Obituaries - Jan. 28, 2010

Edna J. Wigen

Funeral services for Edna J. Wigen, 99, will be Monday, Feb. 1, at 11 a.m. at Selbu Lutheran Church. Pastor Dennis Bay will officiate and burial will follow at the Selbu Cemetery.

Mrs. Wigen died Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010 at Whitman Health & Rehab Center in Colfax.

Born Sept. 17, 1910, to Carl and Ellen Emerson Carlson at the family farmhouse on Mud Flat, she attended a one room schoolhouse just down the road on Mud Flat.

When she was 10 years old, they moved to Moscow because her family wanted her to get a good education.

She graduated from Moscow High School in 1928.

Later that year, they moved back to the farm near LaCrosse.

Edna began working for some neighbors, the Jurgen Wigens, and that’s how she met her future husband, Peter Carl Wigen.

They were married at Selbu Nov. 29, 1933.

They worked on the farm for a while and then moved into LaCrosse where Peter worked in the meat market.

After a few years they went back to the farm and Edna kept busy as a homemaker and mother to their seven children.

They moved back to town in 1953 and Edna was often seen helping out at the meat market.

Her husband died in 1977.

She then moved to Colfax and has lived there since.

Over the years she has made a “boutique” full of crocheted items and lots of lap quilts and needlepoint.

Her Bible was by far her favorite book, and Selbu Lutheran Church, where she was a lifelong member, was always very important to her.

She also attended Peace Lutheran Church in Colfax.

She is survived by six children; Dianne Geary, Colfax; David Wigen, Othello; Harriet Mackleit, Colfax; Jurgen Wigen, Spokane; Marvin Wigen, Oakesdale and Kermit Wigen, LaCrosse; a daughter-in-law, Mary Ann Wigen of Colfax; 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by a son, Robert, in 1999.

The family suggests memorials be made to Selbu Lutheran Church, Peace Lutheran Church or the Union Gospel Mission. On-line guest book:

http://www.bruningfuneralhome.com

Virginia May Barr Bell

Virginia May Barr Bell, 95, former LaCrosse resident, died Jan. 22, 2010 at Pullman Regional Hospital.

Her memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, at Selbu Lutheran Church in LaCrosse with Pastor Dennis Bay officiating.

A catered meal will follow the memorial service. A private family burial is at 9:30 a.m. that same day at the LaCrosse cemetery.

Born near Hooper, April 3, 1914, to Harvey and Della May Harvey Barr, she graduated from Colfax High School in 1931 and Cheney Normal School in 1933.

Virginia began teaching at the one-room Benge School at age 19 for a monthly salary of $55. She was principal there for the two years and then taught at Riparia. She was the only teacher for three years at an unaccredited high school. There were no school buses then.

To complete their fourth year to get their high school diploma, students had to leave home and pay board and room.

She and Urgel G. Bell were married in Riparia, May 25, 1935. Mrs. Bell and her husband farmed in the Riparia, Hooper and LaCrosse areas until they retired in 1971. Mr. Bell died August 3, 1994.

A long-time supporter of Cougar Athletics, the WSU Foundation and Cougar Club, she was also a member of LaCrosse Reading Club, Farm Women’s Club, a 62-year member of Emerald Chapter LaCrosse Eastern Star and a member of United Methodist Church.

Mrs. Bell was also a member of Eastern Washington State University Foundation.

A life-long republican, she was active at local and state levels.

Surviving are four daughters and sons-in-law: Linda and Bob Brison, Greenbank, Whidbey Island; Lola and Gene Aune, LaCrosse; Lorna and Greg Burns, Endicott and Loretta and Roger Daniel, Hooper; one brother, Scott (Dollie) Barr, Colville; one sister, Della Mae (Bill) Evans, Hooper; sisters-in-law Zella Miller, Spokane; Rita (Bob) Eisele, Walla Walla, and brother-in-law, Roy Bell, The Dalles, Ore .; 14 grandchildren, and 25 great-grandchildren.

Memorial gifts may be given to the Urgel Bell Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Stacy Aune, 101 Wigen Rd., LaCrosse, Wash.

Robert Gese

The funeral for Robert Gese, 83, former area resident who resided in the Spokane area for the past 45 years, was Jan. 16, 2010, at Ball & Dodd Funeral Home in Spokane. Interment with military honors followed at Greenwood Memorial Terrace. Mr. Gese died Jan. 11, 2010, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Born July 4, 1926, in Reynolds, N.D., to John and Demerise Gese, he was raised on the family farm in North Dakota and served in the U.S. Army in Okinawa and South Korea during and immediately after World War II. He returned to North Dakota after receiving his discharge and then moved to Spokane.

