1920s

Clarence Sprague (’27 Elect. Engr.), 98, April 18, 2003, Stanwood. Spent his professional career with Pacific Northwest Bell Co. in Seattle. Moved to Stanwood area in 1979.

George Edwin Rodman (’28 Elect. Engr.), 98, April 8, 2003, Wheaton, Illinois. Supervisor of education and training for Commonwealth Edison for many years. Later worked for Harza Engineering doing project site evaluations overseas.

1930s

Anne Harder Wyatt (’31 Fine Arts), 95, June 26, 2003. Helped with the family farm, Rothrock Cattle Ranch, for several years, while also attending the Nespelem Art Colony for three summers, 1937-39. Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.

Max P. Williams (’32 Arch. Engr.), 93, March 29, 2003. Served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Self-employed architect.

Velma Scott Camp (’33 Econ.), 92, June 25, 2003, LaCrosse. Homemaker. Married Walter Camp in 1934. Lived in LaCrosse until her husband’s death in 1978, then moved to Spokane and returned to LaCrosse 17 years later. Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

James Chester “Chet” Gordon (’33 Gen. St.) September 28, 2003, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Member of the Washington State House of Representatives for more than a decade. Moved to Alaska in 1956. Following the death of a son, Tim, in an accident, he dedicated the next 14 years to Alaska youth. Founder and president of the Boys Club of Alaska.

John Albert Nelson (’33 Gen. St.), 91, September 21, 2003, Longview. Physician and surgeon for the 18th Army Corps of Engineers in the Shumagin Islands during WWII. Owned a 270-acre tree farm in Castle Rock, 1968-76.

Fae C. Bishop (’36 Home Ec.), 87, July 7, 2002, Beaverton, Oregon. Employed during WWII in the Seattle shipyards. Moved to Coulee City in 1952 and worked for the Bureau of Reclamation in Ephrata. Returned to Seattle in 1960, and worked for the U.S. Navy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Dorris Merle Butherus (’37 Speech & Hearing Sci.), 88, April 2, 2003, Spokane. Speech therapist for the Portland School District for more than 20 years.

Phyllis McComb Carr (’37 Home Ec.), 80, May 2, 2003, Lynnwood. Taught in Coulee City and Oroville, then at Lynn-wood Junior High for 15 years.

Beth I. Gilbert (’37 Home Ec.), 89, June 22, 2003, Spokane Valley, pancreatic cancer. Four decades of students passed through her classrooms at Deer Park and Central Valley high schools, and Greenacres and Bowdish junior high schools in the Spokane area before she retired in 1977.

Robert “Bob” Rathjen (’37 Arch. Engr.), 91, April 28, 2003, Bothell, cancer. Licensed as an architect in 1946. Had licenses in four states. Owned an architectural firm in Kirkland, specializing in churches.

Ethel V. Archibald (’38 Bus. Adm.), 89, May 31, 2003, Beaverton, Oregon. Bookkeeper and secretary for Commercial Real Estate.

Dan Winfield Eagle (’39 Bus. Adm.), 89, November 26, 2003, Spokane. Head of national advertising for The Spokesman-Review for 38 years. Named Ad Man of the Year by the Spokane Advertising Federation in 1969. One of the founders of the Spokane Interstate Fair. Recipient of the WSU Alumni Achievement Award in 1997.

Barbara S. Schoening (’39 Bus. Adm.), January 28, 2003. Delta Delta Delta sorority.

1940s

Jean Hinton Bennion (’40 Speech & Hearing Sci.), 84, June 16, 2003, Spokane. Homemaker.

Christie Livedalen Carlson O’Connell (’40 Dietetics), 85, September 19, 2003, Spokane. First dietitian at Gonzaga University. Joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and was stationed in Alaska. Took over parents’ farm in Rockford in 1963.

Doris Johnsen Garner (’40 Educ.), 86, June 12, 2003, Spokane Valley. Taught business at Lindberg High School in Valleyford and advised the school newspaper and yearbook staffs. Began teaching at Central Valley High School in 1962. Retired in 1977.

Gordon L. Maurice (’40 Chem.), 84, April 9, 2003, Portland, Oregon. Graduated from the University of Oregon Medical School. Served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII. Cardiologist, medical researcher, and director of the Earl Chiles Research Institute, which he launched in 1965. (See story in Washington State Magazine, spring 2002, page 43.)

Russell L. Braden (’42 Econ.), 82, April 4, 2003, Beaverton, Oregon. Served in the U.S. Army during WWII. Taught business at the University of Portland and later was an investment manager for Bill Gregory and Associates.

Georgia Coleman McKinney (’42 Educ.), 86, March 25, 2003, Corvallis, Oregon. Taught at Powder River and Ontario in Oregon, and Omak and Palouse in Washington. Taught at the University of Florida, 1956-57. Later worked at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.

