Obituaries
Jack Cunningham Spokane
Memorial service for J. Thomas “Jack” Cunningham, 75, is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at Hazen and Jaeger Valley Funeral Home.
Mr. Cunningham, who was born in Olympia, died Monday.
He served in the Army Air Corps as a pilot during World War II and the Korean War.
Mr. Cunningham owned and operated Cunningham Studios from 1951 to 1984.
He was past president of the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Spokane Professional Photographers and was a member of the State Photographers Association.
Mr. Cunningham donated many hours of public service to the Washington State Patrol and the Valley Fire Department.
Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Lois; a son, Thomas Cunningham of Spokane; two daughters, Laura Triber of Spokane and Jacqueline Mayer of Lebanon, Ore.; a sister, Yvonne Eccles of Latonia Beach, Calif.; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Spokane Valley Good Samaritan or the American Heart Association, 140 S. Arthur, Suite 610, Spokane, WA 99202.
James Durgan Spokane
Rosary for James Kevin Durgan, 74, will be at 7 p.m. today at Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home. Funeral Mass is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Charles Catholic Church. Burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Mr. Durgan, a lifetime resident of Spokane, died Monday.
He graduated from Gonzaga Prep and served in the Army during World War II in the European Theater.
Mr. Durgan retired from Old National Bank, where he served as manager of the North Division and Shadle Center branches.
Survivors include a brother, Richard Durgan of Spokane; and two sisters, Patricia Lunderhausen of Spokane and Rosaleen Rosgen of Colfax, Wash.
Memorial contributions may be made to Morning Star Boys Ranch.
Clifford Schoener Coeur d’Alene
Memorial Scottish Rite Rose Croix Masonic service for Clifford V. Schoener, 78, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at English Funeral Chapel in Coeur d’Alene.
Mr. Schoener, who was born in Dubois, Idaho, died Wednesday.
He moved to Burke, Idaho, in 1937 and worked as a miner for Hecla Mining Co. until 1946.
Mr. Schoener moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1947 and was a farmer on Mica Flats and then worked for Bunker Hill Mining Co. in Kellogg before retiring.
He was a member of the Kootenai, Rathdrum, Lewiston and Canadian Masonic lodges and was also a member of the Mica Grange and the Coeur d’Alene Eagles Lodge.
Mr. Schoener played the Mountain Man for the Coeur d’Alene Shrine Club.
Survivors include his wife, Helen; two sons, William and Richey Schoener, both of Coeur d’Alene; a daughter, Katie Bouffiou of Coeur d’Alene; two stepsons, Kenneth Richter of Spokane and Paul Richter of Redmond, Wash.; 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of North Idaho, 280 Prairie Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815, or the Shriners Hospital for Children, P.O. Box 2472, Spokane, WA 99210-2472.
Edna Carlson Spokane
Funeral for Edna Virginia Carlson, 84, will be at 2 p.m. today at Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-North. Burial will follow at Fairmount Memorial Park.
Mrs. Carlson, who was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, died Sunday.
She moved to Spokane in 1933 from Pincher Creek, Alberta, and married Ted Carlson in 1935 in Oldtown, Idaho.
Mrs. Carlson worked for a time in the 1960s for Sacred Heart Hospital as an electrocardiogram technician. She later was a homemaker.
Survivors include her husband; a son, John Carlson, and a daughter, Jo Ann Owens, both of Spokane; nine grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Macel Jacobson Cheney
Funeral for Macel D. Jacobson, 82, is planned for 10 a.m. today at Ball and Dodd Funeral Home in Cheney. Burial will follow at Spokane Memorial Gardens.
Mrs. Jacobson, who was born in Asotin, Wash., died Tuesday.
She was raised in Ewan, Wash., and graduated in 1934 from Ewan High School.
In 1937 she married Golden Jacobson.
Mrs. Jacobson lived in San Francisco and Sacramento and had worked as a waitress in Sacramento.
She moved to Cheney in 1947 and was a homemaker.
Her husband died in 1988.
Survivors include a brother, George Clarno, and a sister, Lela Crippen, both of Cheney.
George Mueller Spokane
Memorial service for George Mueller, 82, will be held at a later date. Riplinger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Mueller, who died Wednesday, was a lifetime Spokane resident.
He graduated in 1934 from North Central High School and received bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and accounting from Gonzaga University in 1942.
In 1941 he married Thora Omlid.
Mr. Mueller served in the Navy during World War II and then returned to GU and earned a doctorate in law in 1948.
He worked for the Washington Social and Health Services and Vocational Rehabilitation Services departments from 1953 to 1979.
Mr. Mueller was a member of the Elks, Moose and Eagles lodges, the Brotherhood of Friends, the American Legion, the Musicians Union local, Rotary Club 21 and the Governor’s Committee for the Handicapped.
He played piano at many local clubs and entertainment centers.
Survivors include his wife; a son, Herbert Mueller of Spokane; and two sisters, Viola MacCulloch and Marian Scott, both of Spokane.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Union Gospel Mission.
Wendell Wenzloff Spokane
Memorial service for Wendell Wenzloff, 73, is set for 2 p.m. Tuesday at Hazen and Jaeger Valley Funeral Home.
Mr. Wenzloff, who died Saturday, was born in Fargo, N.D. He was a 29-year resident of Spokane.
He served in the Navy during World War II and was stationed at Pearl Harbor.
Mr. Wenzloff worked as a truck driver and was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1435.
Survivors include four children and a brother, Bob Wenzloff of Fargo, N.D.
