Obituaries
William Wiley Richland
Service for William R. “Bill” Wiley, Ph.D., senior vice president for science and technology policy at Battelle Memorial Institute in Richland, was July 3 at Einan’s Sunset Memorial Gardens in Richland.
Mr. Wiley, 64, died June 30 at home. He was born in Oxford, Miss.
He graduated from Tougaloo College in Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He earned a master’s degree in microbiology from the University of Illinois-Urbana and his doctorate in bacteriology from Washington State University.
He joined the staff of Battelle’s Pacific Northwest Laboratories as a research scientist in 1965. From 1979 to 1984, he served as director of research, and from 1984 to 1994 as director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
He was a member of the Citizen Cabinet formed by Gov. Mike Lowry and was a member of the Governor’s Economic Development and Environmental Enhancement Task Force, the Office of Technology Assessment’s Advisory Panel on Arctic Impacts from Soviet Nuclear Contamination, and the Advisory Board of the National Foreign Language Center. He was the first national laboratory director to be a member of the Council of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable.
He was a member and past president of WSU Board of Regents and was a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Board of Trustees, the Whitman College Board of Overseers, the Southern University Engineering Executive Committee, and the Aspen Institute Advisory Board on Energy, the Economy, and the Environment. He served on the board of directors of Safeco Corp., Northwest Natural Gas, the Seattle branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and the MinorityOwned Business Technology Transfer Consortium.
He was elected to the National Board of the Smithsonian Institute in 1995 and as president-elect of Sigma Xi, a national science research honor society. He was also a member of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Partnership for Learning Board of Directors, the State-Federal Technology Partnership Task Force, and the Energy Options Project Steering Committee of the Washington State Energy Office.
In 1994 he received a Distinguished Associate Award from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Black Engineer of the Year award from Black Engineer magazine.
In 1989 he was selected Tri-Citian of the Year by the Richland and Pasco-Kennewick Rotary clubs.
Mr. Wiley is survived by his wife, Myrtle; a daughter, Johari Wiley-Johnson; his parents, William and Edna Wiley of Oxford; a sister, Inez Smith; and a brother, Herbert Wiley.
Memorial contributions may be made to the William R. Wiley Scholarship Fund at WSU.
Christopher Gongyin Spokane
Memorial service for Christopher O. Gongyin, 20, was Monday at Riplinger Funeral Home.
Mr. Gongyin died June 27 of a gunshot wound.
He was a lifetime Spokane resident and was a student.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara Gongyin; a daughter, Symetria Gongyin, at home; his mother, Melba Haigh of Spokane; his father, Lompery Gongyin of Spokane; a sister, Ashley Haigh of Spokane; three half-sisters, Nataya and Chompunuch Gongyin, both of Seattle, and Jennifer Gongyin of Spokane; and his grandparents, Perry and Margaret Patterson of Wendell, Idaho.
Robert ‘Bud’ Mills Spokane
Service for Robert S. “Bud” Mills, 63, was Monday at Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home. There was private inurnment.
Mr. Mills died July 3.
He was born in Eureka, Mont. He moved to Spokane in 1941 and graduated from North Central High School.
Mr. Mills served in the military in Korea and was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1435.
He retired from Kaiser Aluminum after 30 years.
He is survived by a son, Sean Mills of Spokane; two stepsons, Scott Thurlow of Detroit and Brad Wolvington of Oakland, Calif.; a daughter, Lesa Mills of Tacoma; three stepdaughters, Windy Snapp of Tacoma and Juanita Miller and Michelle Wolvington, both of Spokane; a special friend, Claudette Mills of Spokane; and nine grandchildren.
J.R. ‘Bob’ Laney Sprague, Wash.
Rosary for J.R. “Bob” Laney, 76, is planned for 7:30 p.m. today at Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in Sprague. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church.
Vault burial will follow at Maccabee Cemetery in Sprague. Danekas Funeral Home of Ritzville, Wash., is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Laney, who was born in Walla Walla, died Tuesday at St. Luke’s Extended Care Center in Spokane.
