ARitzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 2, 1952 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 2, 1952 None Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 9, 1952 Rites Held for Vic Chargois Retired Banker Born In England Ritzville paid its final respects Wednesday to another longtime business leader, Victor A. Chargois, who died Monday at the age of 74. Archdeacon Roland Hills of the Episcopal church conducted funeral services Wednesday afternoon in the Danekas and Duncan funeral home chapel. Burial was in the Ritzville Memorial cemetery. Born in England in 1878, Chargois came to the United States 62 years ago and to the Ritzville area in 1904. He was one of the group of local men and women who in 1921 organized the Ritzville State Bank. During his years as vice president and cashier, Chargois became intimately familiar with land values in Adams county, conducting appraisals and issuing loans on hundreds of tracts. He served as mayor of Ritzville in 1928. He was a member of the school board and World War II selective service board, and was active in many bond drives. He belonged to the local Lions club and Masons, and was a member of the Episcopal church. Chargois retired from the Ritzville State Bank as cashier on Jan. 1, 1951, and as a director at the end of 1951. Since then he had spent much of his time with a daughter, Mrs. William Hahn of Ellensburg, and with a son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. William Tanner, who operated Chargois ranch on the Marcellus road 11 miles from Ritzville. Other survivors include two sisters, Mrs. Ward Rasmus of Walla Walla and Mrs. Alfred Davis of Yakima; two brothers, Bert Hall of Oakesdale and James Hall of Cloverdale, Ore.; and five grandchildren. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 16, 1952 None Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 23, 1952 Rites Held for Hatton Pioneer HATTON - Mr. and Mrs. Elbert Roberson of Walla Walla visited their niece, Mrs. Gladys Cowley, in Lind Monday. They were returning to their home after having attended the funeral of Mrs. Robberson's uncle, Amos L. Phelps. Mr. Phelps was a former resident of Hatton. He came here in 1900 from South Dakota. He homesteaded in the Hatton district and was a grain buyer here for several years. Later he moved to Palouse and then to Lamont where he lived for 42 years. He was in the mercantile business and was a grain buyer. He retired in June of this year. Mrs. Robberson, the former Hazel Phelps, lived with her uncle and aunt until her marriage to Elbert Robberson. The Phelps lived in the house later owned by Mr. and Mrs. Jack Fields. Mrs. Robberson was married in that house. It is not occupied by Mr. Robberson's nephew, Mr. and Mrs. Elbert Goodnight. Funeral Is Held for Henry Deking Funeral services were held Tuesday for Henry Earnest Deking, jr., who had lived in Ritzville all of his 52 years. Employed at the John Freese ranch near town, Deking died suddenly last Friday. The funeral was conducted at Emanuel Lutheran church with the Rev. F. J. Ahrendt officiating. Burial was in the Lutheran cemetery. He had been a member of the Emanuel Lutheran church. Survivors include the widow, Anna, and a daughter, Judith, at the home; a son, Irvin, who is the air force at Bartow, Fla.; two sisters, Mrs. Walter Thom and Miss Elsie Deking, both of Ritzville; and three brothers, Edward and Walter, both of Ritzville, and Arthur of Davenport. Danekas and Duncan funeral home was in charge of arrangements. Frank Simmons, Caretaker at Cemetery Dies SPOKANE - Funeral services were held here Tuesday for Frank H. Simmons, 75, who had served as caretaker for the Ritzville Methodist cemetery during the past two years. Simmons was the father of Mrs. Robert Honeycutt of Ritzville, and he and Mrs. Simmons lived in Ritzville during part of 1951 and 1952. Born in Larnerd, Kans., Simmons came to Moscow, Idaho, with his family when he was nine years old. They were among the early settlers of the Moscow area. Later Simmons farmed and for many years was employed at the soil conservation service. He entered landscaping work at Fort Wright in Spokane in 1941, and came to Ritzville in 1951. He died late last week. Survivors include Mrs. Simmons of Spokane; two sons, Charles of Bismarck, N. Dak., and Leo of Quincy; a daughter, Mrs. Robert Honeycutt of Ritzville, a brother, Dr. Charles J. Simmons of Lewiston; and a sister, Mary B. Kuechler of Oakland, Calif. Rosary was spoken in Spokane Monday evening and funeral services were held Tuesday. Burial was in the Holy Cross cemetery in Spokane. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, October 30, 1952 Ritzville Loses First Boy in Korean War Richard Heimbigner, Infantryman, Killed In Action October 14, Telegram States Ritzville lost its first son to the Korean War Oct. 14, it was learned Wednesday, when Richard Heimbigner, 22-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Heimbigner, was killed in action fighting on the front lines. Heimbigner's parents and his bride of less than 14 months, the former Verna Stelzer of Lind, received war department telegrams yesterday. An outstanding Ritzville high school student with the class of '48, Heimbigner was serving as an infantry platoon leader with the Seventh Division in Korea. He was scheduled to be discharged next March. Heimbigner is believed to be the first Ritzville youth - and possibly the first Adams County son - to be killed in the Korean War. After graduation from high school Heimbigner did farm work until his induction in the spring of 1951. He was married to the former Verna Stelzer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dan Stelzer of Lind. The couple lived in Paso Robles, Calif., until Heimbigner was shipped overseas. He had been in Korea since last April. Mrs. Heimbigner returned to live with her parents in Lind. She has been employed at Emerson Drug Center. Born and raised in the Ritzville area, Heimbigner compiled an outstanding record at the local high school. He played on the Ritzville basketball team to compete in the northern district tournament and was a member of Ritzville's first place FFA livestock judging team at the Pacific International Livestock Exposition. He was FFA president in the '47-'48 class, class officer and a baseball player. He belonged to the student council and boys' Red R club and took part in dramatics. School officials say he was rated a a "good student." Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, November 6, 1952 Davenport Rancher is Hunting Victim DAVENPORT - Dean D. McLain, 36, Davenport rancher is Spokane county's first hunting victim of the 1952 season. McLain was accidently killed by his brother, Wayne McLain of Spokane, while hunting near Elk Sunday. Wayne McLain was held for questioning but released. Dean McLain was the son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. C. V. Stanfield of Ritzville. He and Mrs. McLain frequently played with "McLains's Orchestra" at dances in the Adams County area. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, November 13, 1952 Funeral Service Conducted for Mrs. Lora Camp WASHTUCNA - Funeral services for Mrs. Lora Camp were scheduled for Wednesdsay at the Washtucna Community church, with burial in Longview beside her late husband, Alexis Camp, who died there some years ago. Mrs. Camp who would have been 82 on Nov. 10 died Saturday in the Ritzville hospital, where she was taken by ambulance early Wednesday morning after suffering a heart attack. Born Lora McCormick in Illinois in 1870, she leaves relatives there. Other survivors include two sons, three daughters, a number of grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Funeral is Slated For Laura Lindsay Funeral services for Laura Lindsay, 53, who died here Saturday were to be held Thursday afternoon at Danekas and Duncan funeral home chapel with the Rev. Alfred Carter officiating. Survivors include a daughter, Mrs. Joyce Simone of Washington, D.C., and Mrs. Lindsay's mother, Mrs. Carrie Dunlap of Cut Bank, Mont. Mrs. Lindsay had been employed here at the Hotel Davis. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, November 20, 1952 Funeral Is Held For Pflugrad, 74 WALLA WALLA - Funeral services were held Nov. 10 for Jacob L. Pflugrad, 74, who died Nov. 7 in a Walla Walla hospital. Services were held at Marshall's Funeral home in Walla Walla with the Rev. Rath officiating and graveside services were conducted at the Lind cemetery by the Rev. E. G. Klein of Odessa. Pflugrad, who was born in Bessarabia, Russia, in 1878, came to the United States at the age of four. In 1886 he moved to Lind with his parents and in 1889 filed homestead rights north of Lind in Adams County. Pflugrad married the former Maria Schultz in 1901 and the couple had five children, three of whom are still living. In 1926 Pflugrad and his family retired to Walla Walla. Surviving are his wife, Maria, two sons, Richard of Seattle and Howard of Detroit, Mich., and one daughter Violet, Mrs. Johnnie Kohl of Richland. Also one brother, Dave of Spokane and four sisters, Christina Greenwalt of Odessa, Regina Fromm of Yakima, Dora Schrenk of Wendel, Ida., Marie Rothenberger of Lodi, Calif., and four grandsons. Final Rites For Earl Watkins Funeral services were scheduled to be held Thursday afternoon for Ralph Earl Watkins, 65, of Benge, a longtime Adams county farmer and railroad worker who died Monday in a Spokane hospital. Watkins had bee a section foreman for the Spokane, Portland and Seattle railway at Benge since 1925. He came to Washington from Kansas, where he was born in 1897, settling with his family on a farm southeast of Lind. He moved to the Benge area in 1919. He was a member of the IOOF and the Grange, both at Benge. The Rev. Alfred Carter of Trinity United Methodist church was slated to officiate at the funeral in the chapel of the Danekas and Duncan funeral home. Burial was to be in the Ritzville Memorial cemetery. Survivors include a son, Ronald, of Benge, and three step-daughters, Mrs. Allen Scott of Benge, Mrs. Pete Harmon of Pasco, and Mrs. Ernest Kuhn of Spokane. Also surviving are six brothers, Silas and Gohlson of Seattle, Ray and Jack of Lind, and Rex and Everett of Spokane; three sisters, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, November 27, 1952 None Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, December 4, 1952 'Freddie' Koch Dies Wednesday Johan Frederick Koch - better known as "Freddie" Koch - died Wednesday at the Adams County Memorial hospital at the age of 82. Koch was one of the most widely known residents of Ritzville, unable to work because of a hunchback condition, Koch spent much of his time for many years in downtown Ritzville, talking with friends and keeping his eye on building and remodeling projects as the town he lived in for 58 years grew up. Koch was a member of the Spokane Elks Lodge No. 228. It is the lodge that will conduct his funeral. Arrangements had not been been completed when the Journal-Times went to press. Survivors include a sister, Katherine Yost, of Denver, and a brother, Justice of the Peace, J. P. Koch, of Ritzville. Koch was born in Russia in 1870 and came to the United States 74 years ago. Funeral Is Held for Burghard, 58 Funeral services for Fred C. Burghard, who lived in the same farmhouse near Ritzville all his life, were held Tuesday at Emanuel Lutheran church with the Rev. F. J. Ahrendt officiating. Burial was in the Lutheran cemetery. Members of Burghard's family said he was born 58 years ago in the same house in which he died. The Burghard ranch is located near Packard northwest of Ritzville. Burghard was a member of Marcellus Grange and the Emanuel Lutheran church. Survivors include the widow, Lillie, at the home; four daughters, Mrs. Lawrence Arlt and Mrs. Neil Hughes, both of Ritzville; Mrs. Earl Meise of Odessa; and Shirley Burghard at the home; and five sons, Virgil of Oregon City, Ore.; Herbert of Odessa, James and Raymond at the home and Donald with the military in the army in Korea. Eleven grandchildren also survive. Danekas and Duncan funeral home was in charge of arrangements. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, December 11, 1952 Dick Moon Dies Thursday Noon W. C. (Dick) Moon, manager of the men’s department at the Ritzville Trading Company died of a heart attack about noon Thursday at his residence at 307 W. Fourth Avenue. Moon was a barber in Ritzville for many years before joining the Trading company. He barbered with Johnny Stoops in the shop now occupied by Andy Towers and George Kagele, and later operated his own shop where Ed Franks is located. More recently Moon has been manager of the men’s shoe department at the Trading company. He was a member of the Lions club and Masonic lodge and was an Eastern Star. He is survived by the widow, Martha. Funeral arrangements have not been made. Danekas and Duncan funeral home is in charge. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, December 18, 1952 Funeral Is Held Thursday For Sprague's Publisher SPRAGUE - Funeral services were held Thursday afteroon for Evard L. McDonald, a former Ritzville Journal-Times printer and publisher of the Sprague Advocate since 1948. McDonald died of a heart attack Sundy evening as he was reading a newspaper in his home. His unexpected death shocked residents of the Sprague area, who had come to know his as an alert editor and an energetic civic leader. During recent months he had been spearheading a drive to activiate "Operation Skywatch" in Sprague. Largely because of his efforts, Sprague has one of the few 24-hour skywatches in the Inland Empire. McDonald worked as a printer and linotype operator at the Ritzville Journal-Times when the late Roy C. Irvine was publisher. As owner of his own newspaper at Sprague, McDonald came to Ritzville several times a year - not infrequently after midnight - to help the Journal- Times extract itself from a mess. This week's issue of the Sprague Advocate is being published at the Journal-Times with the cooperation of the Davenport Times-Tribune, which set part of the Sprague type a Davenport and also planned to send a printer to Ritzville Friday to assist in getting out the Advocate. Arrangements for handling this week's Advocate were launched by Pat O'Neil, co-publisher of the Dayton Chronicle-Dispatch and president of the Washington Newspaper Publisher's Association. O'Neil and McDonald were longtime friends in the printing industry. "Mac's death," O'Neil said this week, "is a severe loss both to the community of Sprague and to the newspaper fraternity of Washington. His family operation of the Advocate represented one of the strongest forces in rural American journalism at its best." McDonald's funeral was conducted by the Rev. James A. Hanson in the Sprague Community church. Burial was in the Maccabe cemetery. Danekas and Duncan funeral home was in charge of arrangements. McDonald was survived by his widow, Elsie, who had been working at the Advocate with him, and three sons, Evard Loren, Jr., Keith and Evan. Keith and Evan attended school in Sprague. Evard Jr., is in the coast guard. He arrived in Spokane Monday evening on a 12-day leave taken before he learned of his father's death. All three sons had worked at the printing trade at the age of 15, as a printer's devil. He worked in Sprague when Wayne Bishop published the Advocate and later was employed in newspaper and printer plants at Ritzville, Wilbur, Freewater, Ore., and Walla Walla. McDonald purchased the Advocate