Robert A. Cleland (’43 Chem. Engr.), 82, April 30, 2003, Tacoma. Army officer in WWII with an amphibious truck company. Participated in the D-Day invasion of Leyte and Okinawa. News director for KELA-AM radio in Centralia. Moved to KTNT-TV in Tacoma as news director. Technical writer for Boeing, 1966-88. Theta Chi fraternity.

Carol P. Jamison (’46 Gen. St.), 78, June 20, 2003, Portland. Owned Jamison’s Fashion Artisans in Portland, 1948-72.

Frances L. Smith (’46 Home Ec.), 92, April 11, 2003, Cheney. Taught in Naselle and later in Hoquiam. Ran Smith Jewelers in Cheney for 30 years.

H. Wayne Kirby (’47 Gen. St.), 77, April 20, 2003, Seattle. Ran a division of Lucky Stores when Big Bear was bought out. Promoted to vice president of the San Francisco Bay area and southern California Big Bear stores.

Lenore Russell (’47 Arch.), 79, April 5, 2003, Edmonds. Draftsman for Boeing during WWII. Later a real estate agent. Retired in 1990. Founding president of the WSU chapter of the Delta Gamma sorority.

Ednell Snell (’47 Home Ec., ’53 M.S. Home Ec., ’65 Ed.D.), 82, October 14, 2003, Ellensburg, pneumonia. Longtime University of New Mexico professor of home economics. Received New Mexico’s Home Economist of the Year Award. Returned to the Kittitas Valley in 2001.

Don Axworthy (’48 Gen. St.), 81, May 1, 2003, Bozeman, Montana. Became co-owner of Welder’s Supply in Seattle in the mid-1960s. Former president of the National Welding Society of America.

1950s

R. Tom Baker (’50 Math.), 74, July 8,

2003, Bainbridge Island, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. Army officer during the Korean conflict. Worked in the oil fields in Venezuela, 1955-59. Partner with MBA Consulting Engineers, Anchorage, Alaska, 1959-96.

Janet H. Barnes (’50 Bact.), 74, June 24, 2003, Anchorage, cancer. Flight attendant from Seattle to Salt Lake City for United Airlines, 1952-54. Amway/Quixar distributor for past 20 years. Also worked for Anchorage School District Library Resources and was a corporate secretary of Alaska Signs and Barricades.

Army Lt. Col. (ret.) Wesley B. Brown (’50 Geology), 75, of Olympia, September 27, 2003, Seattle. Received commission through WSU’s ROTC program. Returned in 1957 for three years as an ROTC instructor. Spent 20-year career in the Army. Had assignments in Okinawa, Berlin, Korea, and Vietnam. Retired in 1971 in Olympia. Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity.

Stanley Daniel Cameron (’50 Hist., ’51 English, ’53 M.A. English), 74, October 28, 2003, San Antonio, Texas. Pursued doctoral studies in English at the University of New Mexico. Joined the English faculty at East Central State University in Ada, Oklahoma, where he remained until he retired in 1991.

Sylvan Rae Ruud (’50 Psych.), 77, May 23, 2003, Arcadia, California. Volunteer and board member of the Colorado Humane Society.

Lt. Col. Harold “Art” Hunter (’51 Bus. Adm.), 76, June 11, 2003, Orting. Served in the U.S. Air Force 21 years. An accountant during the Korean conflict and a pilot during the Vietnam War.

Richard Hemmerling (’52 Hort.), 77, June 8, 2003, Portland. Horticulturist in Portland for the Oregon Department of Agriculture for 31 years.

Richard John Smith (’52 Bus. Adm.), 72, June 4, 2003, Spokane. Served in the U.S. Air Force in France and Germany for three years, flying the F-86F fighter jet. Retired from the Air Force as a SAC wing commander in 1976. Piloted the Boeing 707 commercially to Central America, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East as chief pilot for Saudi royalty. Assumed responsibility for the corporate aviation department of Bell South Co.

Ralph Nichol Smith (’53 D.V.M.), 81, May 24, 2003, Hemet, California, cancer. Veterinarian for 50 years.

David Guettinger (’54 Agri., ’62 M.S. Soils, ’65 Ph.D. Soils), 71, October 2, 2003, Seattle, complications during heart surgery. WSU Extension soil scientist. Worked for Cominco American in Spokane for 23 years. Retired in 1992. Volunteer with the Service Corps of Retired Executives for 10 years.

Roy Joseph McDonald (’54 Bact. & Public Health), 82, October 22, 2003, Colfax. Pioneer in the nursing home industry. Served with the Navy in WWII in the Battle of Bougainville and Guadalcanal. Received the Purple Heart after being wounded in the invasion of Guam. Received the American Nursing Home Administrator of the Year Award in 1967 and 1969, and the American Nursing Home Better Life Award in 1968. Coordinated the repatriation of more than 100 Cuban refugees in 1961 and 350 refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos since 1971.

Lois Freese Beaudry (’55 Bus. Adm.), July 15, 2003, Everett. Entered the retailing field, raised four children, retired as a special education teacher in Mountlake Terrace. President of Delta Zeta sorority. One of WSU’s outstanding seniors in 1955.