His family moved to the Sprague area in 1929, and he graduated from high school in Sprague.
He took over operation of the family farm in 1941.
In 1945 he married Eleanor Zeller in Somers, Mont. They lived on the farm. In 1974 their son, Chris, took over the management of the farm.
Mr. Laney continued to help until he was disabled in a farm accident in 1991. He spent the past five years in care facilities in Spokane.
He was a member of the Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in Sprague, Crab Creek Grange, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, and the Washington Cattlemen’s Association.
He had served on the Sprague/ Harrington Conservation Board and was named Conservation Farmer of the Year in 1954.
Survivors include his wife, Eleanor Laney of Spokane; four sons, John and Thomas Laney, both of Seattle, Steven Laney of Spokane and Chris Laney of Sprague; a daughter, Norine Gregory of Spokane; a brother, Frank Laney of Penryn, Calif.; and 13 grandchildren.
Bernice Bahm Spokane
Private service for Bernice Ann Bahm, 95, was held.
Mrs. Bahm, who was born in Gibbonsville, Idaho, died July 2.
Se worked as a reporter for the Idaho News in Sandpoint. She later moved to Hawaii and then to Washington, D.C., where she worked for the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service.
She retired in 1965 and moved to Spokane the following year.
She also lived at Sacheen Lake and Newport, Wash., before she moved to the Lilac Plaza in Spokane.
Mrs. Bahm was a member of the Business and Professional Women’s Club and the Moose Lodge.
She is survived by a niece, Nedra Kelly Putman of Graham, Wash.
Genevieve Hussey Greenacres
Memorial service for Genevieve Hussey, 77, is planned for 9 a.m. today at St. Paschal’s Catholic Church. Hazen and Jaeger Valley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Hussey died Monday.
She was born in Chewelah, Wash., and had lived in Spokane County for 52 years.
She retired in 1990 from Wilson Brothers Construction, where she was a bookkeeper and office manager.
Her first husband, Leslie Simmons, died in 1960.
She is survived by two daughters, Christie Belmot of Spokane and Leslie Daniels of Coeur d’Alene; four sisters, Edith Neel of Pasco, Carmen Wilson of Spokane, Nadine Long of Redmond, Wash., and Beth Klundt of Chewelah; her former husband, Bill Hussey of Des Moines, Wash.; six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Max Gray Woodburn, Ore.
Memorial service for Max Gray, 79, a former Spokane resident, will be at 1 p.m Monday at Millwood Presbyterian Church in Spokane. Cornwell Colonial Chapel of Woodburn is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Gray died last Friday in Woodburn, where he and his wife, Myrtle, had lived for six years.
He was born in Baker City, Ore.
He graduated from Rogers High School.
In 1937 he married Myrtle Harthold.
He was vice president of B-Line Transport Co., and he incorporated Crane Services Inc. with two partners in 1955.
Mr. Gray had served as a councilman and mayor pro tem for the city of Millwood and had been a commissioner of the Spokane Valley Fire Department from 1972 to 1974 and again in 1976.
He was an elder at Millwood Presbyterian Church for many years and served as president of the presbytery and synod men’s layman movement, serving on numerous committees and boards.
Mr. Gray was a member of Liberty Lake Golf Club and the the Senior Men’s Club. He served in the Navy during World War II.
He is survived by his wife; two daughters, Judy Piland of Hillsboro, Ore., and Nancy Gray of Seattle; a son, Paul Gray of Naples, Fla.; a sister, Elowyn Juul of Spokane; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
John Downey Spokane
Funeral Mass for John F. Downey, 79, is set for 1 p.m. today at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. Private inurnment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery. Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Downey died Tuesday.
He was born in St. Maries.
He was a graduate of Gonzaga Prep and worked as an engineer for the Milwaukee Railroad.
