Obituaries
Johann ‘John’ Hoefel Ritzville, Wash.
Visitation for Johann “John” Hoefel, 100, will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at Danekas Funeral Chapel in Ritzville. Funeral is planned for 1 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral chapel. Vault burial will follow at the Ritzville Memorial Cemetery.
Mr. Hoefel, who was born in Russia, died Thursday.
He moved to the United States with his family in 1901. They settled on a farm west of Ritzville.
In 1916 he moved into Ritzville and worked as a mechanic for Ritzville Motor Co. for four years.
In 1920 Mr. Hoefel and his brothers, David and Fred, bought the Ford agency in Colton, Wash., where he worked as a mechanic.
They closed the business in 1923 and he returned to Ritzville. He worked for the Ritzville Motor Co. for the next 25 years. In 1955 he leased a farm six miles from Washtucna, Wash., where he lived and raised wheat. He retired in 1970.
Mr. Hoefel was a member of the Philadelphia Congregational Church in Ritzville and the Ritzville Lions Club.
He moved into the Life Care Center Ritzville in 1991 and then to the Rose Garden Estates in 1996. He was a resident there at the time of his death.
Survivors include four nieces, JoAnn Olesberg, Dorothy Bishoffbarger, Marian Munroe and Donna Harwood; and five nephews, Fred, Walter, Harold and Paul Hoefel, and Gerald Clodius.
Memorial contributions may be made to Philadelphia Congregational Church.
Cheryl Bousman Spokane
Private family service was held for Cheryl A. Bousman, 54.
A longtime Spokane resident, Mrs. Bousman died Friday. She was born in Spokane.
She graduated from Rogers High School in 1962 and worked as an administrative assistant for the Prudential Insurance Co. for many years.
Mrs. Bousman went on to earn her bachelor of arts degree in art administration from Whitworth College in 1972, and from 1989 to 1992 worked as an accountant for the Washington Public Power Supply System in Richland.
She returned to Spokane where she became the owner and operator of the Bouquet of Roses floral shop on Northwest Boulevard. She retired in 1997.
Survivors include her husband of 26 years, Michael; and her parents, Richard and Maxine Rasmussen of Spokane.
Memorial contributions Anna Ogden Hall, 2828 W. Mallon, Spokane, WA 99201.
Sylvia Finck Odessa, Wash.
Funeral for Sylvia A. Finck, 65, will be at 11 a.m. today at Christ Lutheran Church in Odessa. Burial will follow at the Odessa Cemetery. Strate Funeral Home in Odessa is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Finck, who was born in Odessa, died Friday.
She married Curtis Finck in 1951 and was a homemaker.
She was a member of the Christ Lutheran Church in Odessa, the church choir and women’s organization. Mrs. Finck was also a member of the Odessa Historical Society and the Odessa Quilting Club.
Survivors include her husband; two daughters, Nancy Gillen of Pasco and Melanie Miller of Tualatin, Ore.; two sons, Brad Finck of Spokane and Gary Finck of Odessa; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Memorial contributions may be made to Christ Lutheran Church in Odessa or the American Diabetes Association.
Pegge L. Camp Coeur d’Alene
No service will be held for Pegge L. Camp, 68, at her request. Coeur d’Alene Memorial Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Camp, who was born in Portland, died Thursday.
She moved to Colville, Wash., where she graduated from high school.
Mrs. Camp lived in Colville until moving to Coeur d’Alene in 1989 to be near family.
She later moved to Life Care Center in Coeur d’Alene.
Her husband, Faye, died in 1989.
Survivors include a son, Michael Camp of Coeur d’Alene; a daughter, Fay Hill of Honolulu; and two grandchildren.
Alice (Hewitt) Oestreicher Spokane
Memorial service for Alice (Hewitt) Oestreicher, 86, will be at 11 a.m. Dec. 29 at Pines Cemetery Mausoleum. The Cremation Society of Washington is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Oestreicher, who was born in Spokane, died Dec. 12.
She graduated from Lewis and Clark High School and attended the University of Washington.
Mrs. Oestreicher worked for Spokane Film Co. until 1940 when she married Leo Oestreicher.
They were the owned Leo’s Studio and Inland Photo Supply in the Spokane Valley from 1940 to 1961.
They had a tradition for 23 years of taking photographs of the city on New Year’s Eve from the top of Mount Spokane. The following day the photo would appear on the back page of the Spokane Daily Chronicle.
Mrs. Oestreicher was a well-known photographer in the Inland Northwest and an outstanding wildflower photographer. She won many awards for her talent at the Kootenai County Fair and was an associate member and active board member of the Inland Empire Chapter of the Photographic Society of America, a lifetime member of the Spokane Valley Camera Club and a member of the Coeur d’Alene Camera Club.
