Obituaries - Sept. 10, 2009

Bruce E. Nisse

Memorial service for Bruce E. (Bear) Nisse, 60, former newspaper publisher at Palouse, was Tuesday, Sept. 8, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Potlatch. He died last Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, of a sudden massive heart attack. Palouse EMS and Sandy Schorzman worked valiantly on hot pavement to revive him. He was pronounced dead at Pullman Regional Hospital.

Born Dec. 4, 1948, in Wyandotte, Mich., to James E. and Ada C. Quick Nisse, he graduated from Lowrey High School in Dearborn, Mich., in 1966. He spent a great deal of his youth in the Chippewa Lake, Mich., area, fishing and hunting with his father.

He attended St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati from 1962 to 1964.

He married Shirley Bundshuh April 12, 1969. They had two sons, Joe and Tony. The family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Aug. 6, 1985. They later went through the LDS temple in Seattle and sent their sons to fulfill two year missions for the church.

The couple divorced in 1991.

He worked for Ford Motor Co. in an engine production plant in Detroit and served in the Air Force. After receiving his honorable discharge, he entered the Detroit Police Academy and served on the department. He and his partner were among the first to walk a beat in the Detroit projects.

Worried about his boys being raised in Detroit, he took a job in a sheriff’s department in Mecosta County, Mich., and served there for three years until 1978. He then worked at Mayfair High Performance Auto.

After moving to Arizona in 1981, he worked at an auto wrecking yard, and then at the U.S. Motors foundry in Prescott.

In 1989, the family moved to Seattle, and he worked as a maintenance specialist on Pepsi bottling machinery. He returned to Prescott in 1991 and worked as a campus officer and began freelance writing. He published articles in Rocky Mountain Fish and Game and other outdoors magazines.

In 1996, he moved to Palouse, and married LuJane Alger Aug. 13, 1996. He adopted her two adopted boys, T.J. and Mikel. He also joined the family business publishing The Boomerang and Latah Eagle. He was well known for “Moccasins on the Palouse” column which mixed wit with wisdom.

They were looking forward to retirement after selling the newspapers in July of this year.

Surviving are his wife, LuJane, and sons Thomas James (TJ) and Mikel at the family home in Palouse; sons Joe (Shannon) in Prescott, Ariz .; Tony (Tanya) in Provo, Utah; three step-children, Willow Naeco (Rachel) in Chicago; Meghann DeBerio in Boston; Timothy Herbert in Moscow; two sisters, Sharon Wojtas in Michigan; Helen in Prescott Valley, Ariz., and seven grandchildren.

Helen White

A memorial service for Helen Elizabeth (Betty) Olsen White, 89, St. John, was Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 11 a.m. at the Methodist Church in St. John. She died Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009 in Spokane Valley.

Born Jan. 9, 1920, in Kellogg, Idaho, to Einar and Edna Berdina Matsen Olsen, she graduated from Kellogg High School with the class of 1937.

On Oct. 2, 1938, she and George W. White were married in the parsonage of her church.

She worked for a short period of time at the Sears order office in Kellogg, but spent most of her years being a wife and mother.

After George’s retirement, they moved from Kellogg to Coeur d’Alene, then in 1989 relocated to St. John.

She has been a long time member of the Rebekah Lodge, and while in Coeur d’Alene she and George were members of the local senior citizens group and enjoyed camping with their Good Sam group.

She was a member of the St. John United Methodist Church and could be counted on when there was work to do.

In St. John she enjoyed playing 500, pinochle and was an excellent bridge player.

She was the family cookie and cake baker.

She also enjoyed knitting, working in her yard and raising flowers.

Surviving are her husband, George, three children, Marlene Landers (Dick) of St. John; Bob White (Anne) of Ft. Thomas, Ky., and Judy Nelson-Roller (Dave) of Spokane Valley; nine grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson.

The family suggests memorials be made to the Parkinson’s Resource Center of Spokane, 910 W. 5th Ave., Spokane, WA 99204.

On-line guest book:

http://www.bruningfuneralhome.com

Merle J. Hogsett

A graveside service for Merle J. Hogsett, 92, a resident of Lewiston, was Wednesday, Sept. 9, at the Garfield Cemetery. The Rev. Kathy Kramer officiated and a U.S. Navy Honor Guard conducted military honors.

Mr. Hogsett died Aug. 31, 2009, at his home in Lewiston.

