Kittitas County WA

Whitson, Nellie Cooke – Obituary

Mrs. Nellie R. Whitson, 78, who first came to Yakima as a child in 1865 and was a member of one of the first white families to settle in the valley, died in St. Elizabeth’s hospital last night [January 2, 1939]. She was taken to the hospital Saturday for treatment for injuries received in a fall in her home. She lived with a daughter, Mrs. George W. Clark, wife of the city commissioner, at 602 South Eighteenth Avenue. Born in Polk County, Oregon, Mrs. Whitson came to the valley with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Cooke and settled … Read more

Wyatt, Lester Jay – Obituary

Lester Jay Wyatt, 27, teacher and head basketball coach of Hanford High School, died Tuesday [November 1, 1982] at his home in Richland. He was born in Ellensburg on Dec. 31, 1954, the only son of Marvin and Kathryn Wyatt of Ellensburg. He graduated from Ellensburg High School in 1973 and from Central Washington University in 1977 with a degree in education. Mr. Wyatt taught and coached for one year at Tonasket High School. Since 1979 he had been a teacher and coach at Hanford High. Survivors include his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Wyatt of Ellensburg; a sister, Mrs. … Read more

Cooke, Charles P. – Obituary

Charles P. Cooke, 80, native Fairview district farmer and stockman, died Tuesday at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital. He was born in Ellensburg on Feb. 10, 1892. His father, Mode D. Coke, came as a small child with his parents in 1871 from the New England states, through Independence, Ore., and Yakima. They were among the first settlers in the valley. Survivors include two brothers, Lester Cooke of Ellensburg and Frank Cooke of Prescott, Arizona; one sister, Mrs. Edna Dawes of Ellensburg. Funeral services are Friday, 1 p.m. Evenson’s Chapel, the Rev. Donald Meekhof officiating. Burial in IOOF cemetery. Charles parents … Read more

Barnhart, Pleasant Frederick – Obituary

Pleasant Frederick Barnhart, 70, son of original pioneers of Kittitas Valley, died Wednesday night, March 28 [1951], in a Pasco Hospital. He had made his home in Pasco since 1917 Barnhart was a veteran railroad man. He had been employed by the Northern Pacific since 1906 until retirement three years ago. Death followed illness of three months He was born here [Ellensburg] on October 7, 1880, and lived with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Barnhart, on the family farm in the Fairview District until he began his railroading career. In 1906, he went to live in Pasco, returned … Read more

Fulton, Arabella Clemens – Obituary

Arabella Fulton, Valley Pioneer, Succumbs Today. Mrs. Arabella Clemens Fulton passed away July 30 1934 at 3:45 a.m. at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Will German. She was born in Boone County, Missouri, on January 23, 1844. She crossed the plains in the spring of 1864 by wagon trains to Boise, Idaho. On November 24, 1864, she married Francis M. Fulton. Four children were born in Idaho; J. L., John Hugh, Della, and Isabelle. In 1872 Mr. and Mrs. Fulton moved by wagon train to Decatur, Wise County, Texas. In Texas the following four children … Read more

Biographical Sketch of David Ford

DAVID FORD. – This highly esteemed citizen, a portrait of whom is placed in this history, was born in Indiana July 27,1837. After his marriage to Miss Mary Medler, October 11, 1857, he was occupied at his home until the war of the Rebellion, in which he served as a soldier in the Union army, bearing an honorable part, and making a brave record up to the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, where he received a wound which made him unfit for service. He belonged to Company A, Eighty-fourth Indiana Volunteers. In 1872 he came to Missouri, and five years later … Read more

Covey, Rosa Mae Zumbrunnen – Obituary

Rosa Mae Covey, 84, of Cle Elum died Thursday [died April 30, 1998]. Mrs. Covey was born in Ellensburg and was raised in the Nanum area. She worked at various locations in the Kittitas Valley as a domestic, cared for sick people and was retired from KCAC Survivors include a son, Joseph O. Covey of Kent; a daughter, Bertha Mae Covey of Ellensburg; a sister, Bertha Morrison of Ellensburg; a brother, Fred Zumbrunnen of Ellensburg; five grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Cascade Funeral Home, Cle Elum Contributed by: Sheli … Read more

