Obituaries - Aug. 5, 2010

Barbara Andrus

Funeral services for Barbara J. Andrus, 58, life long Colfax resident, will be Friday, Aug. 6, at 11 a.m. at Peace Lutheran Church in Colfax. She died Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010, at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

Born June 2, 1952, in Colfax to Carroll (Corky) and Bernice Manderfeld Miller, she grew up on the family ranch just west of Colfax where she enjoyed riding horses, animals of all kinds and selling farm eggs in town. She graduated from Colfax High School and attended secretarial school at Kinman Business University in Spokane. She worked for a short time at Colfax City Hall and married Jimmy H. Andrus in 1973. They made their home in Colfax. She spent a few years at home when their children were young and then went to work for the state’s Child Protective Services as a secretary. At the time of her death, she had worked there for more than 21 years.

Barbara was an avid bowler on Colfax leagues for many years and she was instrumental in the youth bowling league and junior bowlers. She was also a member of the Eagles. She enjoyed crocheting, fishing, going to casinos and caring for animals.

She and Andrus were divorced several years ago.

Surviving are her children, Melinda (Phil) Cochran, and Ben (Jessica) Andrus, both of Colfax and two grandchildren.

The family suggests memorials be made to the Whitman County Humane Society.

On-line guest book: http://www.bruningfuneralhome.com

Ruth M. Blackledge

A graveside service for Ruth M. Blackledge, 92, long-time Yakima resident who moved to Tekoa 16 years ago, was Tuesday, Aug. 3, at 2 p.m. at Goldenrod Cemetery in Tekoa. The Rev. Vern Larson officiated. She died July 28, 2010.

Born Ruth Mildred Hayes June 23, 1919, to Henry and Erma Linderman Hayes at Brokaw, Wis., she moved with her family to Monroe in the mid 1920s. She attended Monroe schools and graduated from high school with the class of 1936. She then attended Northwest Bible College in Kirkland for one year.

In 1937, Ruth moved to Yakima where she worked in the fruit industry. While working in Yakima, she met Johnnie Blackledge and they were married Feb. 7, 1945, at McMinnville, Ore. The couple made their home in Yakima where Ruth was a homemaker, and her husband worked for Ross Packing Co. for 41 years. In 1994, they moved to Tekoa. Her husband died in 1996, and she continued to live in Tekoa until moving to Oakesdale in March of this year.

She was a member of the Tekoa Mountain Chapel and enjoyed reading and writing poetry.

Survivors include three sons, Arden (Becky) Blackledge of Redmond; Garvin (Denise) Blackledge, Oakesdale, and Garlyn (Luba) Blackledge of Delta Junction, Alaska; two sisters, Hazel Lester of Yakima, and Mildred Schramm of Spokane; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

A son, Allen, preceded her in death.

Memorial gifts may be given to the Tekoa Mountain Chapel, Box 804, Tekoa, 99033.

Joan Margaret Culver

A memorial gathering for Joan Margaret Culver, 97, Pullman resident for 50 years, will be in the social room at Bishop Place in Pullman at 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 6. She died July 16, 2010, at Bishop Place.

Born Dec. 4, 1913, in Johannesburg, South Africa, to John and Edith Vinnicombe Currey, her father, John Currey, was a Wesleyan Methodist chaplain for the British forces at the end of the Anglo-Boer War and her mother was a granddaughter in the redoubtable pioneering Vinnicombe family.

Joan’s early years were particularly memorable and happy at the town of Ermelo out on the high veld away from the cities.

Her father was very successful with church finances and achieved the target of “a million shilling building fund” for the Methodist Church of the Transvaal.

Joan and her two older brothers Ralph and Ian learned from their practical, talented mother of the culture and the languages of the country and of the Vinnicombe family history as they absorbed the fun and the challenges of living on the veld.

It was horse and wagon country.

Riding and shooting were all part of life, and Edith was adept at both.

During that time the first plane arrived and silent films were projected onto a suspended white sheet, which could be viewed from both sides.

When Joan was about seven years old, the family returned to England and two years later her father was assigned to reorganize the Methodist Church of the West Indies. They settled at Barbican on the hill above Kingston.