Born Dec. 22, 1916, at Lamar, Colo., to John and Blanche Mandall Hogsett, he attended schools in Colorado and California, and farmed with his stepfather near New Meadows, Idaho, for about six years.

He married Dora Brooks in 1939 and they lived on the Washington Coast and later in California where he worked in an aircraft factory. They later moved to the Seattle area where he worked for Boeing.

He entered the U.S. Navy on April 28, 1945 and was discharged Oct. 15, 1945. His wife died in 1953.

Mr. Hogsett was a carpenter most of his life and worked on many Northwest dams until he retired in 1980. After his retirement he made his home in Lewiston.

He married Delores Slack Williams May 27, 1992, at Lewiston, and the couple had made their home there since.

Survivors include his wife, Delores; one son, Herbert Hogsett, Cheney; one daughter, Barbara Tredway, Olympia; two stepsons, Jerald Williams, Spokane; Ronald Williams, Fairfield; one stepdaughter, Mary Allen, Marysville; eight grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Gary Hogsett, and one grandson, Lonnie Mathews.

Memorials may be given to the American Heart Association.

Robert Rudy

A celebration of life for Robert John Rudy, 53, a member of the 1974 class at Colfax High School, will be Friday, Sept. 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the Microtel Hotel in Elma. He died last Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009, at home in Montesano. He was a Grays Harbor resident for over 30 years.

Born Oct. 11, 1955, in Colfax, to Robert Eugene and Betty Morasch Rudy, he was raised in Colfax. He worked for many years as a project engineer for Washington State Department of Transportation.

Robert was an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He was a member of the North American Hunting Club and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. He also enjoyed hiking, skiing and spending time with his family.

Surviving are his parents in Colfax, a daughter, Nicole (Duncan) Bagley, Covington; two sisters, Joy Otis of Spokane and Jan Luft of Pullman and two grandchildren.

Whiteside Family Mortuary in Elma is in charge of arrangements.

Berneice Sayers

The funeral for Berneice Audrey Sayers, 92, former Oakesdale resident, was Tuesday in the chapel of Bruning Funeral Home at Colfax with burial following at the Oakesdale Cemetery. She died Sept. 1, 2009, while visiting in Ridgefield.

Born May 13, 1917, in Cheney, Kan., to Wm.

Elmer and Myrtle Mae Mason Jowers, she graduated from high school in Penrose, Colo., in 1936 and married Walter Harry Sayers in McClave, Colo., June 19, 1938.

They lived in Colorado Springs before moving west to Halsey, Ore.

They moved to Oakesdale in 1959 and he was employed as a mechanic for Linke Implement.

Mr. Sayers died unexpectedly in 1963, and she worked as a waitress during the day and attended night school at Kinman Business College in Spokane.

She completed a bookkeeping degree and began working for area grain companies as a bookkeeper.

She moved to Spokane in 1973 and later spent several years in Alaska She also bowled for many years on leagues in both Colfax and Spokane.

Surviving are four daughters, Linda (Rodney) Peringer of Oakesdale; Joann (Jonathan) Herson of Glen Garner, N.J .; Sharon (John) Heise, Colville and Susan (Bradley) Phillips of Ridgefield; 18 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren; two half-sisters, Betty and Fern and a half-brother, George. She was also preceded in death by a daughter, Dorothy Hughey and a son, Larry Dean Sayers.

The family suggests memorials be made to the Animal Shelter in Spokane.

On-line guest book:

http://www.bruningfuneralhome.com

Marie Schultheis

Marie Irene Schultheis, 83, Uniontown, died Monday, Sept. 7, 2009, at Gritman Hospital in Moscow. She was born March 30, 1926, to Edward and Regina Terhaar Stumpf, in Pierz, Minn. Rosary will be at St. Boniface in Uniontown, Monday, Sept. 14, at 10 a.m., followed by the funeral mass at 10:30 a.m. A full obituary will follow in next week’s Gazette.

Gregory Keller, Jr.

Gregory LeRoy Thompson Keller Jr., 41, died Thursday morning, Sept. 3, 2009, at the home of his parents in Tekoa. He had been a resident of Tekoa for the past two years. The cause of death is still pending. A memorial service was at the Tekoa Mountain Bible Church on Monday, Sept. 7.

Born March 20, 1968, at Spokane, to Gregory and Vicki Friesen Keller, Sr. he moved with his family to the Seattle area and attended schools at Woodinville and Monroe. After his schooling, he worked in the Monroe area as a grocery warehouseman and in building construction. He later took computer courses and was trained as a computer programmer. He then worked programming metal cutting equipment.

