Washington

Cooke, Irma Lucile Wilson – Obituary

Irma L. Cooke, 90, of Kittitas, died Sunday, Dec. 23, 1990, at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital in Ellensburg. She was born Aug. 26, 1900, in Wausau, Wis., the only child of Vernon E. and Caroline (Finup) Wilson. She earned her teaching degree at the University of Wisconsin at Grand Rapids and, following her graduation, she was a high school teacher teaching English, Spanish and piano. She came to the Ellensburg area in 1932. She was a member of the Kittitas Community Church, where she was organist and pianist. She and Norman L. Cooke were married in Ellensburg on March 29, … 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

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

Bender, William – Obituary

William Bender, a 71-year-old bachelor farmer of the Menastash Canyon District, died in his bed sometime Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Eugene King, a hired man, told the sheriff’s deputies and assistant prosecuting attorney Philip A. Davidson that he was in the habit of sleeping with Mr. Bender and arose at the customary hour Thursday morning, watered and fed the stock and started breakfast. He called Mr. Bender and after he failed to appear in a few minutes he went to the bed to awaken him and found him dead. As we go to press details of the funeral arrangements … Read more

Cooke, Edwin N. – Obituary

E. N. Cooke came her in 1870, leaving after 35 years. E. N. Cooke of Wenatchee, pioneer of the Kittitas Valley, died suddenly at the home of his son Claude Cooke of the Entiat yesterday morning died November 16, 1925. Mr. Cooke was born in Oregon in 1854 and with his family came to this valley in 1870. He lived here continuously from then until about 20 years ago when he moved to the Colockum near Wenatchee where he was interested in the fruit industry His wife and four sons, Claude, Clyde, E. N. and Jay, survive him and he … Read more

Ferguson, John M. – Obituary

John M. Ferguson Pioneer Is Dead Well Known Local Farmer Was Born In This State 56 Years Ago Death claimed another Kittitas county farmer, when John M. Ferguson, one of the pioneer farmers of the valley passed away last Friday [April 22, 1927] at the age of 56. Besides his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Ferguson, Mr. Ferguson who was unmarried is survived by five sisters, Mrs. W. T. Montgomery; Mrs. G. P. Harris, Mrs. George Minielly, Mrs. T. J. Morrison, Mrs. O. N. Phelps; and three brothers, Jim, George, and Ben Ferguson, all living in the valley besides a large number … Read more

Lee, William M. – Obituary

William M. (Billy) Lee, 68, widely-known Ellensburg resident, died at 8:45 p.m. last night [May 23, 1949] at the Morris Sorensen Memorial Hospital. He had been in the hospital for five days, but had been in failing health for some time. He had been a resident of Ellensburg nearly all his life. A native of Walla Walla, he is survived by his wife, Mrs. Geneva Lee, a son, Melvin Lee of Seattle; two half brothers; six half sisters and other relatives in this area. Funeral arrangements have not been completed. [Burial was in the IOOF Cemetery]. William was the son … Read more

Hayes, Robert Lewis – Obituary

The body of Robert Lewis Hayes, 36, who was electrocuted north of Spokane Monday morning [November 30, 1964], will be returned here by the Evenson Funeral Home for services and burial. His home was at Kittitas. Arrangements are pending the arrival [IOOF Cemetery]. Mr. Hayes was born May 30, 1928 in Ellensburg, attended Kittitas High School and served with the US Navy during the Korean War. He married Mollie Mullen on Sept. 21, 1957 in Kittitas and they had made their home there since that time. He was a member of the Moose Lodge and the Electrical Workers Union NO. … Read more

McEwen, Harvey – Obituary

Harvey McEwen Dies In Seattle Pioneer Valley Resident Came To Ellensburg In 1871 Harvey McEwen, 79-year-old former Ellensburg resident and one of the Kittitas Valley’s earliest pioneers, died in Columbus Hospital in Seattle yesterday afternoon [June 9, 1937]. He had made his home at Wapato for many years, and died while in Seattle on a visit. Mr. McEwen came to the valley in 1871 and lived near Ellensburg for 40 years. In 1921 he went to Wapato to farm, later retiring. He is survived by four sons, Oscar and Ernie McEwen of Ellensburg; Carl McEwen of Seattle, and Clarence McEwen … Read more

McEwen, Jerusah Amelia Morrow – Obituary

Mrs. Amelia McEwen, aged 63 years, died at her home in this county last Saturday [October 27, 1898]. The funeral services were held from the Methodist Church in this city on Monday, Rev. Smith officiating. Deceased leaves a husband and five children to mourn her loss. Jerusah was the daughter of William McMillan and Elizabeth Wyatt. She married John Hager McEwen on August 11, 1850 in Mahaska Co., IA. Contributed by: Sheli Steedman

McEwen, Mary Viola Peffers – Obituary

Mrs. Mary Viola McEwen, 60, died suddenly after suffering a stroke, at the Valley General Hospital early Tuesday, Mar. 11 [1958]. She was born Feb. 13, 1898 [1897] in Ellensburg, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Moses Peffers of this city. She was married to Oscar McEwen in 1914 and they had made their home at 801 E. Fourth Avenue for the past 40 years. She was a member of the Baptist Church. Survivors include her husband, two sons, Ralph McEwen of Toppenish and Mack McEwen of Seattle; a daughter, Mrs. Morris Miller of Eugene, Ore.; a stepdaughter, Mrs. … Read more

