen, the love of his life, at the Officers' Club. They married in 1956 at Washington Street United Methodist Church. Mr. Deller remained in the active reserves for an additional six years and was honorably discharged as a Captain.

In 1959, he graduated from the University of South Carolina, having attended full-time while also working full-time at the South Carolina Tax Commission. At the startup of the Allied Chemical manufacturing plant in Irmo, he began his career in human resource management. The family next moved to Sumter, South Carolina, where he helped with the startup of the Electric Storage Battery Exide manufacturing plant. In 1967, Mr. Deller joined the Westinghouse Electric Corporation Nuclear Fuel Division, first in Cheswick, Pennsylvania, and then at the startup of the Columbia plant.

In 1988, he was honored as the first Human Resource Professional of the Year by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and the American Society for Personnel Administration, and the following year received the Westinghouse Electric Corporation Human Resource Award of Excellence.

After 27 years of service, in 1995, Mr. Deller retired from Westinghouse as Director of Human Resources and began a new career as a human resource consultant to manufacturing firms, principally in South Carolina. He retired a second time in 2000.

Mr. Deller was an ordained Elder at First Presbyterian Church where he served on the boards of the Christian Counseling Center and the Laurel Crest Retirement Community. He also served on a Care Team and as a volunteer at Providence Hospital Heart Institute. He had been active in a number of community organizations including the Columbia and South Carolina Chambers of Commerce, the Columbia Urban League, Providence Home and the United Way. In 2003, former Governor Mark Sanford appointed him as a member of the Manpower, Accountability, and Performance Commission. "The best job I ever had," he often said of his eighteen months spent helping students as the Interim Director of Career Planning and Placement at Columbia International University. "It was just a great place to serve among young Christians preparing for ministry."

Mr. Deller and his wife were residents of Laurel Crest Retirement Community where he served as chairman of the Resident Council. Many residents will remember him for his unwavering effort to increase the value of the Laurel Crest Endowment Trust and for his tireless work to bring the biblically-based clinical counseling of the Christian Counseling Center of First Presbyterian Church to Laurel Crest. Both projects were begun shortly before his death.


Surviving are his wife, Ellen; son, William "Bill" Deller of Lexington; and granddaughter, Brianna Deller of West Columbia. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Ellen Elizabeth "Betsy" Deller.

Memorials may be made to the Laurel Crest Endowment Trust, 100 Joseph Walker Dr., West Columbia, SC 29169; or to The First Presbyterian Church, the "Betsy Deller Helping Others Fund", 1324 Marion St, Columbia, SC 29201.