Tom Brutzman (’55 Bus. Adm.), 69, of Kennewick, October 21, 2003, Seattle. Complications after knee surgery. President of Brutzman’s, Inc., office solutions in Kennewick. Served on WSU Tri-Cities advisory council for 10 years. Member of WSU Concert Choir and Theta Chi fraternity.

Gerald “Jerry” Kraft (’56 M.S. Entom.), 75, August 16, 2003, Yachats, Oregon. Taught entomology and zoology at Western Washington University for 36 years. Founded the Institute of Freshwater Studies. Chaired the biology department. WWU chief premedical advisor for 20 years.

George Walter Porter (’57 Animal Sci.), 76, April 5, 2003, Midway, North Carolina. Served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Chief appraiser for the USDA’s Farm Home Administration in Washington, D.C.

Richard J. “Dick” Pace (’58 Wildlife Biol.), 70, November 6, 2003, Snohomish. Founded Universal Seafoods, now UniSea, in 1974. Firm president and CEO until he retired in 1998. Served on many governmental committees. Chaired Campaign WSU for the College of Agriculture and Home Economics. Memorial gifts can be made to the Fishermen’s Memorial or the WSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Don Aaron Williams (’58 Police Sci.), 72, July 19, 2003, Benton City. Moved to Salem, Oregon, in 1970. Director of training for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Portland. Retired in 1978.

1960s

Ken Spain (’63 Const. Mgmt.), 63, April 19, 2003, Vancouver, brain tumor. For 34 years, he worked for the City of Vancouver, B.C., and then for the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation as manager of operational systems.

Bjorn Erik Grobstok (’64 Bus. Adm.), 62, September 29, 2003, heart attack. He and his brother, Per (’58 Bus. Adm.), owned Royal Scandinavian Bathrooms. Bjorn wrote his M.B.A. special project paper on Norway as an export market in 1965. He moved to Oslo after college, and started an import business with Per.

Carolyn Schlien Quantrille (’65 Bus. Adm.), 60, June 19, 2003, Spokane. Taught at Washougal High School. Moved to Spokane in 1968 and taught business at Spokane Falls Community College for 31 years. Served as president of the Washington State Business Education Association and was named Washington State Business Educator of the Year.

1970s

Dee Dobbs Harrison (’72 Humanities), 84, September 4, 2003, Centralia. President of the Albion Women’s Club, head of the Albion Library, and president of the Guy-Albion Historical Society. Author of the book Albion School Days 1885-1946: A History and Album of the Albion Schools in 1989.

Bruce G. Fritch (’76 ), 48, May 15, 2003, Snohomish. Second-generation owner and operator of Fritch Mill, which was started in 1950. Owned an apple orchard in Manson.

Ruth Harriet Thorne Gray (’78 M.A. Clothing & Textiles), March 14, 2003, Prescott, Arizona, cancer. Lived in Hawaii before moving to Arizona.

1990s

Peter Michael Putnam (’90 Bus. Adm.), 35, October 20, 2003, Twin Lakes, Idaho. Lived and worked in Reno, Nevada, Palm Springs, California, Graham, Washington, and Seattle until the time of his illness in Anchorage, Alaska, where he sold commercial insurance. Sigma Nu fraternity.

2000s

Rafael Mendoza (’00 Fine Arts), of Pullman, October 14, 2003, Sacred Heart Medical Center, Spokane, apparent aneurysm.

Linda Kay McDowell Sillito (’00 Elem. Educ., ’00 Teach. Cert.), 53, April 25, 2003, Benton City. Schoolteacher and resident of the Tri-Cities area for the past 26 years.

Faculty and Staff

Isaac Ferguson “Ike” Deeter  (’29 Phys. Educ., ’32 M.S. Phys. Educ.), 101, November 29, 2003, Pullman. WSU boxing coach, 1931-1959. His 1937 team won WSU’s first national championship. After WSU dropped boxing, he continued to teach physical education classes in boxing and fly-fishing until his retirement in 1965. Served in the U.S. Navy for four years during WWII. He was one of the inaugural inductees into WSU’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978.  (See story in Washington State Magazine, winter 2002-03, page 50.)

Joyce Guske, 75, June 5, 2003, Moscow, Idaho. WSU accounting assistant for 30 years.

Larry D. Myers, 66, July 20, 2003, Palouse. Purchased the Pullman City Club with a partner in 1968. Renamed it Charlie Brown’s Tavern. Started C and L Vending in 1969. Moved to Palouse in 1970 and started the Wooden Nickel Tavern. Worked as a maintenance mechanic for WSU.

Vernon A. Hanson, 71, October 17, 2003, Moscow, Idaho, apparent heart attack. WSU electrician from 1976 until his retirement five years ago.

Marvin W. Kammeyer, 83, October 21, 2003, Hope, Idaho. Served with the Army during WWII and the Korean War. WSU carpenter, 1952-74.