Statewide County WA Archives Obituaries.....Harns , William Theodore Jr. October 20, 2005 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wa/wafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: P. J. Stepp steppmom5@hotmail.com April 8, 2006, 9:03 pm Published in The Daily News on 10/25/2005. William Theodore Harns, Jr. (Bill)(Pasco, WA)died peacefully in Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco on Thursday, October 20, 2005, surrounded by his loving wife, daughter and son, son-in-law,grandchildren and great-grandson. "Dad, you'll always be my hero."William Theodore Harns, Jr. (Bill), was born April 13, 1924 in Geneva, Nebraska, to William Theodore Harns Sr. and Fern Bernitha Harns. Bill was the oldest of two children, his younger sister, Joyce (Harns) Carnahan, lives in Longview, WA.In 1940, Bill's family moved to Longview, WA. Bill was a boyscout and earned his Eagle Scout before leaving his family's home in 1942 to join the Army Aircorp as a fighter pilot. He served in WWII as a flight training officer, with the rank of flight officer. Bill served bravely and honorably until 1946.In 1946, Bill attended Lower Columbia C.C. where he met his beautiful wife-to-be, Vivian Laulainen. They fell in love and dated for four years before being married in Longview on June 11, 1950. They lived the first years of their marriage in Pullman, WA while attending WSU. Bill completed his degree in 1952 as an Industrial Mechanical Engineer, while Vivian completed her Masters in Foods and Nutrition.They were blessed with their first child, William Theodore Harns III (Ted) on November 23, 1952. They lived in Portland while building their family. Bill worked for Hyster and Bingham Pump, and Vivian taught Home Economics and Chemistry. Many of the small Dams are still going today as a result of Bill's contribution to designing and building the pump systems. They were delightfully blessed again with their second child, Gail Lynn Harns on December 4, 1957.In 1968, they moved to Puyallup where Bill worked for Boeing as an Aircraft Engineer Designer and Vivian as a Vocational job trainer at Rogers H.S. in Puyallup. Bill was very involved in raising his children by being a part of every aspect of their lives. He loved their joys and supported their dreams. Bill was the cub scout den leader for Ted's den, and marched the boys up and down the street every Saturday morning. He took Gail to all of her swim meets and drove across the country with Vivian's mother to pick up a horse trailer.Bill loved to spend time with his grandchildren, Eric and Roxy, Ted and Elly's children and his granddaughter, Christy, Jake and Gail's daughter. Eric spent many of his summers with his grandparents, and Eric deeply loved his grandfather. Bill took his grandchildren to many air shows and shared his love of flying and airplanes with them. Because of his avid love of flying he passed this love on to them. Bill is also survived by his great-grandson, Ricky, Christy's son whom he loved very much, and loved to spend time building model airplanes and talking about scouting.In his last years, he spent time working at the Texaco station in Puyallup. Bill loved to stay busy building model cars, airplanes and trains. He was a kind-hearted and sweet man who loved his family and influenced the lives he touched. Bill and Vivian loved to travel and spend time with their friends and family. They saw Mexico together with Vivian's sister, Pam, and brother-in- law, John, and their grandchildren. Bill thoroughly enjoyed Mazatlan and always remembered their trip. They also saw Europe and went on a cruise to Alaska. They stayed busy and active traveling across the Northwest with the Royal Rovers.In 2004, Bill and Vivian moved across the mountains to live with Gail and son–in-law, Jake Laws, in Pasco. It has been a blessing to them both to have Bill and Vivian living with them. Bill was involved at church and loved to go with Ricky to cub scouts. Bill will be sorely missed and is deeply loved and his memory kept alive in the hearts of those who knew him. For now Bill's gone to rest with the Lord in Heaven. He was a wonderful and intelligent man who contributed to his community and country with his service.Funeral services will be held Tuesday, October 25, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. at Mueller's Greenlee Funeral Home, 1608 W. Court Street, Pasco, WA. Inurnment will be at a later date at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, WA.Viewing will be Monday from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. and Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. until after the service at Mueller's Greenlee Funeral Home.In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made on behalf of William Harns to the Tri-City Kidney Center, 510 N. Colorado, Suite B, Kennewick, WA 99337.Please sign the guest book at www.tdn.com/obits Additional Comments: The Daily News, Longview, WA www.tdn.com File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wa/statewide/obits/h/harns142gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wafiles/ File size: 5.2 Kb