Obituaries
Elaine Koesel Deer Park
Rosary service for Elaine Margaret Koesel, 77, will be at 11 a.m. Sunday at 7 p.m. at St. Mary’s Presentation Catholic Church in Deer Park. Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the church. Lauer Funeral Home in Deer Park, is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Koesel died Wednesday. She was born in Cashton, Wis.
She was a homemaker and was a member of St. Mary’s Presentation Catholic Church and Altar Society, and Valley Prairie Grange No. 827.
Her husband, Raymond Koesel, died in 1993.
Survivors include two sons, Dennis and Dean Koesel, both of Deer Park; four daughters, Judy Koesel of Deer Park, and Lois Hare, Kay Hajostek and Susan Zentz, all of Chattaroy; a brother, Arthur Bierig of Spokane; two sisters, Ruby Dolliver of Yakima and Joan Neihardt of Richardton N.D.; and 16 grandchildren.
Gladys Irons Spokane
Visitation for Gladys B. Irons, 85, is scheduled from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at Thornhill Valley Funeral Home. Service will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the funeral home with burial at Pines Cemetery.
Born in Warwick, R.I., Mrs. Irons died Thursday.
In 1976 she moved to Spokane from Hope, R.I.
Mrs. Irons was a homemaker, and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1435 Auxiliary.
Her husband of 49 years, Norman Irons, died in 1994.
She is survived by a son, Ronald Irons of Gresham, Ore.; a sister, Minnie Conde of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Ruth (Wolf) Nichols Spokane
Memorial service for Ruth (Wolf) Nichols, 75, will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Pines Mausoleum. Thornhill Valley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Nichols, who died Thursday, was born in Los Angeles.
She moved to Spokane from Texas in 1951.
She attended beauty school in Las Vegas, Nev., and worked in retail sales in cosmetics and apparel.
Mrs. Nichol’s husband, Lawrence Nichols, died in 1992.
She is survived by two sons, Bill and Dan Nichols, both of Spokane; nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
John Corker Spokane
Vigil service for John J. R. “Jack” Corker, a retired Air Force master sergeant, will be at 4 p.m. Sunday at Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home. Funeral Mass is planned for 10 a.m. Monday at the Fairchild Air Force Base Chapel. Burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Mr. Corker, who died Wednesday, was born in St. Paul, Minn.
He served in the Air Force for 26 years before retiring in 1974. He then worked for Kaiser Aluminum and retired from there in 1995.
He was a 19-year Spokane resident.
Mr. Corker was a member of Steelworkers Union Local No. 329, Eagles Lodge No. 2 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 54.
Survivors include his wife, Jean Corker; four sons, Vince, Patrick and Jeffery Corker, all of Spokane, and Leonard Moseanko of Anchorage, Alaska; five daughters, Rosalyn Armenta and Mona Price, both of Reno, Nev., and Evelyn Meng, Vicki Williams and Allison Charlton, all of Spokane; his mother, Eleanor Corker of Sacramento, Calif.; a brother, Gerald Corker of Sacramento; three sisters, Patricia Orsillo of Roseville, Calif., Louise Durnan of Sacramento and Carolyn Papalia of Antioch, Calif.; and 15 grandchildren.
Donald ‘Terry’ Buchser Queen Valley, Ariz.
Graveside inurnment for Donald “Terry” Buchser, a former Davenport, Wash., resident, will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Mountain View Cemetery in Davenport. Strate Funeral Home in Davenport is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Buchser, 74, died Wednesday in Coeur d’Alene. He was born in Worley, Idaho.
He graduated from Davenport High School and served in the Army during World War II.
For 30 years, he operated Buchser Apparel in Davenport. He also operated Buchser Apparel in Sprague, Wash., during the 1960s.
He was a 62-year resident of Davenport and was a charter member of the Davenport Lions Club and a member of the Davenport Chamber of Commerce.
His wife of 50 years, Bea Buchser, died in 1995.
He is survived by two sons, Ronald Buchser of Canoga Park, Calif., and Rodney Buchser of Northridge, Calif.; a daughter, Rolline Behrens of Harrington, Wash.; his mother, Thelma Newton of Mesa, Ariz.; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Frank Lotito Sequim, Wash.
Memorial service for Frank C. Lotito, 77, was Thursday at Olympic View Church of God in Sequim.
Mr. Lotito died last Saturday at home.
He was born in Lyndhurst, N.J.
He played baseball at Long Island, N.Y., for six months on the Dodgers farm team.
In 1941, he married Muriel De Maw in Coupeville, Wash.
He served in the Army for three and a half years during World War II and then umpired for major league baseball for several years.
He moved to Spokane in 1952, and worked as a postal clerk.
In 1983, he moved to Sequim, where he was involved with Little League baseball from 1984 to 1992. A ballfield in Sequim is named in his honor.
Mr. Lotito was a member of the American Legion and the National Association of Retired Federal Employees.
He is survived by his wife; a son, James Lotito of Knoxville, Tenn.; a daughter, Bonnie Jean Biasotti of Sequim; two sisters, Eleanor Sena and Florie Zoccolo both of New York; a brother, Howard Lotito of New York; three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Walter Krehbiel Canby, Ore.
Memorial service for Walter D. Krehbiel, 93, will be at 2 p.m. today, at the family home in Canby. Inurnment will be at Zion Memorial Park in Canby. Canby Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Krehbiel, a former longtime Lind, Wash., resident, died Wednesday at Perception Care Center in Canby.
He was born in Lind, and graduated from Washington State Univerity.
In 1943, he married Anna “Ann” Updegraff.
He owned and managed Krehbiel Motor Service in Lind for more then 40 years. He retired in 1975 and moved to Canby.
Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Mary Krehbiel of Portland; a son, Nels Dupuis of Canby, Ore.; three sisters, Marie Gosnay, Della Krehbiel and Katherine Franz, all of Spokane; and a brother, Ulric Krehbiel of Spokane.
Dixie Hopkins Everett
Graveside service for Dixie Dee Hopkins, 55, is planned for 7 p.m. today at Mountain View Cemetery in Farmington, Wash. Bauer Funeral Chapel in Snohomish, Wash., is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Hopkins died Wednesday from complications due to multiple sclerosis.
She was born in Farmington and raised in Whitman County.
She moved to Everett 21 years ago. She was a member of the DART Advisory Board, Equifriends Riding Club, the Driftwood Players, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the First Presbyterian Church of Snohomish.
In 1989 she was chosen Everett Community College’s woman of the year.
She is survived by three sons Martin Hopkins of Kirkland, Wash., Meret Hopkins of Snohomish and Mason Hopkins of Everett; a daughter, Megen Baycroft of Everett; her mother, Maxine Luther of Colfax, Wash.; a sister, Mary Perry of Spokane; and a granddaughter.
Robert Franks Spokane
Memorial service for Robert E. Franks, 75, will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-South is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Franks, who died Thursday, was a lifetime Spokane resident.
He graduated from Lewis and Clark High School and attended Whitworth College and Washington State University before he was commissioned in the Army Air Corps for World War II.
He started pilot’s training in Drury College in Springfield, Mo., where he met his wife, Margelene.
He returned to WSU after the war, and completed his electrical engineering degree.
He operated Bob Franks Electric Co. for more than 35 years.
He was a founding member of St. Johns Cathedral and was a member of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. He also was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the Southeast Lions Club.
Survivors include his wife of 51 years; three daughters, Carole Franks of Washington, D.C., and Kathryn Semmler and Suzanne Lamanna of Spokane; three sons, Wesley, William, and Stephen Franks, all of Spokane; and five grandchildren.
, DataTimes