Mr. Downey was a 67-year Spokane resident and was a member of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Manito Golf and Country Club, and the Knights of Columbus. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mary Louise Downey; two sons, Dennis Downey of Seattle and John Downey of Hermiston, Ore.; three daughters, Paddy Shannon, Joan Freuen and Colleen Downey, all of Spokane; a sister, Kathryn Downey Byrne of Spokane; and 15 grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Gonzaga Prep.
Aletha Wroughton Spokane
Private cremation will be held for Aletha L. Wroughton, 77. Hazen and Jaeger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Wroughton, who was born in Idaho, died Tuesday.
She was raised in Idaho and San Francisco. She returned to Idaho, where she graduated from high school.
She worked as an au pair and graduated from beauty school. She operated her own beauty shop in Idaho.
Mrs. Wroughton had also worked as a housekeeper.
She moved to Spokane 28 years ago.
She is survived by a daughter, Marie Aiken of Spokane; a son, Steven Wroughton of Spokane; and a sister, Blanche Lawrence of Boise.
Jacqueline (McInnis) Courville Sudden Valley, Wash.
Memorial service for Jacqueline M. “Jackie” (McInnis) Courville, a former Spokane resident, will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Rotunda in Sudden Valley. Jones-Moles Funeral Home in Bellingham is in charge of arrangements Mrs. Courville, 63, died last Friday.
She was born in Spokane and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School.
She moved to Bellevue, Wash., 20 years ago and had lived in the Sudden Valley area of Bellingham for 10 years.
She is survived by her husband of 18 years, George Courville; a son, Dennis Larsen of Oakland; a stepson, George Courville Jr. of Pasadena, Calif.; two daughters, Teri Larsen of Kirkland, Wash., and Julie Weber of Lacey, Wash.; a stepdaughter, Lane Fercho of California; and a brother, Rod McInnis of Wilson Creek, Wash.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association, 21021 Ventura Blvd. Suite 321, Woodland Hills, CA 91364.
Ruby Martin Spokane
Memorial service for Ruby L. Martin, 86, is set for 1 p.m. today at Pines Mausoleum. Hazen and Jaeger Valley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Martin, who was born in Humansville, Mo., died last Friday.
She had lived in Colorado and California before moving to Spokane 56 years ago.
She was a seamstress and had won several blue ribbons at local fairs for her knitted afghans.
She is survived by one brother, Lloyd Rodenbaugh of Spokane.
Frank Rubino Las Vegas, Nev.
Private inurnment for Frank Rubino, a former Spokane resident, will be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Spokane at a later date.
Mr. Rubino, 81, died July 3 in Las Vegas, where he recently moved.
He was born in New York City.
He served in the Marine Corps during World War II and received the Purple Heart. He was transferred to the hospital at Farragut Naval Station in Idaho and was discharged in 1945. He settled in Spokane.
Mr. Rubino was a meat cutter and leased the Benewah Meat Market for several years. He also operated North Wall Market and Grocery for 35 years before he retired.
He was involved with the Old Timers Hockey Club in Spokane and was a member of the Italian American Club and the Eagles Lodge.
His wife of 40 years, Rose Rubino, preceded him in death.
Survivors include a daughter, Maryanne Micco of Las Vegas; a son, Joe Rubino of Spokane; a sister, Vera Rontante of New York City; and two grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Nathan Adelson Hospice, 4141 S. Swenson, Las Vegas, NV 89119.
Carl Carbon Spokane
Memorial service for Carl A. Carbon, 85, is set for 11 a.m. today at Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home.
Mr. Carbon, a lifetime Spokane resident, died July 4.
He graduated from North Central High School, where he was named to the all-city football team two years and played in the first Spokane Shrine football game.
He was the former owner and president of United Paving Co. Inc., and Carl Carbon Inc., an asphalt paving company.
In 1965 Mr. Carbon was elected president of the Asphalt Paving Association of Washington. He was a member of the Spokane Chapter of the Associated General Contractors and was also a board member of the National Asphalt Pavement Association.
