Obituaries
Norman Ayers Spokane
No service will be held for Norman S. Ayers at his request. Burial will be at the family plot in Woodland Cemetery in Deer Park. Lauer Funeral Home in Deer Park is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Ayers, 102, was born in Robe, Wash. He died May 24.
He was a Spokane-area resident for 95 years and briefly lived with his family in the mining town of Monte Cristo, Calif. His family moved to Everett before moving to Dennison, Wash., in 1905. He later moved to Spokane.
Mr. Ayers served in the Navy during World War I and World War II.
He worked for Armour Meats and Kaiser Aluminum for a while. Following World War II he was a partner in Western Auto Hardware Store for several years. He later worked for McAtee and Heath, a local contractor, for 25 years.
Mr. Ayers was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1474, Disabled Americans Veterans and Teamsters Local 370.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Dorothy; two daughters, Carol Ayers of Spokane and Peggy Riley of Nine Mile Falls; a son, Jim Ayers of Spokane; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children or the Lilac Blind Foundation.
Ryan Melcher Spokane
Memorial service for Ryan Michael Melcher, 25, will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at Highland Park United Methodist Church. Malcom’s Brower-Wann Memorial Chapel in Lewiston is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Melcher, who was born and raised in Spokane, died Monday.
He graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1993. He then attended Western Washington University and Spokane Falls Community College.
Mr. Melcher joined the Army in 1999. He currently was a member of the 737th Transportation Company out of Yakima.
Survivors include his mother, Beverly Saruwatari; his father, Steven Melcher; and two brothers, Jerud and Travis Melcher, all of Spokane.
Memorial contributions may be made to NAMI, P.O. Box 79972, Baltimore, MD 21279-0972.
Donna Cornish Sacheen Lake, Wash.
Memorial service for Donna Jean Cornish, 70, will be at 11 a.m. today at the Newport (Wash.) United Church of Christ. Sherman-Knapp Funeral Home in Newport is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Cornish, who was born in Spokane, died Tuesday.
She graduated in 1947 from West Valley High School. She graduated from Whitworth College with a bachelor’s degree and received a registered nursing degree from Stanford University School of Nursing.
In 1952 she married Don Cornish.
She worked as a nurse and taught nursing at Deaconess Nursing School in Spokane. She later was employed by the state of Washington, retiring in 1993 after 20 years.
In 1993 she and her husband moved to Sacheen Lake.
She was a member of the Newport United Church of Christ and was active in the Sacheen Ladies of the Lake Club. She also was involved with the State Nursing Association.
Survivors include her husband; two daughters, Christine Birch of Sacheen Lake and Janine Seibel of Millwood; three sons, Daniel Cornish of Seattle, David Cornish of Ojai, Calif., and John Cornish of Palm Springs, Calif.; a brother, Michael Anderson of Oklahoma City, Okla.; a sister, Mary Lou Grunigen of Menlo Park, Calif.; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Lucy (Maranto) Mocata Spokane
Memorial service for Lucy (Maranto) Mocata, 96, will be at 11 a.m. June 12 at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church. Hazen and Jaeger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Mocata, who was born in Pittsburg, Kan., died May 25.
She and her husband owned and operated a grocery store and market for 17 years in Shreveport, La. In 1981 she moved to Spokane.
Her husband, Rocco, died in 1959.
Survivors include a daughter, Adele Musser of Spokane; a son, Robert Mocata of Spokane; three sisters, Josephine Reid of Arlington, Texas, Mary Amato of Boynton Beach, Fla., and Laura Grasso of New Hyde Park, N.Y.; three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Spokane.
Bonney Weston Spokane
Service for Bonney L. Weston will be at 2 p.m. today at Strate Funeral Home in Davenport, Wash. Vault burial will follow at Mountain View Cemetery in Davenport.
Mrs. Weston, 93, died Monday. She was who was born in Echo, Ore.
She worked at Lincoln Hospital in Davenport for several years and helped out at a florist shop before moving to Spokane in 1975.
Mrs. Weston was a member of the Mondovi Home Demonstration Club and Mondovi Grange.
Her husband, Maurice, died in 1975.
Survivors include a daughter, Gail Chinn, and a son, Warren Weston, both of Spokane; eight grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Phyllis Cryderman Spokane
Service for Phyllis Cryderman, 91, will be at 2 p.m. today at Hazen and Jaeger Valley Funeral Home. Burial will be at Pines Cemetery.
Mrs. Cryderman, who was born in Harriet, S.D., died Saturday. She was an 80-year Spokane resident.
She worked at the Naval Supply Depot in Spokane.
Her husband, Dewey, preceded her in death.
Survivors include a daughter, Shirley Forcum of Marysville, Wash.; five grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
Russell Wyle Spokane
Service for Russell R. Wyle, 84, will be at 2 p.m. today at Ball and Dodd Funeral Home-North. Burial will be at Fairmount Memorial Park.
Mr. Wyle, who was born in Chicago, died Thursday.
He graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill. In 1938 he graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. While there he was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Mr. Wyle did accounting work for American Lumber and Treating Co. in Chicago from 1938 until 1940. He was a general clerk at Joe L. Ryerson and Sons Inc. in Chicago from 1940 to 1942.
He joined the Army in 1942 and served during World War II. The Army sent him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for radar training. He then served overseas as a radar repairman. He rose to the rank of sergeant and served in Normandy, northern France, the Ardennes, the Rhineland, central Europe and in the air offensive in Europe. He also served during the Battle of the Bulge.
Mr. Wyle received an American Theater Ribbon European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with one silver battle star, a bronze star and one service stripe. He was honorably discharged in 1945 and then served in the Army Reserves until 1948. He re-enlisted in the Army in 1948 and was discharged in 1953.