Alexander, Olive Rosa Lee – Obituary

Olive R. Alexander of 1326 Cherokee St. Mother of Nina M. McCormick and Lura V. Foreman, both of Denver, and Burl Lee Alexander, El Paso, Tex.; sister of Virgil R. Lee, Chehalis, Wash., and Bessie Rosemeyer, Indianapolis, Ind. Services Saturday 1 p.m., Moore’s, Clarkson at E. 17th Ave. to Fairmount. [Died June 26, 1959] Contributed by: Shelli Steedman

Hayes, Clarence – Obituary

Clarence R. (Bud) Hayes, a son of pioneer Kittitas Valley parents, died at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Yakima Monday at the age of 65. He had been hospitalized for three weeks and had been in failing health for about a year. Hayes was born at the family home in the Denmark district Dec. 13, 1891, the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. James T. Hayes, who settled on the ranch in 1883. He lived in the Denmark area until five years ago, when he moved to Yakima. He was married Jan. 23, 1913, at Ellensburg to Leza Louise Blair. … Read more

Covey, Harry Ovando – Obituary

Harry O. Covey, 83, of Cle Elum, died Monday, Dec. 24, 1990, at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital, in Ellensburg. He was born March 1, 1907, in Ovando, Mont., a son of Harry and Bertha (Paye) Covey. He lived for 10 years in Canada, where he delivered mail by dog team under contract with the Canadian postal service. For the past 51 years he had lived in the Cle Elum area, where he was a mink rancher. He was a member of the Swauk-Teanaway Grange. He and Rosa Mae Zumbrunnen were married in Ellensburg on Jan. 1, 1938. Survivors, in addition … Read more

Montgomery, William Thomas – Obituary

Valley Pioneer, Tom Montgomery, Succumbs today. Death follows a three months Illness; funeral to be held her on Thursday. W. T. Montgomery, 74, Kittitas Valley pioneer, passed away at the home of his daughter Mrs. Leta Bates, 200 N. Sprague Street early this afternoon [December 22, 1931]. Mr. Montgomery’s death followed an ailment of three months duration, which confined him to bed. His passing marks the end of another pioneer life vividly reminiscent of long treks over the plains in covered wagons. His entry to the Kittitas Valley was from California in 1861 when he made the trip in a … Read more

Wheeler, Abraham Lincoln – Obituary

Death came here yesterday [April 1, 1937] at noon to Abe Wheeler, seventy-three, whose 66 years of residence in the Kittitas Valley covered almost the entire period of white men’s settlements in this vicinity. The last of six children who came to the Kittitas with their pioneer parents in 1871, he died at the Ellensburg General Hospital after an illness of three weeks and following an operation performed on Tuesday. His death not only took another from the ranks of the valley’s pioneers, but separated that community’s oldest living married couple, as well. Surviving him is the widow, Mrs. Laura … Read more

Nicol, Robert W. – Obituary

Robert W. Nicol, 93, former Ellensburg resident and Wilson Creek area farmer, died Thursday in Yakima. Funeral services will be Monday, 2 P.M., at Evenson’s Chapel. A complete obituary will appear in a later edition. Nicol, Robert W. Robert W. Nicol, 93 former Ellensburg resident and Wilson Creek farmer, died Thursday, June 07, 1973 in Yakima, where he had lived for the past three years. He was born in Scotland, Feb. 1, 1880, and came to the United States in 1900. In 1901 he settled in the Colockum area where he homesteaded for many years and ran wild horses. He … Read more

Biography of Walter A. Bull

WALTER A. BULL.- In the gentleman whose name heads this brief memoir, we find one of the most substantial farmers of the Kittitass valley, and the owner of the beautiful ranch, a view of which finds a place in this work. He is a native of Albany, New York, and was born June 20, 1838, being the son of John and Sarah (Fish) Bull. When our subject was ten years of age, he with his parents moved to Racine, Wisconsin, where his father engaged in the shipping business on the lakes, and where Walter attended school and resided until twenty … Read more

