HUNTING – Marlin “Red” Nierstheimer, 61, died on July 22, leaving a big hole in Spokane-area hunter education programs.

“We have a lot of great and devoted instructors, but Red was a cornerstone guy in Spokane,” said Mike Whorton, area Hunter Education coordinator for the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department.

“For 20 years, he taught classes, a lot of classes. The values and lessons of wildlife conservation, sportsmanship, ethics, firearm safety and citizenship were imparted to thousands of Spokane’s youth over the years from 'Reds' teaching team, which included his wife, Andrea.”

Washington, like most other states, requires a person born after Jan. 1, 1972, to complete a hunter education course in order to be eligible to purchase regular hunting licenses and permits.

The owners of the White Elephant provided their Spokane Valley Outpost facility for Nierstheimer and his team to teach Hunter Education classes. Appropriately, his memorial service was held at the Outpost on Saturday.

"He was an amazing man with a big heart who truly loved the program and the new hunters," said Jan Ulijohn, the state's Hunter Education administrative assistant in Olympia.

“He considered hunter education one of his life’s callings,” Whorton said.