from Fred Hoefer in 1948. He served as secretary and president of the Sprague chamber of commerce and played active roles in innumerable civic activities. Even the Christmas displays now in the widows of the Sprague stores are partially a tribute to McDonald, who urged merchants to create unusually attractive displays as a substitute for Christmas decorative lighting which had to be abandoned because of the Northwest power shortage. War Casualty is Returning Home The body of Cpl. Richard Heimbigner, 22, Adams county's first Korean war victim, is scheduled to arrive in Ritzville Saturday evening, according to the Danekas and Duncan funeral home. Corporal Heimbigner, an infantry platoon leader with the Seventh Division, was killed in action Oct. 14. Word of his death was received in Ritzville Oct. 29. Heimbigner was a 1948 graduate of Ritzville high school. His survivors include his widow, the former Verna Stelzer of Lind, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Heimbigner of Ritzville. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the Philadelphia Congregational church. Funeral Services Conducted Here for Dick Moon Funeral services were held Monday afternoon for Walter C. (Dick) Moon, 51, who died the previous Thursday at his home. The Rev. R. Kirschenmann conducted the rites at the Danekas and Duncan funeral home chapel. Masons were in charge of the graveside services at the Ritzville Memorial cemetery. Moon had been born in Ritzville. His family moved here when he was a boy, but Moon returned 43 years ago, working first as a barber and later as manager of the men’s department at the Ritzville Trading company. He was a member of the Masons lodge, Lions, Oddfellows, Eastern Star and the Philadelphia Congregational church. Survivors include the widow, Martha, at the home; five brothers, Howard of Nubieker, Calif., Chester of Lind, Max of Pasco, and John and Shirley of Prosser; and three sisters, Mrs. Gladys Ingram of The Dalles, Ore., Mrs. Aletha McInturff of Madres, Ore., and Katherine Moon of Prosser. Mrs. James Camp Funeral Conducted WASHTUCNA - Funeral services for Mrs. James Camp of Oakesdale, who died Wednesday in a Moscow hospital of a heart attack, were held Saturday at Thornton. The Camps were former residents of the Washtucna area. A. L. St. John, who is a nephew and Mrs. St. John, attended the funeral. Albert Ferree, 27, Killed in Accident SPOKANE - Funeral services were to be held here Thursday for Albert Stanford Ferree, 27, member of the former Ritzville family who was was killed in an automobile accident near Davenport Monday. Ferree was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Ferree, who farmed near Washtucna before living in Ritzville in the early 30s. The Ferrees later moved to Spokane. Besides his parents, Ferree was survived by a brother, Lewis, and a sister, Mrs. Barbara Yeager. Ferree was employed as a piano tuner in Spokane. Funeral Held for Mrs. Oestreich, Veteran of Covered Wagon Days Funeral services were held Wednesday for Mrs. Katherine Margaret (Bauer) Oestreich, 80, one of Ritzville's oldtime pioneers who came west in a covered wagon. The rites were conducted at the Philadelphia Congregational church with the Rev. R. Kirschenmann officiating. Burial was at the Ritzville Memorial cemetery. Mrs. Oestreich, who died Sunday, was born in Kolb, Russia, on Nov. 6, 1872. When she was four her family migrated to Nebraska. After six years there they decided to head westward. The family traveled by rail to Ogden, Utah, - where the tracks ended - and transferred to covered wagons for a trip through Baker, Ore., to Walla Walla in what was then Washington territory. After two years in Walla Walla the Bauer family moved to Ritzville, arriving here April 20, 1884, and took up a homestead in the Ritzville area. Katherine Bauer was married to Henry Oestreich of Bickleton. The couple farmed on a homestead 6 miles north of Ritzville for 12 years before moving to town. Mrs. Oestreich was a charter member of the Philadelphia Congregational church and the senior ladies' aid. Surviving are two sons, William of Ritzville, and Roy of Ralston, and three daughters, Mrs. Martha Braune of Yakima, Mrs. Laura Gaiser of Salem, Ore., and Mrs. Dorothy Rogel of Ritzville. Also surviving is a sister, Mrs. Lydia Neidt, of San Francisco, 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Danekas and Duncal funeral home was in charge of arrangements. Ritzville Journal-Times, Thursday, December 26, 1952 Cheney Publisher Dies Saturday CHENEY - Death claimed its second Big Bend weekly newspaper publisher in six days when Glenn R. Maxwell, 62, publisher of the Cheney Free Press, died of a heart attack Saturday afternoon. Dr. Francis J. Burns, coroner, said Maxwell died as he was watching a pre-Christmas celebration on Main Street in Cheney. A heart attack claimed Evard L. McDonald, publisher of the Sprague Advocate the previous Sunday at his home in Sprague. Maxwell had owned the Cheney newspaper for the past seven years. For 20 years before moving to Cheney he was publisher of the Lincoln County Journal at Shoshone, Idaho. He was a past president of the Idaho State Editorial Association.