Hayes, James Thomas – Obituary

James T. Hayes, Kittitas Valley pioneer, passed away at his home Friday, May 24 [1935], at the age of 79 years and one day. He was born in Iowa, May 23, 1856, and came to this valley 52 years ago and has remained here since that time. Besides his widow to whom he was married 59 years ago he is survived by seven children, three brothers, and one sister. The children include John, George, Abe, Clarence, Harry, Mrs. Louis Bender and Mrs. Dora Willis, all of this city. The brothers are Sam and William of Ellensburg and Milo of Idaho … Read more

Curtis, James H. – Obituary

James H. Curtis, one of the early pioneers of the valley, who came here in 1873, died suddenly last Saturday at Brewster, Wash., according to work received here. He was born July 1, 1849, in McCoon County, Mich. In 1875 he was married in The Dalles, Ore., to Miss Samantha Wheeler. Four of their six children are living Mrs. Tillie Hayes and Mrs. Etta Vaughn of Ellensburg, and Mrs. May Goldberg and Wesley Curtis of Brewster are surviving children. Mrs. Rose Carver of this city is a sister. There also are 28 grandchildren and four great grandchildren. His widow, Mrs. … Read more

Bradshaw, Pearl Catlin – Obituary

Mrs. Frank H. Bradshaw, 59, passed away at her home at 408 North Kittitas Street last evening of a heart attack following a protracted illness. Pearl Catlin Bradshaw was born in Ellensburg, November 16, 1873, and on June 9, 1905 was married to Frank H. Bradshaw, who survives her. She leaves five children, all of whom are present except John F. Bradshaw, who is an assayist for a gold mining company in Baguio, Philippine Islands; Charles A. and Paul R. of Ellensburg; Maud, a teacher in Montesano; and Mrs. Dennis Dinchen of Sedro Woolley and a brother, Claude. Funeral services … Read more

Prater, Julia Alice Harrell – Obituary

Mrs. Felix G. (Alice) Prater, 87, died Sept. 23 [1970] in a Seattle nursing home. Mrs. Felix lived for 60 years in the Ellensburg-Thorp area and in 1953 retired as a housemother at Central Washington College and moved to Burien. She lived in Des Moines, Wash., the past two years. Survivors include a son, Dorsey Prater of Burien; a daughter, Mrs. Glen (Gertrude) Kelley of Mt. Vernon; a grandson, Dr. Timothy Kelly of Corvallis, Ore., and two great grandsons. She has several nieces and nephews living in the Kittitas Valley and on the coast. Services will be Monday at Parkers … Read more

Wangeman, Minnie Myrtle Prater – Obituary

Funeral services will be Monday at Greens Funeral Home, Bellevue for Mrs. Minnie Wangeman, former Ellensburg resident who died at her home on Mercer Island Tuesday [November 4, 1958]. She was a long-time resident of Ellensburg, having come here in the early 1880s with her parents, the Felix Praters, and lived here until 10 years ago when she went to live with her son, Dr. C. P. Wangeman in the coast. She was born in Missouri [Ellensburg, WA], October 19, 1876. She is survived by her son, Dr. Wangeman, a daughter, Mrs. Harold Murley of Dearborn, Mich.; a stepson Max … Read more

Ferguson, James – Obituary

James Harvey Ferguson, 93, member of a pioneer Kittitas Valley family, died Saturday, October 18, 1969 in a Seattle nursing home. He was the son of James Ferguson and Elizabeth McEwen Ferguson, and the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. John McEwen. The Ferguson and McEwen families came to the Kittitas Valley in 1871 over the Snoqualmie Pass from the Puget Sound Country. The McEwens bought land in what is now known as the Denmark District. The Fergusons settled on a homestead close by Naneum Creek, where they built a log cabin. In this log cabin, James Harvey Ferguson was born … Read more