Herman Otto Arps, 97, of Ellensburg, died Saturday, March 26, 1994, at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital. He was born Jan. 2, 1897 in Nebraska, one of nine children born to Henry and Mary (Schultz) Arps.
Following his education in Nebraska, Herman traveled to Montana, where he farmed. After Montana, he migrated west, where he worked as a line foreman on various jobs in Washington, Oregon and California. He came to Ellensburg in the early 1940s. He and Lena Blair were married in Albany, Ore. in October 1946. He retired in 1970. His interests included vegetable and flower gardening. He was a member of the IBEW Union.
Mr. Arps is survived by three daughters and their husbands, Shirley and Bert Madsen of Helena, Mont., Donna and Frank Arata of Antioch, Calif., and Marie and David Freeman of Atlanta, Ga.; step-daughter Thelma Grant of Ellensburg; sisters Hattie Howell of North Bend, Neb., Clara Morris of Elmwood Park, Ind., Helen Alson of Winona, Minn., and Fern Arps of Fremont, Neb.; brother Dewey Arps of Sun River, Mont.; 14 grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren.
Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 30, 1994 at IOOF Cemetery in Ellensburg. Reverend Lowell Murphree will officiate. Memorials maybe be made to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1124 Columbia Street, Seattle, WA, 98104 or to charity of choice.
Contributed by: Shelli Steedman