He married Marilyn Groom in Malden June 24, 1950.

They resided at Malden and later in the Onecho, Central Ferry and Genesee areas where he worked for area farmers.

They then moved to Spokane, and he worked for Armour Meat Packing for 17 years.

He was later a co-owner of Rain Gutter Boys.

During semi-retirement he worked as a custodian for the Central Valley School District, and during retirement he was a volunteer at Valley General Hospital.

He and his wife were charter members of the Valley Landmark Missionary Baptist Church, and he remained active in the church for more than 40 years. They enjoyed traveling with a pickup and camper throughout the Western United States and Canada. They particularly enjoyed trips to Montana and British Columbia.

They moved to Yakima in May of 2008. His wife preceded him in death after 58 years of marriage.

Surviving are four children, Jerry (Marie) Gese, Crowley, La .; Ann (Don) Kirkes, Issaquah; Pam (Chuck) Guptill, Diamond; and Collen (Melvin) Kollman, Yakima; three brothers, John (Marilyn) Gese, Chattaroy; Barnie (Bernice) Gese, Spokane; and Ted (Barbie) Gese, Escondido, Calif; a sister, Elaine Parsons, Hatton, N.D., nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Jacob John Riebold

A memorial service for Jacob John (Jake) Riebold, 82, former long-time Garfield area resident who resided for the last 20 years in the Lewiston area, will be at the VFW Hall in Kendrick Monday, Feb. 1, at 11 a.m. A covered dish potluck will follow the services. A family burial will follow at Pinecrest Cemetery in Deary, Idaho.

Mr. Riebold died Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010, at Orchards Rehabilitation and Care Center in Lewiston.

Born Dec. 14, 1927, to Orrin and Mable (Johnson) Riebold, in Grangeville, Idaho, he was the youngest of six children. When his father died, his mother was unable to provide for him and his five sisters, and he went at the age of four to live with his uncle and aunt, Addie and Pearl Alexander, at Kendrick. He attended schools at Gold Hill and Kendrick. He was drafted into the Army in 1945 and was discharged 13 months later after the end of World War II.

Jake married Jeannette Mael in June of 1949, while working at Ida Pine Logging. The couple homesteaded 200 acres at Harpster, Idaho. They had 10 children, six boys and four girls. They later lived at Lapwai and Kenrick and moved to the Garfield area in 1967 and resided there for more than 20 years.

The Riebold children all graduated from Garfield High School.

Jeannette died in 1978, and he married Garnett Stark in June of 1979 and added two more daughters to the family through marriage.

They moved to Tammany near Lewiston in 1988.

Mr. Riebold enjoyed fishing, hunting and packing into the mountains with horses and mules. He enjoyed working in his shop, and participated with his mules in area plowing bees.

Surviving are his wife Garnett, at the family home; his children, Orrin (Jane) Riebold, Deary, Idaho; Stan (Kay) Riebold, St John; Tim (Shirley) Riebold, Potlatch ,; Lorna (Mike) Hammond, Culdesac, Idaho; Bonnie Riebold, Garfield; Dixie (Rian) Van Leuven, Lewiston; Doug (Scarlett) Riebold, Deer Park; Kelvin Riebold, Garfield, Tom (Susan) Riebold, Colfax; Linda (Scott) Becker, Uniontown, Ruby Weidemann, Hayden Idaho; Virginia(Hal) Overland, Sandpoint, ID; one sister, Marjorie (Howard) Roberts, Lewiston; and numerous grandchildren, step-grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Lester Waggoner

A memorial service for Lester R. Waggoner, 62, Sprague, will be Saturday, Jan. 30, at 11 a.m. St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sprague. He died Jan. 25, 2010, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane.

Born Feb. 10, 1947, at Wilbur, Mr. Waggoner made his home at Sprague for the last 40 years. He worked as in independent trucker until he had to retire because of health reasons. He and Yvonne Reinbold were married in 1997. Also surviving are two daughters by a previous marriage, Marianne (Wayne) Riddle and Aimee (Jesse) Bolstad; two sisters, three brothers, and five grandchildren.

Memorial donatins can be made to ACS-Relay for life West Plains Event, 920 N. Washington Street, Suite 200, Spokane or to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sprague.