Obituaries
Edwin Skeels Colville, Wash.
Service for Edwin Lee “Ed” Skeels, 78, will be at 3 p.m. Monday at Colville United Methodist Church. Private graveside service will be held at Mountain View Park Cemetery in Colville. Danekas Funeral Chapel in Colville is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Skells, who died Wednesday, was born in Addy, Wash.
He graduated from Colville High School and in 1941 entered the Army Corps of Engineers.
In 1942 he married Myrtle Harris in Stevenson, Wash.
After his discharge from the Army, he worked at the Sperry Flour Mill in Spokane for many years.
He and his wife returned to Colville, where he worked for Avey Bros. Lumber Mill and as a route truck driver for Pepsi.
From 1948 to 1962 Mr. Skeels owned a Texaco service station in Colville. He later worked as the service manager at Cole Motors in Colville for nine years and in the building maintenance department of the Stevens County Courthouse from 1971 until 1987, when he retired.
Mr. Skeels is survived by his wife; two daughters, Diana Raines and Linda Hurn, both of Colville; a son, Spike Skeels of Spokane; three sisters, Virginia Featherman and Anna Ruth Matters, both of Spokane, and Margaret Forkner of Portland; two brothers, Kenneth Skeels of Spokane and Loren Skeels of Surprise, Ariz.; five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Colville Library Memorial Fund.
Alden Marburger Spokane
Service for Alden L. “Al” Marburger, 75, will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at First Union Church in Williston, N.D. Burial will be at Hillside Memorial Gardens in Williston. Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-North is in charge of local arrangements.
Mr. Marburger, who died Wednesday, was born in Sidney, Mont.
He graduated from high school in Williston and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II flying twin engine aircraft on mail runs and resupply missions.
Following the war he continued his flying career, receiving his pilot’s license, commercial pilot’s license and his airframe and power plant mechanic’s license.
In 1953 he established the Marburger Bros. Aero Spraying Service in Williston. The company was involved in spraying in Moses Lake, Spokane and Big Sandy, Mont.
Mr. Marburger moved to Spokane in 1967 and was still involved with the spraying business.
He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Idabelle Marburger; three daughters, Carol Boyce of Minot, N.D., Renee Johnson of Cheney and LaRae Putz of Spokane; two sons, Wesly Marburger of Spokane and Randal Marburger of Renton, Wash.; a sister, LaVerne “Vinnie” Spellman of Albuquerque, N.M.; two brothers, Wallace Marburger of Williston, N.D. and Ivan “Pic” Marburger of San Dimas, Calif.; 15 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Mildred ‘Betty’ Carpenter Spokane
Private service will be held for Mildred E. “Betty” Carpenter, 76, at a later date. Hazen and Jaeger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Carpenter, who died Wednesday, was born in Whitefish, Mont., and had lived in Spokane for 20 years. She was a homemaker.
She was a member of St. David’s Episcopal Church and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Survivors include her husband of 54 years, Donald Carpenter; a daughter, Sue Hart of Edmonds, Wash.; and five grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. David’s Episcopal Church.
Joseph Barr Sr. Kettle Falls, Wash.
Funeral Mass for Joseph Barr Sr., 83, will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Kettle Falls. Burial will follow at Pia Mission Cemetery in Barstow, Wash. Danekas Funeral Home in Colville, Wash., is in charge of arrangements. Mr. Barr, a former Northport, Wash., rancher, died Wednesday.
He was born on his family’s ranch near Northport and worked on the ranch and in orchards.
He served in the Army during World War II and in 1948 married Blossom Flohr. They ranched near Northport until she died in 1981.
He also worked for the Van Stone Mine north of Colville for many years.
In 1982 he married Annie Gonzales in Los Angeles.
They lived in Spokane and Inchelium, Wash., for a few years and then settled in Kettle Falls.
Mr. Barr was a member of the Northport American Legion Post and Colville Confederated Tribes.
He is survived by his wife; a son, David Barr of Worley, Idaho; a stepdaughter, Mary Lou Cristman of Santa Fe, N.M.; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Lung Association.
Kenneth Mullenix Cheney
Graveside burial of the urn for Kenneth E. Mullenix, 66, will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Marshall (Wash.) Cemetery. Cheney Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Mullenix, a lifetime Cheney resident, died Wednesday.
He graduated from Cheney High School and worked as a union carpenter.
He was a Korean War veteran and retired as a master sergeant from the Air National Guard.
Mr. Mullenix was a member of the Cheney Masonic Lodge and Cheney Veterans of Foreign Wars.
