Obituaries
Virginia Coppins Spokane
Visitation for Virginia P. Coppins, 91, will be at noon today at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 16th Ward. Service will follow at 1 p.m. at the church. Burial will follow at Fairmount Memorial Park. Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Coppins, who died Tuesday, was born in Burlington, Iowa.
She worked as a teacher and was a 59-year resident of Spokane.
She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 16th Ward and a 60-year member of the National Story League and held numerous offices.
Her husband, Alden, died in 1962.
Survivors include a son, Robert Coppins of Manchester, Wash.; a daughter, Marilyn Coppins of Santa Clarita, Calif.; six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association.
Elsie Ailes Spokane
Memorial service for Elsie Alberta Ailes, 94, will be at 2 p.m. today at Hawthorne Manor. Cremains will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-North is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Ailes, who was born in Pittsburgh, died Sunday.
She graduated in 1921 from Wilkinsburg High School in Pennsylvania and in 1924 from Hood College in Frederick, Md.
In 1928 she married Clarence Ailes in Wilkinsburg, and she had been a resident of Spokane for 10 years.
Mrs. Ailes was a homemaker.
She was a member of the American Association of University Women, Whitworth Presbyterian Church and the Women’s Association.
Her husband died in 1988.
Survivors include a son, the Rev. William Ailes of Spokane; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Lydia Schell Moses Lake
Private family graveside service for Lydia Ann Schell, 85, will be today at the Odessa (Wash.) Cemetery. Kayser’s Chapel of Memories in Moses Lake is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Schell, who was born in Ruff, Wash., died Wednesday.
By age eight, she began hitching teams of horses and assisting with farming, in which she was engaged until her retirement.
In 1935, she married John Schell in Ruff and they farmed.
Her husband died in 1959.
Survivors include a son, Eugene Schell of Moses Lake; and a daughter, Carolyn Schell of Moses Lake.
Donna Albertson Spokane
Service for Donna Albertson, 70, will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Thornhill Valley Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Fairmount Memorial Park.
Mrs. Albertson, who was born in Priest River, Idaho, died Thursday.
She graduated from John Rogers High School.
Mrs. Albertson worked for Safeway Stores, Inc., for 34 years before retiring in 1990.
She was a member of The United Foods and Commercial Workers Union Local 1439.
Survivors include her husband, John; a son, Lance Pongratz of Spokane; her mother, Lulu Campbell of Spokane; two brothers, Gerald Campbell of Seattle and Ray Campbell of Spokane; a sister, Sandra Green of Spokane and a half-sister, Myrene Mindermann of Colfax, Wash.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or Crohn’s Disease, 386 Park Ave. South, 17th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10016.
Dean Clarke Chewelah, Wash.
Service for Dean Francis Clarke, 74, will be at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Chewelah. Inurnment will be held at a later date at Greenwood Memorial Terrace in Spokane. Schanzenbach Funeral Home in Chewelah is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Clarke, who was born in Chewelah, died Wednesday.
He served in the Army and was a retired Northern Pacific Railroad conductor.
His first wife, Irene, died in 1973.
He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church of Chewelah, the American Legion Post 54 and the Chewelah Golf and Country Club.
In 1985 he married Dorothy Traaen in Chewelah.
Survivors include his wife; three sons, Bud Clarke of Missoula, Don Clarke of Colville, Wash., and Ron Clarke of Stockton, Calif.; three stepdaughters, Beverly Earll of New Castle, Wash., and Terre Johnson and Barbara Swanson, both of Bothell, Wash.; a stepson, Larry Traaen of Seattle; 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Paul Lutheran Church Building Fund in Chewelah.
Catherine Lee Spokane
Memorial service for Catherine Lora Lee, 61, will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at Hazen and Jaeger Funeral Home.
Mrs. Lee, a lifetime Spokane resident, died Wednesday.
She was a homemaker.
Survivors include her husband, Verlon; four daughters, Toni Stinson of Spokane, Susan Spence of Salt Lake City, Cindy Inman of Snohomish, Wash., and Debbi Spence of Medical Lake; a brother, Randy Stimson of Portland; numerous grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Archie Breshears St. Maries
Service for Archie Martin Breshears, 76, will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the Mountain View Mennonite Church near Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Burial will follow at Grandview Cemetery in Bonners Ferry with military honors. Bonners Ferry Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Breshears, who was born in Horse Spring Colley, Wash., died Tuesday.
He graduated from high school in Omak, Wash., and then helped on his father’s farm.
In 1945 he joined the Army and served in the Korean War.
Mr. Breshears, in 1947, married Dorothy Jones in Tonasket, Wash., and they made their home in Wauconda, Wash.
They moved in 1964 to Bonners Ferry where he purchased a dairy and milked cows for 23 years. He also worked several years for Bonners Ferry Livestock.
Mr. Breshears moved to St. Maries in 1997.
Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Judy Weible of Bonners Ferry; two brothers, Henry Breshears of Tonasket, Wash., and Marian Breshears of Portland; two sisters, Grace Rohde of Tacoma and Edith Burrell; and three grandchildren.
