Obituaries
Jessie Casselman Spokane
Visitation for Jessie Earl Casselman, 91, will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Riplinger Funeral Home. Service is planned for 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Sunset Mausoleum at Fairmount Memorial Park. Burial will follow.
A 90-year Spokane resident, Mr.
Casselman died Friday. He was born in Pullman.
He worked as a machinist for Smith and Nielsen.
Mr. Casselman was a member and past deacon of North Hill Christian Church.
Survivors include his wife, Alica; two daughters, Linda Rice of Spokane and Beverly Taylor of Arlington, Wash.; a son, George Casselman of Wellsville, Utah; a brother, Perle Casselman of San Ramon, Calif.; 16 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the North Hill Christian Church Memorial Fund.
Raymond Seely Spokane
Service for Raymond K. Seely, 89, will be at 1 p.m. today at Thornhill Valley Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Pines Cemetery.
A 15-year Spokane resident, Mr. Seely died Thursday. He was born in Woodburn, Ore.
He graduated from Washington State College in 1931 with a degree in electrical engineering.
He served in the Army in the Pacific during World War II.
Mr. Seely worked as a power supervisor for the Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam for 36 years. He retired in 1974.
He received a citation for meritorious service from the Secretary of the Interior in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the construction, operation and maintenance of the power complex of Grand Coulee Dam.
Mr. Seely was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity at WSU and the Coulee Dam Rotary Club.
His wife of 66 years, Maxine, died in 1997.
Survivors include a daughter, Eileen Seely of Spokane; and two brothers, Clarence Seely of Moscow, Idaho, and Deryl Seely of Seattle.
Lawrence Cress Spokane
Service for Lawrence A. “Larry” Cress, 91, was Monday at Hazen and Jaeger Funeral Home. Burial was at City View Cemetery in Pasco.
Mr. Cress died Thursday. He was born in Spokane and raised in the Delrio area of Eastern Washington.
Mr. Cress served in the Army during World War II. He served in India building railroads.
After the war, he returned to Spokane and worked as a mechanic for the Grange Service Cooperative for 17 years. Later, he worked as a heavy equipment operator for George Grant Construction in the Tri-Cities for 23 years.
Mr. Cress moved back to Spokane seven years ago.
He was a member of the Washington State Grange Association and the Elks lodges in the Tri-Cities and Spokane.
Two wives, Margaret and Monty, both preceded him in death.
Survivors include two daughters, Judee Riordan of Spokane and Louise Lord of Tacoma; a son, Vaughn Cress of Tacoma; three sisters, Mabel Rupnoe and Lula Hoffman, both of Spokane, and Marjory Shepman of Kettle Falls, Wash.; a brother, Delbert Cress of Spokane; 13 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Elwood `Willie’ Wilhelm Harvard, Idaho
No service will be held for Elwood “Willie” Wilhelm, 87, at his request. Burial will be at Freeze Cemetery near Potlatch, Idaho. Kramer Funeral Home in Palouse, Wash., is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Wilhelm, who was born in Lexington, Va., died Wednesday.
In 1928 he entered the Army Air Corps as an airplane mechanic. He was stationed in Hawaii, Alaska, Arizona and Washington. While he was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, he qualified Clark Gable as a gunnery sergeant. He retired as a master sergeant in 1953.
In 1939 he married Mary Stephens. They moved to Harvard in 1953.
Mr. Wilhelm worked as a planer for the Potlatch Mill and retired in 1976.
He was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Potlatch, the Idaho Jim Beam Bottle Collection Club, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Pyramiders 98th Bomb Group.
Mr. Wilhelm is survived by his wife.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Potlatch Ambulance Fund, Potlatch, ID 83855; or the Harvard Ladies Aide, Harvard, ID 83834.
Reuben Moreland Spokane
Memorial service for Reuben T. Moreland, 80, will be at 10 a.m. today at Sunset Chapel at Fairmount Memorial Park. Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-North is in charge arrangements.
Mr. Moreland, who was born in Washington, D.C., died Friday.
He served in the Army from 1940 to 1945 in the Pacific Theater.
He worked as a security officer for numerous retail stores and in maintenance for homes and businesses.
He moved to Spokane in 1979.
There are no surviving family members.
Donna Holderman Spokane
Memorial service for Donna L. Holderman, 59, will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at 7507 N. Hughes Drive. Private inurnment will be at Spokane Memorial Gardens. Riplinger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Holderman, who died Thursday, was born in Kootenai, Idaho. She was a 37-year Spokane resident. She was a homemaker and past president and secretary of the Hassie Club.
Survivors include her husband, Walter; five children, Jim, Kory, Susan, Mark and Ty; her mother, Lillian Reynolds; and 15 grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Ronald McDonald House.
JoElla Johnston St. Maries
Service for JoElla Johnston, 99, will be at 2 p.m. today at Yates-Hodge Funeral Home in St. Maries. Burial will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery in St. Maries.
Mrs. Johnston, who was born in Battle Creek, Iowa, died Thursday.
She married Barney Johnston in the 1950s. She was a longtime St. Maries resident.
He preceded her in death.
Survivors include a daughter, Janet Wilhelm of Spokane; four stepsons, Barney “Bud” Johnston Jr., and Jim and Gene Johnston, all of St. Maries, and Mike Johnston of Potlatch, Idaho; four stepdaughters, Janette Fatur of Spokane, Mary Amos of Lewiston, Idaho, and Ida and Margie Schambal, both of Coeur d’Alene; four grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Robert Kirkwood Davenport, Wash.