His wife, Frances, died in 1995. He is survived by a son, Jim Mullenix of Hawaii; a daughter, Carrie Vallance of Spokane; and four grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Masonic Temple Association, 106 College Ave., Cheney, WA 99004.
Ermina Swanberg Spokane
Service for Ermina R. Swanberg, 81, is planned for 1 p.m. Monday at Riplinger Funeral Home. Private burial will be at Pines Cemetery.
Born in Chester, Mont., Mrs. Swanberg died Tuesday.
She had lived in Spokane for 66 years and worked as a secretary for the state Employment Security Department for 39 years.
She was a charter member of South Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church. Mrs. Swanberg is survived by a stepdaughter, JoAnn Starwich of Stanwood, Wash.; two sisters, Lee Baker of the Spokane Valley and Alyda Kemp of Ephrata, Wash.; two brothers, August Petow of the Spokane Valley and John Petow of Grants Pass, Ore.; and three grandchildren.
Cheryl Perry Spokane
Memorial service for Cheryl A. Perry, 52, will be at noon today at Holy Cross Cemetery Chapel. The Cremation Society of Washington is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Perry, who died Wednesday, was born in Devils Lake, N.D.
She came to Spokane 40 years ago and graduated from Shadle Park High School and attended Eastern Washington University.
She had worked for the dental division of Guardian Insurance.
Mrs. Perry is survived by her husband, Frank; three sons, Jason Wick of Portland, and Justin and Frank Perry, both of Spokane; and her mother, Betty Cote, and a sister, Marsha Giant, both of Seattle.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association.
Verna Soward Spokane
Memorial service for Verna M. Soward, 87, will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Spokane Valley United Methodist Church. There will be private burial at Pines Cemetery. Hazen and Jaeger Valley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Born in Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan, Mrs. Soward died Wednesday.
She was an 82-year Spokane resident and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School and Cheney Normal College.
She worked at Tull and Gibbs furniture store as a drapery seamstress for more than 20 years and worked for 25 years at Grace O. Jones Interior Decorating until she retired in 1975.
She was a member of the Spokane Valley United Methodist Church, the Priscilla Women’s Fellowship at the church, the Spokane Rose Society and the Spokane Valley Veterans of Foreign Auxiliary.
Her husband of 59 years, Samuel Soward, died in 1989.
Mrs. Soward’s survivors include a daughter, Nancy Willrich of Spokane; a sister, Helen Peak of Lake Oswego, Ore.; and two grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the church.
Herbert Walser Moscow, Idaho
Service for Herbert Walser, 90, will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Kramer Funeral Home in Palouse, Wash. Burial will follow at Freeze Cemetery north of Potlatch, Idaho.
Mr. Walser, who died Thursday, was born in Palouse and moved to the Potlatch area as a child. He worked on his family’s farm.
In 1942 he married Maxine Blood in Palouse, and they settled near Potlatch, where Mr. Walser farmed in the Flannigan Creek area and raised cattle and swine. He retired in 1969.
He and his wife moved to Moscow in 1991.
Mr. Walser is survived by his wife; a son, Terry Walser of Potlatch; two daughters, Jeanne Walser of Spokane and Linda Shepard of Anchorage, Alaska; and two grandsons.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Potlatch Ambulance Fund.
Goldie Englehart Spokane
Memorial service for Goldie E. Englehart, 84, will be at 11 a.m. today at Sunset Chapel at Fairmount Memorial Park. The Cremation Society of Washington is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Englehart, who was born in Nebraska, died Wednesday.
She was a former longtime Lind, Wash., resident and had lived in Spokane for 4 years.
She was a homemaker.
Her husband, Reinhold Englehart, died in 1989.
Mrs. Englehart is survived by two sons, Charles Englehart of Lind and David Englehart of Long Beach, Wash.; four daughters, Juanita Keck of Spokane, Darlene Rose of Santa Maria, Calif., Nancy Leeth of Paradise, Calif., and Sally Keeton of Usk, Wash.; a sister, Ester Davenport of Healdsburg, Calif.; 13 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Katherine Meader Federal Way, Wash.
Graveside service for Katherine F. Meader, 87, was Friday at Spokane Memorial Gardens.
Born in Buckeye, Wash., , Mrs. Meader died Monday in Federal Way, where she had lived for the past several years.
She and her husband, Chet Meader, a former assistant chief of police, lived in Spokane until the late 1950s. They moved to Arizona, and Mrs. Meader worked as a cosmetics representative for Warner Lambert for 33 years.
She was preceded in death by her husband.
She is survived by a stepson, Charles Meader of Bonham, Texas.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association, 60 Bay St. Suite 401, Staten Island, NY 10301.
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