Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
John Benscoter
A memorial service for John Scott (Jack) Benscoter, 89, retired carpenter and cattle rancher, will be Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Evangelical Free Church of the Palouse, 4812 Airport Road, Pullman. Mr. Benscoter died Saturday, July 1, 2017.
Born Oct. 25, 1927, in Kendrick, Idaho, to Walter and Ernestine Callison Benscoter, he attended grade school on American Ridge and graduated from Kendrick High School in 1945.
He attended the University of Idaho where he lettered in cross country and was a member of the TKE Fraternity.
He joined the Navy in December of 1945 and trained as a pharmacy mate.
He served at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and later at Pensacola, Fla.
He then enlisted in the Naval Reserves and was called back into active duty Jan. 3, 1951, for the Korean Conflict and served the Marine Air Corps, in El Toro, Calif.
He was attached to a Marine fighter squadron in Pohang, Korea, and was honorably discharged May 2, 1952.
He and Molly Staley of Pullman were married at her parents’ home April 12, 1953. They lived in LaCrosse and later in Pullman. In 1958 they purchased a ranch in Stevensville, Mont., and raised and showed purebred Herefords. He later managed cattle feedlots and cow and calf operations in Prosser and Chowchilla, Calif., until 1964 when they returned to Pullman to work with their cattle and those of his mother-in-law, Mrs. L.C. Staley. In 1967 he was employed at Washington State University and worked for many years as a carpenter until his retirement in 1988.
Jack served as president of the Top Cut Hereford Show and Sale in Missoula, Mont., the Lewiston Hereford Association and the Northwest Hereford Breeders Sale in Spokane. Jack volunteered for the MS swim program at WSU, delivered Meals-on-Wheels and drove for Council on Aging Senior Transportation. He was a member of the VFW and American Legion and a Pullman Hospital volunteer.
Jack attended the Evangelical Free Church and enjoyed gardening, fishing, sports, traveling and studying genealogy. In June 1992, Jack and his wife started on the project of moving and then restoring the 1889 home of her great-grandparents into a family museum to preserve family and area historical items. They worked for more than two years and have preserved many family and area historical items in the museum.
Surviving are his wife of 64 years, Molly, Pullman; a daughter, Terri Benscoter, Pullman; a son, David Benscoter, Chattaroy; four sisters, Wilma Greene, Lewiston; Priscilla Armitage, Kendrick; Diane Dupea, Moscow, and Judy Erwin, Bruneau, Idaho; five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
The family suggests memorials be given to the Whitman County Historical Society, Box 67, Colfax, WA. 99111. On-line guest book:
Jerry A. Norbeck, 83, Garfield, died at his home July 1, 2017. In accordance with his request, a formal service will not be conducted.
Born Aug. 3, 1934, to Arvid and Nora Trotter Norbeck in Lewiston, Idaho, he grew up in the Onaway area and graduated from Potlatch High School in 1952. He attended the University of Idaho at Moscow and earned a bachelor's of science degree in chemical engineering in 1957. After graduation, he served in the United States Army and later the Army Reserves and was honorably discharged in 1969. He married Kathleen Curry May 29, 1964, in Moscow. They moved to Garfield in 2004 and have resided there since. Mrs. Norbeck died in 2015.
Early in his career, he worked for the Anaconda Company in Montana and as a researcher for Bovill Clay, researching ways to make aluminum. He eventually began a longer career with Potlatch, Inc., and worked at the mill in Lewiston, Idaho, as well as Potlatch plants in Sikeston, Mo., and Fort Wayne, Ind. He returned to Moscow in 1977 where he worked as a custodian for the University of Idaho until 1989 and then as a maintenance man at the UI Best Western until retiring in 1996.
Surviving are a son, John Norbeck of Moscow; daughters Laura Redmon of Garfield and Linda (David) Torres of Maryland; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Whitman County Friends of Hospice, Box 484, Pullman, 99163.
Don Carlos Kinnaman, 88, long-time Colfax resident, died July 1, 2017, in Spokane. He was born April 22, 1929, to Don and Dorothy Kinnaman. Services are planned for a later date. A full obituary will be published at a later date.
Paid Obituaries: See Weekly Pages.
Viola Helen Heinemann: Jan. 9, 1922-June 25, 2017
Clara Murray: Dec. 14, 192-June 29,2017
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