After World War II he had worked for the Union Pacific Railroad and Brass Products in Chicago.
In 1946 he moved to Spokane and became a district manager for Kerr Mason Jar Co. He retired in 1966.
In 1969 he went to work for H&R Block Co. and retired in 1989. After he retired he operated a private income tax business in his home.
He was a member of the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, Shadle Presbyterian Church and the Spokane Humane Society. He was a charter member of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Commission, and was a former lifetime member of the Elks and Eagles lodges. Mr. Wyle was a 2000 Republican Party Inaugural Platinum Member. He received the Lifetime Excalibur Award in 1998 from the American Cancer Society.
His wife of 45 years, Kathryn, died in 1994.
Survivors include a daughter, Barbara Wilkes of Colbert; and one granddaughter.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Russell R. Wyle Fund for Cancer Research, American Cancer Society, 728 134th St. SW, Suite 101, Everett, WA 98204.
David Walters Spokane
Memorial service for David A. Walters, 50, will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Spokane Valley Elks Lodge. Riplinger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Walters, who was born in North Kingstown, R.I., died Sunday. He was a 10-year Spokane resident.
He worked at the Pre-Vocational Training Center.
Mr. Walters was a member of the Spokane Valley Elks and the Valley Show Time Review.
Survivors include a son, Jason of Germany; and father, Charles Walters of Spokane.
Johanna Roberts Deer Park
Memorial service for Johanna Ida Roberts, 86, will be at 1 p.m. today at Open Door Congregational Church in Deer Park. Lauer Funeral Home in Deer Park is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Roberts, a lifetime Deer Park resident, died Saturday.
She was a homemaker and helped her husband on the family dairy farm on Wildrose Prairie.
Mrs. Roberts was a lifetime member of the Williams Valley Grange in Deer Park. She was also a member of the Eagles and Deer Park Hospital auxiliaries.
Her husband, Lloyd, died in 1981.
She is survived by a daughter, Mary Jo Reiter, and two sons, Ernie and Lloyd Roberts Jr., all of Deer Park; two brothers, Hans Ziehnert and Ed Schmidt, and a sister, Elma Roberts, all of Deer Park; 15 grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.
Leona Garber Spokane
Memorial service for Leona A. Garber, 61, will be at 5 p.m. today at Sunset Chapel in Fairmount Memorial Park. Spokane Cremation and Burial Service is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Garber, who was born in Baltimore, died May 26.
She was a 30-year Spokane resident and a homemaker.
Her husband preceded her in death. Survivors include two sons, David and William Garber, both of Spokane; and two grandchildren.
Juanita `Neet’ Rogers Post Falls
Visitation for Juanita E. “Neet” Rogers, 70, will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Yates Funeral Home, Hayden, Idaho Chapel. Service is planned for 2 p.m. Monday at the Hayden Chapel.
Mrs. Rogers, who was born in Barling, Ark., died Saturday.
She moved to Canon City, Colo., at the age of 12. In 1947 she married Bob Rogers, and they settled in Spokane.
Mrs. Rogers was a homemaker and also worked as a sales clerk at the Veterans’ Administration Center canteen in Spokane for several years. She retired in 1979.
They moved to Post Falls in 1997, and she participated in dance activities.
Survivors include her husband; two daughters, Elaine Hansen of Newport, Wash., and Roberta Thrash of Medical Lake; a brother, Edward Parker of Westport, Wash.; three sisters, Joan Valentine of Spokane, Mary Warner of Pasco and Billie Kunes of Fontana, Calif.; seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of North Idaho, 280 W. Prairie Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815.
Lloyd Cook Coeur d’Alene
Viewing for Lloyd L. Cook, 73, will be from noon to 7 p.m. today at English Funeral Chapel in Coeur d’Alene. Service is planned for Saturday at 1 p.m. at the funeral chapel.
Mr. Cook, who was born in Kentucky, died Tuesday.
He moved to the Spokane area in the early 1960s and worked as a truck mechanic for several area companies, including Broadway Truck Service in Spokane.
Mr. Cook moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1976.
Survivors include a son, Sam Cook of Hayden, Idaho; four daughters, Sharon Shook and Susan Lane, both of Athol, Idaho, Patty Page of Priest River, Idaho, and Peggy Hammeren, of Cataldo, Idaho; a sister, Ruth Frost of Hollister, Calif.; his former wife, Norma Jean Scheneman of Kingston, Idaho; 11 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Kootenai Medical Foundation, 2003 Lincoln Way, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814.
Alberta (Cook) Brown Spokane
Memorial service for Alberta M. (Cook) Brown, will be held at a later date at Jewel Lake, British Columbia. The Neptune Society of Washington is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Brown, who was born in Caroline, Alberta, died Tuesday. She was 72.
She married John Brown in 1949.
Mrs. Brown moved from Bellingham to Spokane in 1966.
She was an advocate for adults with developmental disabilities and hosted several international students over the years.
Survivors include two sons, Christopher Brown of Spokane and John Brown of Vancouver, British Columbia; four daughters, Adrianne Brown of Spokane, Faith McDavid of Liberty Lake, Goldia Douglas of Bellingham and Sharman Anderson of Granite Falls, Wash.; a brother, Garfield Cook of Vavenby, British Columbia; six sisters, Louise Harrison of Wenatchee, Phyllis Bennett of Victoria, British Columbia, Arleigh Haynes of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Ellen Cousins and Mary Thompson, both of Kelowna, British Columbia and Shirley Thompson of Burnaby, British Columbia; and four grandchildren.