McEwen, James William – Obituary

James W. Mcewen Pioneer Is Dead Came To The Kittitas Valley In 1871 Health Had Been Failing Fast For Ten Months And Was Confined To Room 4 Months. James William McEwen, pioneer of the valley died yesterday [July 15, 1915] afternoon from leakage of the heart. He was born October 24, 1853 at Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa. As a child his heath was very poor and the physician advised the father to bring him to the west, which he did when William was a lad of only six years, crossing the Sound country in the fall of ’59, where they … Read more

McEwen, Mary Ellen Grunden – Obituary

The body of Mrs. E. J. McEwen who died in Seattle on Monday [May 23, 1916] after a long illness with pulmonary tuberculosis, arrived in Ellensburg last night and was taken to the parlor of M. L. Bridgham where it will lie until funeral arrangements can be made. Mr. McEwen is in Montreal, and will not be able to get here until Sunday or Monday. Mrs. McEwen, formerly Miss Mary Grunden, was born in Ellensburg and had lived here nearly all of her life, having attended the public schools here. She was 20 years of age, and was married in … Read more

Swearingen, Vernise Augustus – Obituary

Vernise A. Swearingen, 43, former Ellensburg resident, died Friday in a Tacoma Hospital from injuries received earlier last week in an accident at the Seattle-Tacoma shipyards where he was employed as a rigger. Plant officials reported that he was crushed while unloading steel plates when he slacked off on a safety line too soon and the plates tipped over on him. A veteran of World War I, Swearingen had enlisted for service in this war WWII, but was discharged because of a physical disability. He was awarded the Silver Star, Order of the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, and … Read more

Sisk, Clarence Charles – Obituary

Clarence Charles “Irish” Sisk, 69, was killed in an automobile accident near Mesa, Arizona on Wednesday February 6, 1974. He was born Nov. 8, 1904 in Yakima County and had spent most of his adult life in the Ellensburg area. He was married to Gladys Morrison, Sept. 16, 1929 in Wenatchee. He was employed by F. A. Kern as a ranch foreman and truck driver from 1933 to 1943. Later, he operated a ranch on the Kittitas Highway and more recently ranched north of Kittitas on No. 81 Road. He had been spending the winter at Apache Junction, Arizona. Sisk … Read more

Pedersen, Peder – Obituary

Peder Pedersen Dies In Seattle. Pioneer Kittitas Valley Farmer Succumbs Last Night. Peder Pedersen, 76, a Kittitas Valley pioneer, died in the Swedish Hospital in Seattle last night [May 25, 1941] after an illness of about a week. He came to the Kittitas Valley in 1889 and farmed in the Denmark District for many years. He was born in Denmark in 1865. He lived in the valley from the time he arrived here in 1889, but during the last few years frequently visited his children in Portland. Surviving him are two sons, Arthur of Ellensburg and Elmer of Seattle, and … Read more

Morrison, Rose Dorothy Davis – Obituary

Rose Morrison, 86, longtime Ellensburg resident, died Wednesday August 28, 1985 at Royal Vista Care Center. She was born in Missoula, Mont., on Aug. 16, 1899, and moved to the Ellensburg area at age 8 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Quincy A. Davis. She attended local schools and started to work for the Ellensburg Telephone Co. when she was 15. She was a telephone operator during World War I and handled the emergency created by the flu epidemic then. Her telephone-operating career was interrupted by her marriage in 1919 to Abraham B. Morrison. They settled in the Badger Pocket … Read more

Kinkade, Mabel A. Olson – Obituary

Mabel Kinkade, 86, a long-time resident of Kittitas County, died Tuesday November 10, 1981 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Born May 1, 1895, in Bottineau, ND, she came to the Kittitas Valley at the age of five with her parents. Her father, Ben Olson, managed the old Tjossem Flouring Mill, where the Millpond Mobile Manor now stands. She married Dallas Kinkade in 1917. He preceded her in death in 1951, as did two brothers and two sisters. She had lived off the Kittitas Highway all her married life and moved to Idaho six years ago. Mrs. Kinkade was along-time member of … Read more

Indermuhle, Samuel – Obituary

Samuel Indermuhle, 80, retired Badger Pocket and Denmark District farmer, died Thursday at Bernath’s Nursing Home. Born July 31, 1888, at Monroe, Wis., he came to the Kittitas Valley with his parents at the age of one year. Indermuhle farmed in the Badger Pocket and Denmark areas from 1936 until his retirement in 1964 when he moved to Ellensburg. He made his home at 700 S. Chestnut and was married to Estelle E. Montgomery in Oct., 1936. She preceded him in death in April 1965. A veteran of World War I serving in the Army, he was a member of … Read more

Indermuhle, Martin – Obituary

Martin Indermuhle, 89, of 411 So. Pearl St. died Tuesday May 12, 1981 in Kittitas Valley Community Hospital. He was born in Ellensburg, Sept. 22, 1891, a son of Christian and Susan (Zumbrunnen) Indermuhle. He and Hazel Hayes were married in Ellensburg, March 24, 1917. They farmed in Gooding and Meridian, Idaho from 1917 to 1931 when they returned to the Kittitas Valley. They farmed in the East Kittitas District until retirement in 1964 when they moved to Ellensburg. Survivors, in addition to his wife, include two sons, Marvin, of Beavercreek, Ore., and Merlin, of Kittitas; a daughter, Ellen Leader, … Read more