Greg met Kimberly Ann Manning in Monroe, and they moved to Greeneville, Tenn. in 2003, and were married in Greeneville June 7, 2004.

In Greeneville, the Kellers had a music ministry. They moved from Tennessee to Tekoa in 2007, and he worked for Berg Integrated Systems in Plummer as a computer programmer.

Gregory loved music and enjoyed playing keyboards and singing in church.

Survivors include his wife, Kimberly, at the Tekoa home; his parents, his children, Ryan Keller of Pullman; Fayleana Anderson and Shailjah Anderson of Tekoa; two brothers, John Keller of Granite Falls and Frankie Keller of Tekoa; two sisters, Cindy Blanchette and Lori Roberson, both of Monroe; his grandparents, Walter Friesen of Tensed, Idaho; Chuck Baker of Wenatchee and Sue Keller of Spokane.

Memorial gifts may be given to the Tekoa Ambulance Fund, Box 597, Tekoa or to the Memorial Fund for Greg, Jr. in care of American West Bank, Box 1048, Tekoa, WA 99033.

Wayne L. Slonaker

The funeral services for Wayne L. Slonaker, 83, long time Palouse area farmer, will be Saturday, Sept. 12, at 10 a.m. at the Moscow Church of the Nazarene. Graveside service with vault interment to follow at 3 p.m. at the Colfax Cemetery. Viewing will be Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the church in Moscow.

He died Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, at Good Samaritan Village in Moscow.

Born Dec. 6, 1925, in Palouse, to Fred and Zella Tempero Slonaker, he attended school in Palouse and graduated from high school there in 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served from 1944 to 1946. Following his honorable discharge from the Navy, he attended Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho where he met Helen M. Mylander. They were married Oct. 2, 1947, in her hometown of Denver, Colo.

He farmed his entire working life south of Palouse in the Kamiak Butte area.

Mr. Slonaker served for many years on the Palouse school board. He was active in the Church of the Nazarene where he served in many capacities including Sunday school teacher as well as a director for the Pinelow Camp and the District Advisory Board. He often traveled as part of work and witness trips to various mission fields around the globe. He loved to travel. He also liked cars and was a talented wood carver.

Surviving are his wife of 61 years, Helen, at their Moscow home; son, Alan Slonaker, Moscow, and daughters, Marlene Frazier, Cortez, Colo .; Norma Young, Peoria, Ariz., and Jannette Whisman, Durant, Okla., his brother, Wallin Slonaker of Colfax; 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

The family suggests memorial gifts be made to the Hope Center in Moscow or to Gideon’s International.

On-line guest book:

http://www.bruningfuneralhome.com

Hilary Ann Wall

Funeral mass for Hilary Ann Wall, 86, resident of Tekoa since 1947, was Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tekoa. Father Mike Woods officiated. Rosary was recited Monday, Sept. 7, at 7 p.m. at the church with Deacon Nick Vietri presiding. She died Sept. 2, 2009, in Spokane.

Born Aug. 19, 1923, at Butte, Mont., to Hilary and Mary Hogan Corrigan, she attended schools in Montana and Spokane where she graduated from Marycliff High School in Spokane. Ann then attended the University of Idaho for two years and was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority.

Ann married William P. Wall II Jan. 27, 1945, in Spokane. The family moved to Tekoa in 1947 where she was a homemaker and her husband Bill operated the Wall Agency, a real estate and insurance office, from 1951 until retirement in 1984. He died in 1994.

She was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Tekoa Lady Jaycees, and former member of the Tekoa Golf Club and Bridge Club. Ann enjoyed traveling and camping. Mrs. Wall was also a Gold Star Mother because her son William P. (Bink) Wall was killed in 1970 in the Vietnam War.

Survivors include one son, Tom (Mary Ellen) of Spokane Valley; three daughters, Shari Epperly of Lynnwood; Hillary (Nick) Lawson of Plummer and Cathy (David) St. John of Rosalia; two brothers, John Corrigan, Las Cruces, N.M. and Robert Corrigan, Clackamas, Ore .; eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, two sons, William P. Wall III, and Patrick Wall, who died in a car accident in 1980, and a grandson, Casey Lawson who died in 2005.

Memorial gifts may be given to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Box 957, Tekoa, 99033, or to the Tekoa Ambulance Fund, Box 597, Tekoa.