Memorial service for Robert R. Kirkwood, 79, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Zion Lutheran Church in Davenport. Strate Funeral Home in Davenport is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Kirkwood, who died Saturday, was born in Tacoma.
He graduated from Davenport High School in 1938. He received a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Washington State College in 1942. He was a member of the AGR fraternity there.
Mr. Kirkwood served as a captain in the Army during World War II.
He owned and operated Albers Feed Store in Yakima from 1946 to 1951. Mr. Kirkwood returned to Davenport in 1951 and took over the family wheat and cattle farm. He retired in 1982.
He was a member of Zion Lutheran Church, the Washington state and Lincoln County wheat growers associations, the Harrington Golf and Country Club, WSU Alumni Association, the Acacia Masonic Lodge, the Davenport Livestock Club and the Davenport Lions Club.
His first wife of 45 years, Eleanor, died in 1988.
Survivors include his wife of nine years, Elinore; a son, Ronald Kirkwood of Spokane; a daughter, Donna Miller of Lodi, Wis.; a stepson, Ted Bennetts of Helena; two stepdaughters, Donna Armstrong of Davenport and Dixie Evans of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and two granddaughters.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Lincoln County Chapter of the American Cancer Society.
Florence Chollett Colville, Wash.
Service for Florence V. Chollett, 85, will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Danekas Funeral Chapel in Colville. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Colville.
Miss Chollett, who was born on the family farm in Bossberg, Wash., died Friday.
She was a 78-year Colville resident. She was a member of the Kettle Falls Homemakers Club.
Survivors include a brother, Charles Chollett of Nampa, Idaho; and three sisters, Olive Buob, Lucille Amdahl and Charlotte Petersen, all of Spokane.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Joan Hiklan Spokane
Memorial service for Joan Yvonne Hiklan, 57, will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Heritage Funeral Home.
A 31-year Spokane resident, Mrs. Niklan died Thursday. She was born in St. Cloud, Minn.
She graduated in 1990 with a master’s degree in nursing from Washington State University. She was a member of Sigma Theta Tau.
Mrs. Niklan worked at area hospitals and nursing homes. She was also a clinical instructor at Spokane Community College in 1990 and at the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education in 1992 and 1993.
Survivors include two daughters, Meschell Hiklan of Spokane and Rebecca Androes of Medical Lake; a brother, Ronald Grams of St. Cloud; a sister, Geraldine Winkler of Gallup, N.M.; and three grandsons.
Mary Schafer Spokane
Funeral Mass for Mary Magdaline Schafer, 68, was Monday at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church. Burial followed at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Born to Italian immigrants, Mrs. Schafer died Friday. She was a lifetime Spokane resident.
She graduated from Lewis and Clark High School and the Sacred Heart School of Nursing.
In 1969 she began working as a registered nurse at Valley Hospital. She also became a nursing supervisor and an administrative supervisor. She retired in 1995.
She was a member of the St. Mary’s Stephens Ministries.
Survivors include her husband of 43 years, Harold; three sons, Dave, Mark and Joe Schafer, all of Spokane; two daughters, Glenda Higgins of Newman Lake and Tammy Miller of Bothell, Wash.; and five grandchildren.
Thelma Buechner Spokane
Service for Thelma Elaine Buechner, 70, was Monday at Hazen and Jaeger Valley Funeral Home. Burial was at Pines Cemetery.
Mrs. Buechner died Thursday. She was born in Spokane. She was a 34-year Spokane resident and a homemaker.
Survivors include a daughter, Elsa Byrne of San Francisco; a son, John Buechner of Minneapolis; a sister, Melanie Hayes, and a brother, John Klobucher, both of Spokane; and three grandchildren.
Betty Gering Ritzville, Wash.
Service for Betty Lou Gering, 65, was Monday at Danekas Funeral Home in Ritzville. Burial followed at Ritzville Memorial Cemetery.
Born in Wapato, Wash., Mrs. Gering died Friday.
In 1951 she married Martin Gering. They farmed in the Schrag, Wash., area. They retired in 1996 and moved into Ritzville.
Mrs. Gering was a member of the Church of the Nazarene in Ritzville and the Adams County Wheat Growers Association.
Survivors include her husband; three sons, Brian Gering of Liberty Lake, and Ronald and Bruce Gering, both of Moses Lake; a brother, Edward Parren; a sister, Gail Korth of Moses Lake; and five grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Nazarene Church or the American Cancer Society.
William Welch Jr. Elizabeth Welch Sumner, Wash.
Joint memorial service for William McNair Welch Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth, will be at 1 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. A reception will follow at Indian Canyon Golf Course clubhouse. American Memorial Funeral Home in Tacoma is in charge of arrangements.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Welch died Sept. 28. He was 85.
He was a professional golfer at Indian Canyon for 18 years. He retired in 1984.
Mrs. Welch, who was born in Oil City, Pa., died Oct. 31, 1998. She was 81.
She worked as the children’s services coordinator for the Spokane County Library from 1966 to 1981. She also taught children’s literature at Eastern Washington University.
They are survived by a daughter, Ann Howard of Sumner and a granddaughter.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Society; Washington’s National Park Fund, 2112 Third Ave., Suite 501, Seattle, WA 98121; or the Southern Poverty Law Center, P.O. Box 548, Montgomery, AL 36101.
Anna Betzold Spokane
No service will be held for E. Anna Betzold. Burial will be at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, Calif. Thornhill Valley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Betzold, 86, died Friday.
She was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1931. Mrs. Betzold was a homemaker and a 26-year Spokane resident.
Her husband, Louis, died in 1964.
Survivors include a son, Lou Betzold of Mica; two grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.