Vern E. Toblan, 84, of Middletown, DE, passed away August 23, 2014 at Seasons Hospice Christiana Care.

Born in Zurich, Switzerland on March 5, 1930, Vern was the son of the late Eduard and Lina Lenzin Hughentobler. He attended school in Strickhoff in Switzerland where he studied agriculture. He came to Canada in the early 1950s and there worked in various jobs, including farm hand, ambulance driver and milkman. While teaching dance at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Regina, Saskatchewan, where he met his wife of many years, Kathleen Toblan nee Lannan. He later put his earlier education to work in the chemical industry, providing knowledge and training to many in the fields of herbicides and pesticides.

Surviving are his brother Edi, and his sister Margrit in Switzerland; his daughter Brenna, his son Blair, and grandchildren (Blair) Ethan, and Logan in Calgary Canada as well as his cousin and long-time companion and business partner Heidi Ross in Delaware. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Kathleen.

Friends and family are invited to an informal gathering to celebrate his life at the Embassy Suites Newark-Wilmington South, 654 South College Ave., Newark, DE 19713 from 3:00 – 5:00 pm on Thursday August 28, 2014. At Vern’s request, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and mailed to R.T. Foard & Jones Funeral Home, 122 West Main St., Newark, DE 19711.