Joan’s health was compromised by tropical diseases, and she returned to England and attended Trinity House boarding school. She would see her brothers during holidays. Her father arranged for Joan to study the innovative Froebel teaching method at Roehampton teacher training college near London. She then joined her brothers in the field of education and was a staff member for 23 years at the Northgate School for Girls at Ipswich. Her years of service there included shepherding her young charges to shelters to escape the bombing blitzes of World War II.

In the 1950’s Joan designed and had built a house which she called “Lark Rise” after the village in the well known book Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson. She continued to teach and care for her parents until their deaths in 1959.

While on a 1955 trip to visit relatives in South Africa, she became friends with an American couple. Harold and Helen Culver, who were having one last holiday before Helen’s health made travel impossible. Years after Helen’s death, Harold made a tour of England, and contacted Joan while there. They were married Dec. 17, 1960, and she moved into his beautiful home on College Hill in Pullman.

The following years were filled with travel throughout the US and Canada and working in the gardens surrounding their home. Their idyllic life together was cut short when Harold suffered a stroke, and Joan cared for him at home until he died in 1970. She stayed on in the house in Pullman. She was a member of Fortnightly Book Club. She also enjoyed her cats.

In England she is survived by her nephews and niece.

Memorial gifts may be given to the Harold Culver Scholarship at Washington State University, the Lilac Society for the Blind in Spokane, to Friends of Hospice in Pullman, or to the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Seattle.

Mary Goodyear

Mary Stravens Goodyear, 80, Colfax native who made her home in Edina, Minn., for more than 50 years, died July 28, 2010. Mass of Christian burial was Wednesday, Aug. 4, at Our Lady of Grace Church in Edina with interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

Born in Colfax to Joseph and Florence Stravens Feb. 3, 1930, she attended St. John’s Academy and Colfax High School where she graduated with the class of 1948. She then attended Holy Names Academy in Spokane before becoming a stewardess for Northwest Orient Airlines, later Northwest Airlines.

She married Harry J. Goodyear, Jr. in September of 1956 and they settled in Edina where he was in the real estate business. She joined him in operating the business, Goodyear Realty, in 1977. Both joined Edina Realty in 1983. She was a member of Our Lady of Grace Church.

She was preceded in death by her husband.

Surviving are four children, Maggie (Jerry) Clifford, Katie (John) Penny, Tom (Karalyn) and Tim (Molley), six brothers and sisters, Robert, Stravens, Coeur d’Alene; Rose Marie Botticelli, Hunstville, N.C .; Jim Stravens, Coeur d’Alene, John (Bud) Stravens, Florence, Ore; Richard Stravens, Pullman, and Jo Ann Manchak, Santa Barbara, Calif .; and eight grandchildren.

The family suggest memorials go to Franciscan Poor Clare Nuns, 8650 Russell Ave. South, Bloomington, Minn., 55431.

Pearl E. Hicks

A celebration of life for Pearl E. Hicks, 92, will be Sunday, August 22, 2010, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Palouse River Community Center at Princeton, Idaho. She died early Friday morning July 30, 2010, at the Good Samaritan Village in Moscow.

Born Oct. 18, 1917, at Webb, Sask., to Donat and Vivian Hackett Hamel, she moved to Onaway, Idaho, with family at the age of four and later attended the Crane Creek Country School.

She married Troy Hicks, Oct. 2, 1993 at Reno, Nev., and they made their home at Coeur d’ Alene.

They moved back to Onaway to live with their daughter, Karren Hash, in 2008.

Surviving are her husband, Troy Hicks, Onaway; one son, Jerry Cone, Princeton, Idaho; a step-son, Eugene Hicks, Fernwood; two daughters, Barbara Sumner, Hayden; Karren Hash, Onaway, Idaho; two half brothers, Wayne and Don Hamel, and one half-sister, Marlene Rooney, Winnipeg; one step-sister, Jessie Rueppel, Potlatch, Idaho; 11 grandchildren, several great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Marvin R. Wilkinson

Funeral services for Marvin R. Wilkinson, 68, were Monday, Aug. 2, at the Church of Nazarene in Princeton with the Rev. King Rockhill officiating. Burial followed at the Rock Creek Cemetery in Potlatch. Mr. Wilkinson died July 28, 2010, at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow.