Ruth Heeter Spokane
Memorial service for Ruth E. Heeter is planned for 3 p.m. Saturday at Fourth Memorial Church. Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-North is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Heeter, who died Monday, was born in Roseau, Minn. She was 80.
She was raised in the Seattle area and graduated in 1936 from high school in Redmond, Wash.
Mrs. Heeter moved to Spokane in 1953 and worked for the Better Business Bureau for three years.
She retired from the Internal Revenue Service around 1980 after 21 years as a secretary and administrative assistant.
Mrs. Heeter was a member of Fourth Memorial Church and the National Association of Retired Federal Employees.
Survivors include her husband of 57 years, Fred; a daughter, Margit Botter of Spokane; three sons, Gary and Fred Heeter Jr., both of Spokane, and Kenneth Heeter of Issaquah, Wash.; two sisters, Thelma Julian of Seattle and Mildred Forrester of Bothell, Wash.; and 10 grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Fourth Memorial Church.
Marie Thiel Ritzville, Wash.
Service for Marie Thiel, 89, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Danekas Funeral Home in Ritzville. Concluding service and vault inurnment will follow at Ritzville Memorial Cemetery.
Mrs. Thiel, who was born in Canada, died Monday.
She moved to the Ritzville area as a child and married Solomon Thiel in 1929.
They made their home in Ritzville, and she worked for former Adams County Sheriff Clint Rowe as a deputy sheriff and jail dispatcher.
Mrs. Thiel was a member of Zion Congregational Church, the Ritzville Women’s Golf Association, and the Lincoln, Adams and Grant County Peace Officers Association.
Her husband died in 1964.
She is survived by a daughter, Lois Kitto of Kent, Wash.; a brother, Alvin Klettke of Spokane; a sister, Anna Sackmann of Lind, Wash.; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Zion Congregational Church or to Children’s Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box C5371, Seattle, WA 98105.
Elton Allen Spokane
Memorial service for Elton C. Allen will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-North.
Born in Spokane, Mr. Allen died Tuesday. He was 77.
He graduated in 1938 from Rogers High School.
Mr. Allen worked from 1940 to 1942 as a machinist for Boeing. He served in the Air Force from 1942 to 1945 in the European Theater.
After World War II he was a civilian mechanic at Fairchild Air Force Base.
In 1946 he married Patricia Daley in California.
He was an owner of Spokane Office Supply from 1948 until he retired in 1990.
Mr. Allen was a member of Masonic Lodge 34, the Spokane Central Lions Club for 36 years and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
He volunteered for the Lions Blind Aid and Hearing Program and Camp Four Echos on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
He is survived by his wife; three sons, Kent Allen of Spokane, Michael Allen of Olympia and Dale Allen of Houston; a daughter, Cindy Woodworth of West Palm Beach, Fla.; a sister, Edna Allen of Spokane; and seven grandchildren.
Helen (Erie) Christman Spokane
Memorial service for Helen E. (Erie) Christman will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at her home. Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-South is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Christman, who died July 23, was 84.
She was born in Spokane and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School.
Her father, Jens Erie, owned and operated the Erie Dairy, which delivered milk to Spokane households for nearly 50 years. Her older brother, Rolf, took over the family business in the 1950s.
Mrs. Christman worked for Phillips Petroleum and Shell Oil as a comptometer operator.
In 1941 she married George St. John, who died in 1948. She married Peter Christman in 1952.
She worked as a bookkeeper and secretary for Bestway Building Center in the 1960s and McClintock and Turk Mechanical Contractors until she retired in 1975.
Her husband died in 1980.
Survivors include a son, George St. John; a daughter, Kathryn Christman; and two grandchildren.
Rev. William Wartes Colbert
Memorial service for the Rev. William C. “Bill” Wartes, 77, is set for 5 p.m. Sunday at Whitworth Community Presbyterian Church. The Cremation Society of Washington is in charge of arrangements.
The Rev. Wartes, who died Monday, was born in Seattle.
He graduated in 1940 from Ballard High School in Seattle.
In 1943 the Rev. Wartes entered the Army Air Corps, where he became a B-24 pilot in the Training Command.
He attended the University of Washington and participated in the ROTC program there. After his service in World War II he returned to the UW. He then went on to three years at San Francisco Theological Seminary and graduated from seminary in 1951.
He was ordained to the Gospel ministry in the Presbyterian Church. He served as evangelist, missionary and pastor, retiring in 1986.
The Rev. Wartes moved to Colbert in the late 1980s.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Bernace; three daughters, Meredith Lowry of Spokane, Ascenath Helmericks of Colville Village, Alaska, and Martha LeNore Bennett of Bliss, Idaho; three sons, Mark Wartes of Spokane, Clayton Wartes of Shreveport, La., and Eldon Wartes of Fairbanks, Alaska; 18 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Chuck Colson Prison Fellowship, P.O. Box 17500, Washington, DC 20041-0500.
Eleanor Hanson Spokane
Funeral for Eleanor L. Hanson, 79, is set for 10:30 a.m. Monday at Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-North. Burial will follow at Fairmount Memorial Park.
Mrs. Hanson, a 53-year Spokane resident, died Tuesday.
She was born in Aberdeen, S.D., and graduated from high school there.
After moving to Spokane in 1945 she worked as a bridal consultant for The Crescent department store. She also worked for Dodson’s Jewelry downtown and at Shadle Park for 15 years.
Her husband of 52 years, Leslie Hanson, died in 1992.
Survivors include two daughters, Betty Hanson of Spokane and Leslie Hanson of Bothell, Wash.; a sister, Elizabeth Colwill of Quincy, Wash.; and a brother, Burton Sauer of Sioux Falls, S.D.