She was also a member of the Washington State Self-Help for Hard of Hearing People, the Hobnailers, Selkirk Ski Club, Spokane Sailing Club, Spokane Valley Soil Mates Club, Spokane Valley Garden Club and the Mica Grange Happy Family Homemakers Club.
Mrs. Oestreicher and her husband lived at Valhalla on Lake Coeur d’Alene for 30 years. Her husband died in 1990 and she had been a resident at Forest Place in Coeur d’Alene and Hawthorne Retirement Community in Spokane for the last four years.
Survivors include include a stepdaughter, Faithe Ledbetter of Lake Oswego, Ore.; a stepson, Archie Oestreicher of Spokane; five stepgrandchildren and 14 stepgreat-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Self-Help for Hard of Hearing, 26820 Arden Court, Kent, WA 98032 or the Hawthorne Retirement Community.
Billee Collins Sunnyside, Idaho
No service will be held for Billee Marree Collins, 72. Coffelt Funeral Service in Sandpoint is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Collins, who was born in Sacramento, Calif., died Wednesday from cancer.
She married Owen Collins in 1966 in Las Vegas, and later moved to the Sunnyside area, where she has lived for many years.
Survivors include her husband; a daughter, Becky Ruiz of California; a son, Mike Lewis of Maryland; and five grandchildren, William, Monya, Maya, Jordan and Shannon.
Ella Hallett Spokane
Funeral for Ella Muriel Hallett, 96, will be at 11 a.m. today at Hazen and Jaeger Funeral Home. Burial will be at Spokane Memorial Gardens.
Mrs. Hallett, who was born in Primghar, Iowa, died Dec. 14.
She moved to Medical Lake in 1907 and later graduated from Medical Lake High School and worked for the local post office.
In 1927 she married Duncan Hallett and they moved to Spokane where she was a homemaker.
Her husband died in 1972.
Survivors include two daughters, Dorothy Burhcam of Two Rivers, Alaska, and Virginia Hodgson of Spokane; two sons, Duncan and Richard Hallett, both of Spokane; two sisters, Alice Sunderman and Edith Benson, both of Spokane; 11 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association.
Mary Burnside Spokane
Funeral for Mary Doloris Burnside, 77, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Thornhill Valley Funeral Home. Inurnment will be at Pines Cemetery.
Mrs. Burnside, who was born in Deer Lodge, Mont., died Thursday.
She was a homemaker.
Survivors include her husband of 53 years, Burton; a son, Ted Burnside of Coeur d’Alene; a daughter, Marcie Warfield of Spokane; a brother, Patrick Clavin of Spokane; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Loretta Boyle Dover, Idaho
Service for Loretta Boyle, 67, will be at 3 p.m. Monday at Coffelt Funeral Service in Sandpoint.
Born in Wyoming, she moved to the Upper Pack River area near Sandpoint before settling in Dover in 1950.
She had worked as a nurses aide at Bonner General Hospital and then began a carrier as a rural route carrier for the Postal Service in 1967.
After serving as the postmaster of Dover, she retired in 1994. She had also served as Dover’s first mayor.
Her memberships included the Sandpoint Eagles Lodge and the Lakeside Rebekah Lodge.
Survivors include a son, Joe Boyle of Laclede, Idaho; a daughter, Susan Larson of Spokane; a sister, Marjorie Dockins of Spokane; seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the City of Dover Scholarship Fund, Dover, ID 83825.
Willetta Jones Spokane
Private family service for Willetta A. Jones was held. A lifetime resident of Spokane, Mrs. Jones died Thursday. She was 87.
She was a homemaker and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Post 1474 and Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church.
Her husband of 62 years, Phillips, died in 1994.
Survivors include two sisters, Alice Harr of Spokane and Marcella Enyart of Kellogg.
Bertha (Schmeller) Roberts Chewelah, Wash.
Funeral for Bertha E. (Schmeller) Roberts, 65, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Schanzenbach Funeral Home in Chewelah. Burial will be at Chewelah Memorial Park.
Mrs. Roberts, who was born in Spokane, died Wednesday.
She graduated from Washington State University and did graduate work at Eastern Washington University.
Mrs. Roberts then moved to Alaska where she taught school and married John Roberts. They moved to Bakersfield, Calif., where she also taught school.
In the early 1960s they moved to Chewelah, where she was a teacher and a farmer. She retired in the mid 1980s, and they moved to Texas.
Her husband died in 1989 and she returned to Chewelah, where she was a member of the Free Methodist Church, Northside Home Ec. Club and the Senior Citizens Club.
Survivors include three brothers, Joe Schmeller of Chewelah, and Mark and Richard Schmeller, both of Phoenix; three sisters, Esther Brown Haller of Chewelah, Gladys Lockling of Republic, Wash., and Edna Epley of Pottersville, Mo.