Born Jan, 14, 1942, at St. Maries, to James and Gladys Lee Wilkinson, he attended schools at St. Maries before he moved to Princeton in 1952 to live with Bill and Maggie Hash. He attended Princeton school and graduated from Potlatch High School with the class of 1961 and married Jeraldine Dobyns Nov. 3, 1961, at Princeton. They made their home at Harvard.

In 1962, Marvin was employed with Clearwater Power Co. and they moved to Lewiston in 1963 and later to the Rock Creek area near Potlatch where they also farmed and raised cattle. He was head maintenance for the Clearwater Power at Princeton. He retired in 1998.

He enjoyed hunting and fishing and raising cattle. Marvin was a member of the Potlatch Fire Department, served for 20 years on the Potlatch School Board and drove the Potlatch Ambulance. He also enjoyed the P.S. Express coffee squatters.

Survivors include his wife, Jeri, at the Potlatch home, two sons, Kevin Wilkinson, Potlatch, and Donald (Loriann) Wheatley, Potlatch; two daughters, Lynne Wilkinson, Potlatch, and Tamye (DeWayne) Lisher, Harvard; one brother, Roy Wilkinson, Kennewick; five sisters, Mickey Giese, Ridgefield; Darlene Dorcheus, Ariel, Wash .; Ruth Hash, Clarkston; Janice Barchillo, St. Maries; Barbara O’Brian, Lewiston; one half sister, Kathy Traina, Kent; six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter, AuBree Lisher.

Memorials may be sent to the Potlatch Fire and Ambulance Fund, Box 63, Potlatch, Idaho, or to the charity of the donors choice.

Steven Zimmerman

The funeral for Steven Zimmerman, 55, resident of Colfax for more than 40 years, will be at 1 p.m. today, Thursday, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he was a member. Burial will follow at the Colfax Cemetery. A celebration of life will begin Thursday, Aug. 5, at 6 p.m. at the Eagles where he was also a member.

Mr. Zimmerman died Friday, July 30, 2010, at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane after suffering an apparent heart attack in Colfax. He had been flown to the medical center by helicopter after being admitted to the hospital here.

Born Dec. 5, 1954, in Coronado, Calif., to Ira and Beverly Zimmerman, he moved to Colfax with his family in 1969 and completed high school here. He completed a two-year course in small engine repair at Spokane Community College and returned to Colfax where he did repairs. He was employed as a warehouseman at Spokane Seed and later as a janitor for Washington State University. He sustained a back injury in 1990 and retired on disability.

He married Carmen Stockwell in Coeur d’Alene, July 6, 1984.

He enjoyed hunting and fishing and playing billiards and bowling. He was also a member of the former Colfax Jaycees.

Surviving in addition to his wife are his parents, now in the Spokane Valley; three children, Seth, Clarkston; Cara and Charly, both of Colfax; nine brothers and sisters, Samuel, Wyoming; Melody Jensen, Eugene, Ore; Penny Arter, Tracy Haig and Tammy Tofsurd, all Spokane Valley; Timothy, Clarkston; Thomas, Osseo, Minn .; Tanya Harper, Mesa, Ariz; and Terra Zimmerman, also Clarkston.

A memorial fund to assist the family has been set up at Bank of Whitman.

Mabel Terrell

Mabel (May) Terrell died on July 17 at her home in Wenatchee, after a brief illness. Born Mabel Keeney May 13, 1933, at her family’s home in St. John, she married Whitney (Whit) B. Terrell Dec. 26, 1950. After he returned from service in the Korean War, they settled in Winona, where they lived for 45 years, raising two daughters and countless geese, chickens, horses, goats and sheep.

She is preceded in death by her husband and one daughter, Shari Thornton.

She is survived by daughter Sandra Mathews of Wenatchee, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.