Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 4, 1951 Adams County, Ritzville, WA ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************ ==================================================================== This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Sue Gardner sueboo18@hotmail.com ==================================================================== Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 4, 1951 Lightbody Rites Held At Lutheran by F. J. Ahrendt Funeral services for Mrs. William Lightbody, who was killed in an automobile accident about four miles south of Connell last Thursday morning, were held Monday afternoon in the Emanuel Lutheran church. The Rev. F. J. Ahrendt officiated and burial was in the Ritzville Memorial cemetery with Danekas and Duncan funeral home in charge. Mr. Lightbody and his wife were traveling south on Highway 395 in their 1949 Studebaker about 9:25 a.m. Thursday when the accident occurred. Lightbody started to pass a truck at the same time that the truck driver started to make a left turn off the highway. Mrs. Lightbody was thrown from the car by the impact and killed instantly, officers said. The accident was judged "unavoidable" at the coroner's inquest conducted in Pasco by the Franklin County prosecuting attorney. Bill Coman, Adams County deputy attended the inquest. Mrs. Lightbody had lived in Ritzvile for 44 years and was a member of the Lutheran church and the Lutheran Ladies Aid. Survivors include her husband, William; a daughter, Mrs. Earl Schell of Yakima; four sons, Harold of Yakima, Alva of Ritzville, Wayne of Spokane, and Paul of Odessa; five sisters, Mrs. Roy Ward of Powell, Neb., Mrs. Mel Shutz of Fairbury, Neb., Mrs. Will Strocker and Mrs. George Holtgrewe of Lincoln, Neb., and Mrs. Emma Weddle of Omaha, Neb.; a brother, Emmar Olzon of Blackfoot, Idaho, and eight grandchildren. Edward Parren Dies Sunday In Tieton ODESSA - Lester Case received word last Sunday evening of the death of his brother-in-law, Edward Parren, in Tieton. Survivors include his wife, Thelma, daughter Betty and son Edward, Jr., who has worked for the past two harvest seasons on the Adam Gering and Ernest Hardt ranches. Funeral services were held Saturday at the Shaw and sons chapel in Yakima. Rites For Herman Heinemann Are Held Wednesday Funeral services for Herman Heinemann, 73, who died Sunday in the Ritzville General hospital were held Wednesday morning at the Danekas and Duncan funeral home chapel with the Rev. Alfred Olson officiating. Burial was in Ritzville Memorial cemetery. Born Nov. 6, 1877, in Germany, Heinemann came to Indiana at the age of 12. He was married to the former Helen Browiak in 1903 and settled in Spokane for three years before coming to Ritzville. Heinemann had been operating the AC Lodge motel on the highway until he sold his business in July of this year. Survivors are a son, Arthur, of Ritzville; four daughters, Arliene Larned and Grace Phipps of Seattle, and Marguerite Minyard and Edell Wall of Spokane; and two grandchildren, Robert and Patricia Phipps. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 11, 1951 Mrs. Knox Rites Friday At Chapel Funeral services for Mrs. Rita Gertrude Knox, who died Wednesday at Ritzville General hospital will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at the Danekas and Duncan chapel with the Rev. Alfred Carter officiating. Zenobia Rebekah lodge will be in charge of burial services at Ritzville Memorial cemetery. Mrs. Knox had lived in Ritzville for 22 years and was a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, Zenobia Rebekah lodge and the Episcopal church. Survivors include her husband, Jack; a son, Clifford Miller, of Boise, Idaho; two sisters, Mrs. Edgar Gallimore of Pismo Beach, Cal., and Mrs. Eleanor Paulsen of Portland; two grandchildren, Brent and Phyllis Miller of Boise. Griffith Rites Held Wednesday at 'Tucna church WASHTUCNA - Funeral services for Mrs. Margaret Griffith, who died Sunday at 76 after a long illness, were held Wednesday at the Washtucna Community church. The Rev. A. K. Walborn officiated and burial was in the Washtucna cemetery with Danekas and Duncan in charge. Mrs. Griffith was born June 18, 1875, in Pittsfield, Ill., and married John Griffith Feb. 25, 1897, in Pike county, Mo. They came to Adams county in 1904 and homesteaded near Washtucna. She was a member of the Washtucna Christian church and later of the combined Christian and Community church of Washtucna. Survivors include the husband, John, at the home; a daughter, Mrs. Bessie Helm, Washtucna; two sons, Herman, Washtucna, and Floyd, Nine Mile; a brother, Everett Elliott of Bowling Green, Mo.; eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. (Note: an obit appeared the week before but was incomplete) Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 18, 1951 Robert Hansen Dies in Power Accident BISHOP, Calif., - Robert E. Hansen, husband of the former Laura Rieker, died at the Good Samaritan hospital here of burns and shock from an accident at the City Department of Water and Power Owens Gorge project. The 38-year-old Hansen was holding cables on a derrick when a boom touched a 110,000 volt power line. His wife was Chris Rieker's daughter. The Hansens have a 2-year-old daughter. Con Lesser Funeral Is This Saturday Funeral services for Conrad Lesser, long-time resident of the Ritzville area, will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Philadelphia Congregational church with the Rev. R. Kirschenmann officiating. Burial will be in the family plot at the County Line cemetery. Lesser, 79, died Wednesday at Ritzville General hospital. Born in Frank, Russia, Lesser came to the United States 59 years ago. He lived in the Bickleton, Wash., area for a brief time before coming to Ritzville. Survivors include a daughter, Dena; two sons, Samuel and Daniel; a sister, Mrs. Henry Borgens, sr.; a brother, Jacob; and one granddaughter. Sielaff Baby Buried in Lutheran Rites Graveside services for Gregory Lee Sielaff, 3-day-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Dale Sielaff, were held Friday at the Lutheran cemetery. The Rev. F. J. Ahrendt officated. The baby died last Tuesday in Spokane. He was the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. August Sielaff and Mrs. Herman Kessler. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 25, 1951 Baby In Sprague Falls To Floor, Dies of Injuries SPRAGUE - Every mother in this city felt a tinge of terror last week when an accident, which might have happened in any home, caused the death of a 23-month-old Sprague baby. With all her children in bed for the afternoon naps, Mrs. George C. Jarvis was outside hanging up her wash when she heard a thud in the house. She rushed to find her baby son, William, lying unconscious on the floor at the foot of his crib. Firemen administered oxygen until a doctor arrived but determined the youngster had died of a broken neck. -Sprague Advocate Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, November 1, 1951 Rauter Rites Held at Warden Church WARDEN - Miss Mathilda Rauter, long-time resident of Warden, was found dead in her home Sunday afternoon. Funeral services were held Wednesday at the Warden Community church. Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Lowry and Mrs. Selma Strehle of Seattle arrived Sunday evening after receiving word of the death of their sister. Lowry returned to Seattle Monday and Mrs. Lowry and Mrs. Strehle are staying at the Phil Herman residence. Funeral Set for Wood, Pioneer COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - Funeral services for James F. Wood, 81, former Ritzville area pioneer, were held at 2 p.m. this Thursday in the Riplinger Funeral home in Coeur d'Alene. Burial was scheduled for Forest Lawn cemetery. Wood died last Sunday afternoon. A native of Richland Center, Wis., Wood came to the Ritzville area in 1903. He farmed near Tokio until moving to Coeur d'Alene in 1920. Wood was a brother-in-law to Hank Kaufman and Ace McCann, also Ritzville pioneers who are now deceased. The three men all married daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Wright. Wood's first wife died in 1935. He is survived by his second wife, Bertha; a son, Fred Lee Wood, of Liberty Lake, Wash., who was graduated from Ritzville high school in 1918; a grandson, James Wood, jr., at Sandpoint, Idaho, and a granddaughter, Diane C. Salgado of San Jose, Calif. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, November 8, 1951 Wilson Funeral Held In Tacoma WASHTUCNA - Funeral services for Lee Wilson, 72, former Washtucnan, were held on Oct. 25 in Tacoma where he had lived for 11 years. The Rev. J. Richard Friedline officiated at the service held in the Colonial chapel of the C. C. Melinger funeral home. Burial was in New Tacoma cemetery. Mr. Wilson had lived here with his family for many years. Prior to his moving to Tacoma he had been water superintendent for Washtucna. He was born in Wills Point, Texas, on June 29, 1879, and died Oct. 22 in a Tacoma hospital. He was a retired shipbuilder. Survivors include his wife, Margaret; two daughters, Mrs. Luella Haase of Portland, and Mrs. Winnifred Fairfield at Oklahoma; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Nephew of Local Resident Dies Nathan Gering, 30-year-old nephew of Joe, Henry and Paul Gering, died Oct. 28 at the home of his father, Martin Gering, in Monroe. He had been ill for about two months. Surviving him are his wife and four children. When his wife returned to their home in Deer Park Saturday after attending his funeral in Monroe, she found that her house had burned to the ground. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, November 15, 1951 Teske Funeral is Saturday Funeral services for Mrs. Ernestine Carolina Teske, nee Moeller, will be held at the Emanuel Lutheran church at 2 p.m. Saturday with the Rev. F. J. Ahrendt officiating. Burial will be in the Lutheran cemetery with the Danekas and Duncan funeral home in charge. Mrs. Teske was born in Germany Jan. 17, 1888, and came to this country at the age of four. She died in a Portland, Ore., hospital Tuesday. She is survived by her husband, Paul Teske, at the home; four sisters, Mrs. Karl Wellsandt, Mrs. Herman Schwisow, Mrs. August Sielaff and Mrs. Frank Schwisow, all of this city; three brothers, Mr. Bill Moeller of Harrington, Herbert Moeller of Ritzville, and Mr. Otto Moeller of Post Falls, Ida. She was a member of the Lutheran church. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, November 22, 1951 Funeral Is Set For Susie Jantz PORTLAND - Susie Jantz, 70, died at a Portland, Ore., hospital Sunday after an illness of over two years. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday in the Menno Mennonite church near Lind, the Rev. Willard Wiebe officiating, assisted by the Rev. P. D. Unruh of Colfax. Burial will be in the Menno cemetery. The Strate Funeral Home of Odessa is in charge of arrangements. Mrs. Jantz was born in Marion, S.D., in 1881. She was married to John C. Jantz on Oct. 10, 1901. Two years later they came to Washington, living in Marlin, Ruff and Odessa respectively for 45 years. Three years ago they moved to Portland where they observed their golden wedding anniversary last month. Mrs. Jantz was a life-long member of the Mennonite church. Survivors include her widower, John, at the home; three daughters, Mrs. Arthur J. Krehbiel of Lind, Mrs. Philip Stucky, Seattle; Mrs. F. J. Wiens, Portland; one son, Joe Jantz, Marlin; three sisters, five brothers and five grandchildren. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, November 29, 1951 Funeral Rites Set for Simon Knecht WARDEN - Mr. Simon Knecht of Warden, passed away Monday, Nov. 26, at the Samaritan hospital at Moses Lake. Mr. Knecht had been ill for at least 7 months. His age is 68. Mr. Knecht is survived by his widow, Mary. He has one son, Edward Knecht of Warden; (obit doesn't identify who following people are) Mrs. Christine Kallenberger of Wilbur, Wash., Mrs. Pauline Pflugrath of Ritzville, Mrs. Esther Stelzer of Cheney, Wash., Mrs. Ruth Kuta of Guam, Mariana islands; one brother, Edward Knecht, of Lodi, Calif., and eleven grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Nov. 29. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, December 6, 1951 Pioneer's Son Dies In Spokane Monday Word has been received of the death in Spokane Monday of the son of a pioneer in this section, Mr. Ollie Despain of Coulee Dam. He was formely county engineer of Adams county. Funeral will be held Thursday and burial will be at Coulee Dam. He is survived by his widow, Edna, the former Miss Wills, a teacher in this county, and a sister, Claire, in the middle west. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, December 13, 1951 Funeral Is Held For Mrs. Gerken WASHTUCNA - Funeral services for Mrs. A. C. (Bertha Mae) Gerken, 79, of Dayton, were held there Dec. 4. She had lived in Washtucna many years ago when she was Mrs. Davis. Mrs. Gerken was born Nov. 28, 1872, in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. She had lived in Dayton 22 years. Death came on Nov. 30 at the home of a daughter in LaGrande, Mrs. Virgil Betts. She is survived by her widower, A. C. Gerkin of Dayton; two sons and two daughters, Ray M. Davis of Walla Walla, Rex O. Davis of Dayton, Mrs. Betts and Mrs. Dirl Price of Whitebird, Idaho; two brothers, Milo Newman of Zillah and Glover Newman of Whitebird; a sister, Mrs. Jennie Nevan of Puyallup, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She was a member of the Dayton Rebekah lodge, the Dayton Methodist church and the Star Farm Bureau of Dayton. Rites Conducted fo Postmaster LIND - Funeral services for Claude A. R. Knottingham of Roxboro were held Wednesday at 2 o'clock in the Lind Lutheran church with the Rev. Rowland O. Wittrock officiating. Burial was in the Lind cemetery with the Danekas and Duncan funeral home of Ritzville in charge of arrangements. Mr. Knottingham was born in Missouri, Sept. 7, 1884. He had been a resident of the Roxboro area for 56 years, for nearly 30 years of which he had been postmaster of the town. He was a member of the IOOF of Lind and of the Ritzville encampment of the Lind grange. He is survived by his widow, Dollie, at the home; three sisters, the Misses Eva and Mattie Knottingham of Roxboro and Mrs. Susie Carson of Seattle; one brother, Orville K. Knottingham of Walnut Grove, Calif. Members of the IOOF lodge had charge of the services at the grave. Funeral Is Held for Logan, 52 WHIDBEY ISLAND - Funeral services for George A. Logan, 52, former Ritzville resident were held last Wednesday following his death the previous Sunday after a short illness. Logan attended school in Ritzville before going on to receive a bachelor of arts degree from Whitman college and a master degree at the University of Washington. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, December 20, 1951 Final Rites Held For Mrs. Little WASHTUCNA - Graveside services for Mrs. Anna Little, 78, of Walla Walla, were held here Saturday at 3:15 p.m. after a 10 a.m. service in the DeWitt funeral chapel in Walla Walla. Mrs. Little, former Washtucnan and a teacher of school in the Walla Walla area for many years, died Wednesday in a Walla Walla hospital after a week's illness. She was born on April 21, 1873, in Missouri. In 1900 she and her husband came to Washington to homestead and lived here for a number of years. After her teaching education at Cheney Normal school she taught at Maiden Bundy Hollow in Dayton and Colville Springs near Prescott. She had lived in and around Walla Walla for 18 years, and at the time of her death had been living for a year with her daughter, Mrs. Leta Discus. She was a member of the Central Christian church. In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Dicus, she is survived by a son, Herman W. Little, of Spokane, and four grandchildren. Pallbearers were Virgil Sitton, Walter Little, Fey Sitton, Roy Gillis, Everett Sitton, Richland; and Donald Sitton, Kennewick. They are all nephews of the deceased. Funeral Is Held for Mrs. Ryan COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - Funeral services were held Dec. 11 for Mrs. Cecelia Ryan, mother of Mrs. Roy P. Scott of Ritzville, who had died the previous Saturday. Mrs. Ryan had been a resident of Coeur d'Alene since 1920. Burial was in the Coeur d'Alene cemetery beside her husband, O. M. Ryan, who died in 1934. Mr. and Mrs. Scott attended the funeral. Besides Mrs. Scott, survivors include another daughter, Mrs. Stanley Reininger of Coeur d'Alene, and four sons, John Ryan of Seattle, Carl and Olaf of Thief River Falls, Minn., and Allan of Coeur d'Alene. Final Rites for Lind Woman LIND - Funeral services for Mrs. Abbie Evelyn Morrison, 84, of Lind, were held in the Methodist church of that city Tuesday at 10 o'clock with the Rev. William Ritchey officiating. Burial was in the Peone Prairie cemetery northeast of Spokane, with the Danekas and Duncan funeral home in charge of arrangements. Mrs. Morrison was born in Minnesota on July 11, 1869, and had lived in the Lind area 49 years. She died in the Ritzville General hospital Dec. 15. She is survived by five sons, C. R. Morrison of Washtucna, Ralph and Clayton of Tacoma, Floyd of Lind, and Bernard of St. Joe, Ida.; three daughters, Mrs. Rex Parrish of Lind, Miss Peggy at the home, and Mrs. Winfred Ritchey of Troutdale, Ore.; and one brother, Alva Parker of Spokane. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, December 27, 1951 Benge Youth Eleventh Traffic Fatality of Year Christmas was marred by tragedy in Adams county this year as a 22-year-old Benge youth was fatally injured when he was struck by an automobile after he presumably had stepped out of his own car to check a broken link in a tire chain. The accident occurred about 5 p.m. last Monday - Christmas Eve, four miles south of Ritzville on Highway 11-E, the Ritzville-Washtucna road. The youth, Donald Meise, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Meise of Benge, was rushed to Ritzville General hospital and died there at 3 a.m. Christmas day. Rosary for the young employee of the Benge Elevator company was spoken at the Danekas and Duncan funeral chapel in Ritzville Wednesday evening. Funeral services were held Thursday morning with the Rev. C. M. Depiere officiating in the St. Agnes church. Burial was in the Ritzville Memorial cemetery. Meise was a member of the Benge grange, Benge fire department and St. Agnes church. Survivors include the widow, Carol, and a baby daughter, Sherri Lynne, both at the home; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Meise, sr., of Benge, four brothers, Harold, Earl, Fred, jr., and Tom all living in Adams county; and three sisters, Mrs. Alvera Baker of Benge, Mrs. Russell Johnson of Pasco, and Mrs. Bernie Sullivan of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.