He had served on the boards of the Inland Empire Boy Scouts and was a major benefactor of the Gladys and Carl Carbon Lodge at Camp Cowles Boy Scout Reservation on Diamond Lake.
He had served on the Washington State Horse Racing Commission and was a member of Tyrian Masonic Lodge No. 96, Scottish Rite, El Katif Shrine and Manito Golf Club.
He is survived by his wife, Gladys Carbon; a son, Carl Carbon Jr. of Spokane; a sister, Eleanor Nevin of Las Vegas; three grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Inland Empire Boy Scouts or any of the other above organizations.
Twila (Lindeblad) Rees Spokane
Service for Twila E. (Lindeblad) Rees, 74, will be at 10 a.m. today at Shadle Park Presbyterian Church. Burial will follow at Spokane Memorial Gardens.
Mrs. Rees, who died Monday, was born in Fessenden, N.D.
She graduated from high school in Rolla, N.D., and worked in California and Washington, D.C., prior to World War II.
In 1948, she moved to Spokane and worked for the city from 1965 to 1984.
She married her first husband, Malvin Lindeblad, in Miles City, Mont., in 1948. He died in 1977.
She married Arthur Rees in 1984.
She was a member of Order of Eastern Star, the American Legion Auxiliary and the Spokane Humane Society.
She is survived by her husband; four sons, James Lindeblad of Seattle, John and Gary Lindeblad, both of Spokane, and David Lindeblad of Omak, Wash.; a daughter, MaryAnne Lindeblad of Olympia; two brothers, D.E. “Bud” and Jack Anderson, both of Rolla, N.D.; two sisters, Carol Carlson of Seattle and Diane Roy of Houston; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Spokane Humane Society.
Robert Kounkel Spokane
Memorial service for Robert G. Kounkel, a retired Air Force master sergeant, will be at 2 p.m. today at the Fairchild Air Force Base Chapel. The Cremation Society of Washington is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Kounkel, who was born in Seattle, died Sunday.
He served in the Air Force for 26 years and was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 51 and the Spokane Valley Club.
He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Lucile Kounkel; four sons, Chris Kounkel of New York, Steve Kounkel of the Azores, and Eric and Craig Kounkel, both of Spokane; two sisters, Pat Fizer of Sacramento, Calif., and Nancy Brooks of Bellevue, Wash.; a brother, Jerry Kounkel of Longview, Wash.; and one grandson.
Phyllis LaPlant Spokane
Funeral Mass for Phyllis E. LaPlant, 69, will be at 11 a.m. today at St. Augustine Catholic Church. Entombment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery. Riplinger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. LaPlant, a former Colville, Wash., resident, died Monday.
She born in Rawlins, Wyo.
She graduated from Plummer (Idaho) High School and Lewiston Normal School.
She began teaching in Colville, where she met and married Robert LaPlant in 1949.
She and her husband owned LaPlant Jewelers in Colville until it was sold in 1982.
They moved to Spokane in 1986.
In Spokane, Mrs. LaPlant was a member of the Business and Professional Women, Ladies Soroptimist Club and the 8-11 Study Club and was active with the altar societies for both Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Colville and St. Augustine Catholic Church in Spokane. She also volunteered with the Sacred Heart Medical Center Service League.
She is survived by her husband of 47 years; three daughters, Lynda Neilson and Lisa Dumais, both of Spokane, and Melanie Dressel of Gig Harbor, Wash.; and five grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Sacred Heart Medical Center Memorial Fund.
Luther ‘Lynn’ Sanders Spokane
Memorial service for Luther “Lynn” Sanders, 53, will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Paradise (Mont.) Assembly of God.
Born in Bethel, Okla., Mr. Sanders died July 3.
He graduated from Plains (Mont.) High School and served in the Army.
He was raised in Camas Prairie, Mont., and Plains, Mont.