Floyd ‘Greg’ Gregor Spokane
Service for Floyd W. “Greg” Gregor, 77, will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Riplinger Funeral Home. Private burial will follow at Riverside Memorial Park.
Mr. Gregor, a lifetime Spokane resident, died Wednesday.
He served in the Air Force during World War II in England.
Mr. Gregor retired from Kaiser Trentwood in 1983 after 33 years of service as an equipment operator.
Survivors include his wife, Louise; a daughter, Barbara Howe of Spokane; three brothers, Alve Burrell and Bill Arnold, both of Spokane and Kenny Lovejoy of Walla Walla; and two grandchildren.
Donald Babcock, M.D. Spokane
Private memorial service for Donald E. Babcock, M.D., will be at at a later date. Hazen and Jaeger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Dr. Babcock, 77, a Spokane physician and surgeon for 35 years, died Monday.
He was born in Buhl, Idaho, and graduated from Washington State University and the University of Oregon Medical School.
Dr. Babcock came to Spokane in 1944 for his internship at Deaconess Hospital.
He served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps during World War II. Following a tour of duty in Japan, he returned to Spokane in 1947 to begin his private medical practice on the city’s North Side.
In the 1960s, Dr. Babcock helped develop and was an original co-owner of Avondale Golf Course.
Survivors include his wife, Ann; two daughters, Janice Babcock of Austin, Texas, and Laurel Babcock Gill of Huntington Beach, Calif.; two sons, Mark Babcock of Renton, Wash., and William Babcock of Puyallup, Wash.; two stepdaughters, Loretta Decker of Spokane and Nancy Dirmeyer of Indianola, Wash.; a brother, William Babcock of Terre Haute, Ind.; a granddaughter and three stepgrandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to The Oregon Health Sciences Foundation, 1121 Southwest Salmon Suite 201, Portland, OR 97205, for research on immune thrombocytopenia purpura.
John Koch Walla Walla
Graveside service for John Edward Koch, 56, will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Newport (Wash.) Cemetery. Sherman-Knapp Funeral Home in Newport is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Koch, who was born in Newport, died Sunday.
He served in the Army.
Mr. Koch worked as a logger. He also worked in the Spokane area driving trucks.
He lived in Colville, Wash., and Priest River, Idaho, before moving to Walla Walla nine years ago.
Survivors include his mother and stepfather, Louise and Edward Corning of Oldtown, Idaho; two daughters, Monica Kitchen of LaGrande, Ore., and Amanda Koch of Deer Park; a son, Gary Koch of Chicago; a stepson, Bill Pool of Chicago; two brothers, David and James Koch, both of Priest River; three stepbrothers, Douglas Corning of Priest River, David Corning of Colville, and Gerald Corning of Medford, Ore.; and a stepsister, Nancy Rhine of Priest River.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Hotel Charbonneau, c/o Priest River Restoration and Revitalization, Inc., P.O. Box 1284, Priest River, ID 83856.
Otto Johanson Spokane
Graveside service for Otto Johanson, 73, is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Riverside Memorial Park. Riplinger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Johanson, who died Wednesday, was a 10-year Spokane resident.
He was born in Sweden and was a self-employed logger.
Mr. Johanson was a member for the VASA Swedish Lodge.
Survivors include his wife, May; a son, Roger Johanson of Spokane; two daughters, Sandra Scheer of Yorba Linda, Calif., and Linda Thorson of Hansville, Wash.; brothers and sisters all in Sweden; and six grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Helen Van Dorn Spokane
Private family graveside service for Helen L. Van Dorn, 88, will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Riverside Memorial Park. Memorial service will follow at 11 a.m. at the Spokane Valley Baptist Church. Heritage Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Van Dorn, who was born in Spokane, died Wednesday.
She resided in Silver Lake, Wash., for 26 years.
Mrs. Van Dorn was a member of the Assembly of God Church.
Her husband of 69 years, Rolland Van Dorn, preceded her in death.
Survivors include three daughters, Alice Craddock, Caryl Marcus and Sandi Fulton, all of Spokane; a brother, Robert Barthell of Spokane; seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Spokane Valley Assembly of God Church.
Fred ‘Sonny’ Schutz Ione, Wash.
No service will be held for Fred Francis “Sonny” Schutz. Sherman-Knapp Funeral Home in Newport, Wash., is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Schutz, 82, who was born in Cope, Colo., died Monday.
He lived in Colorado until 1917, when the family moved to Tekoa, Wash.
In 1938 he married Alice Maxwell in Coeur d’Alene and they moved to Spokane.
Mr. Schutz moved to Newport in 1945 and then to Ione in 1992.
He retired from the Ideal Cement Manufacturing Company in Spokane in 1978.
Survivors include his wife; two daughters, Kathleen Schutz of Royal City, Wash., and Patricia Freeman of Portland; a brother, Eugene Schutz of Sacramento, Calif.; one grandson and one great-grandson.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Ione Search and Rescue.
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