Obituaries

Robert Franz

Spokane

Memorial service for Robert A. Franz, 90, will be Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Menno Mennonite Church, west of Ritzville. Inurnment will be in the Menno Church Cemetery. Danekas Funeral Home, Ritzville is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Franz died Thursday.

He was born on the family farm west of Ritzville and lived in the house he was born in for nearly 86 years. He moved to Spokane in 2000.

He attended the Schrag (Wash.) Grade School and graduated from Lind (Wash.) High School in 1932.

He married Minnie Lund in 1944.

Mr. Franz owned and operated the family farm, where he raised primarily wheat but also other crops, including barley and potatoes. He was one of the first farmers in the area to water crops by deep-well irrigation. He invented and built equipment, including a self-propelled irrigation equipment mover to make early sprinkler systems more efficient. He also held a patent on a device to keep grain from becoming entangled in sprinkler heads.

A knowledgeable mechanic, he could repair or overhaul all kinds of farm machinery, automobiles and household appliances. He also extensively remodeled and built an addition to the family farmhouse.

Mr. Franz was active in efforts to bring electricity to rural areas of Adams County in the 1940s and served on the board of Big Bend Electric Co-op in Ritzville for 43 years, including some years as president.

He was a volunteer firefighter, and for many years a Lind fire truck was housed at the Franz farm.

He was a member of the Menno Mennonite Church, where he sang in the choir and served in many other positions, including as deacon. He was also active in the church on the local, regional and national levels. He was treasurer of the Pacific District Conference and served on the national boards of the church’s Board of Christian Service, Commission on Home Ministries and Mennonite Mutual Aid Association. He also served 12 years on the board of Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., and was a member of the committee that located and purchased land in the Cascade Mountains near Leavenworth, Wash., and oversaw the construction there of Camp Camrec, a Mennonite church camp.

Mr. Franz was also a member of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers and a past member of the Lind Toastmasters Club.

He enjoyed traveling and was an avid bowler, competing in leagues in Ritzville and Moses Lake for many years.

Survivors include his wife; two sons, Jay Franz of Spokane and Delwin Franz of New Hope, Penn.; two daughters, Roberta Hodgson and Carma Franz, both of Spokane; and two grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to Bethel College or the Camp Camrec Building Fund, c/o Menno Mennonite Church, 1378 N. Damon Road, Ritzville, WA 99169.

Irma ‘Maxine’ Wolfendale

Spokane

Funeral for Irma “Maxine” Wolfendale, 87, was Friday at Ball and Dodd Funeral Home.

Mrs. Wolfendale, who died Wednesday, was born in Moscow, Idaho.

She graduated from Moscow High School in 1935 and graduated from Deaconess School of Nursing. She came to Spokane in 1940 from Moscow and married William Wolfendale in 1945 in Spokane.

Mrs. Wolfendale was a registered nurse for Dr. Spencer and Dr. Blair from 1950 to 1970 and was a registered nurse for Dr. Baker for eight years, retiring in 1978.

She was a member of Deaconess Nursing Association, American Red Cross and First Church of the Open Bible. She and her husband were honored by the Friends of the Davenport Hotel. She also volunteered for the election board.

Her husband died in 1985.

Survivors include a son, Thomas Wolfendale; and two grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

Doris Jameson Mobberley

Coeur d’Alene

Memorial service for Doris (DeLain) Jameson Mobberley, 77, will be today at 11 a.m. at Yates Funeral Home, Hayden Chapel.

Mrs. Mobberley, who was born in Long Beach, Calif. died Tuesday.

She grew up in Boise and attended school there until moving to Portland for her senior year and graduated from high school there.

She returned to Boise and graduated from Boise Junior College and then married Bill Jameson in 1949. This marriage ended in 1963.

She earned her real estate license in 1963 and began a successful career in real estate.

Mrs. Mobberley co-owned Better Homes Realty in Boise from 1967 to 1978 and became the first woman president of the Boise Board of Realtors in 1971. She was also the first woman to be honored as Realtor of the Year in 1972 and was the first lady in Idaho to obtain a Graduate Realtor Institute designation.

She married Ray Mobberley in 1971 and they retired to

Coeur d’Alene in 1978 and lived in Cougar Gulch.

Mrs. Mobberley enjoyed playing cards, gardening, visiting with family and friends, and the outdoors.

She was also a talented storyteller and had a great sense of humor.

Her husband, Ray preceded her in death.

include three children, Dee Jameson of Hayden, Idaho, Scott Jameson of Meridian, Idaho, and Ginger Stone of Houston; two stepchildren, Glenn Mobberley of Boise and Carol Rivers of Cocolalla, Idaho; seven grandchildren and five stepgrandchildren.

Memorials may be made to Children’s Village, 1350 W. Hanley Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815.

Marabel Edmonds Rodell

Coeur d’Alene

Memorial service for Marabel Edmonds Rodell, 88, will be Tuesday at 11 a.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Coeur d’Alene, with burial at Forest Cemetery. Yates Funeral Home in Coeur d’Alene is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Rodell, who was born in Coeur d’Alene, died Thursday.

She graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 1933 and was a member of the Nifty Nine, a group of friends from this class who stayed connected with each other for more than 60 years through celebrations, reunions and visits.

She attended the University of Idaho and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

Mrs. Rodell marched with her brother, Duane, when they graduated together from Stanford University in 1937.

She worked as assistant to the dean of women at the University of Idaho until her marriage to Chet Rodell in 1940.

Mrs. Rodell was a founding volunteer of the Kootenai Medical Center Auxiliary and was a UI Vandal booster. The couple also established athletic scholarship funds for UI.

She was a member of the Hayden Lake (Idaho) Country Club, Chapter A.G. of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where she served as chair of the Snowflake Bazaar for 21 years.

Mrs. Rodell enjoyed traveling, photography and putting together photo memory books.

Her husband died in 1998.

Survivors include three children, Kathryn Hunt of Hayden, Idaho, Betsy Rodell of Liberty Lake and Sam Rodell of Spokane; and two grandchildren.

Edith Riddle

Chattaroy

Funeral Mass for Edith M. Riddle, 81, will be today at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Colbert. Riplinger Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Riddle, who was born in Sandpoint, died Thursday.

She was a nurse cadet during World War II, training at Farragut, and in 1946 graduated from the Sacred Heart nursing program. She worked in Sandpoint and Renton prior to moving to Spokane and retired from nursing at Sacred Heart in 1987.

Survivors include six children, Jim Taccogna of Post Falls, Sharon Curtis of Moscow, Idaho, Sandra Nuesse of Chattaroy, Sonja Hernandez of Sacramento, Calif., Mary Kay Lea of Lewiston and Lois Schlosser of Sumner, Wash.; 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Spokane.