He lived in the Cheney area for more than 10 years and worked in construction and as a farm laborer.
He was a member of the American Legion in Cheney.
Mr. Sanders is survived by his wife, Judy Sanders; a daughter, Julynn Sanders, at home; a sister, Lorene Lee of Spokane; and five brothers, Larry “Todd” Sanders of Hot Springs, Mont., Leon and LaRoy “Red” Sanders, both of Cheney, Lonnie Sanders of Stratford, Va., and Lanny Sanders of Spokane.
Fara Heglar Cheney
Graveside service for M. Fara Heglar, 87, will be at 11 a.m. today at Riverside Memorial Park in Spokane. Cheney Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Heglar, who was born on a farm near Cheney, died Tuesday.
She was an elementary school teacher and a school librarian in Spokane for many years.
She retired and then returned to Cheney a few years ago.
She had served as a national president of the Women’s Relief Corps and was a member of Cheney United Methodist Church.
Her husband, George Heglar, died in 1980.
She is survived by two sisters, Rosella Hansen of Colville and Eva Carney of Castle Rock, Colo.
Mary ‘Bunny’ Kennedy Chelan, Wash.
Memorial Mass for Mary Kathryn “Bunny” Kennedy, 74, will be at 11 a.m. today at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wilbur, Wash. Inurnment will be at Wilbur Cemetery. Strate Funeral Home in Wilbur is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Kennedy, who died Saturday, was born in Corvallis, Ore.
She married Jack Kennedy in Yuma, Ariz.,in 1941.
Her husband was in the military, and they were stationed in Santa Ana, Calif.
They moved to Spokane in the mid-1940s and then to Seattle. They settled in Wilbur in 1952.
She was first vice president of the Inland Empire Girl Scout Council and was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star Tuscan Chapter 64. She was also a founding member of the Big Bend Golf Course in Wilbur and a member of the Chelan Golf Club.
When her husband retired, they moved to a home at Whitestone on Lake Roosevelt and in 1992 they moved to Chelan.
Her husband died in 1994.
She is survived by two daughters, Lyndal Wamsley of Auburn, Wash., and Carol Kennedy of Seattle; a son, Jim Kennedy of Fresno, Calif.; one sister, Alice Mitchell of Clarkston, Wash.; four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Clifford Mattheis Waverly
No service will be held for Clifford Mattheis, 67. Schanzenbach Funeral Home in Fairfield is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Mattheis, who died Saturday, was born in North Dakota.
He was retired from the military.
He is survived by his wife of 15 years, Donna Mattheis; a brother, Wayne Mattheis of Renton, Wash.; a sister, Bev Joplin of Renton; two stepsons, Joel McDaniel of Missoula and Bill McDaniel of Troutdale, Ore.; two stepdaughters, Cheryl Turner of Lolo, Mont., and Kathy Clark of Des Moines, Wash.; and four stepgrandchildren.
Edith Thomason Spokane
Memorial service for Edith Pauline Thomason, 86, will be at 2 p.m. today at Trinity Baptist Church. Hazen and Jaeger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Miss Thomason died July 4.
She was born in Sandpoint, and moved to Spokane when she was 4.
She graduated from North Central High School, Cheney Normal School and Whitworth College.
She taught in Granger, Wash., for three years, and started teaching in Spokane School District 81 in 1936.
She was an elementary schoolteacher and also served as principal at Woodland, McKinley and Ridgeview Elementary schools. She also taught in Iceland and Japan in the dependents’ school system of the Air Force.
Miss Thomason was also a special reading teacher.
She retired in 1975.
She was a member of the American Association of University Women, the Spokane and Washington Education associations, the Emerson-Garfield Steering Committee, the Corbin Park Homeowners’ Association and Trinity Baptist Church.
Miss Thomason is survived by a brother, Donald Thomason of Spokane; and three sisters, Doris Winslett, Lorraine Bowie and Carol Louise Jones, all of Spokane.
, DataTimes