1930s

Mildred Nutting (’30 Home Ec.), 95, February 22, 2003, Spokane. Homemaker.

Gladys Casteel (’31 Office Adm.), 94, April 17, 2003, Hamilton, Montana. Deputy school superintendent of Okanogan County. Executive secretary at the War Manpower Commission in Seattle. Worked for the U.S. Department of Labor National Employment Service. During WWII, attained the rank of lieutenant junior grade in the Navy with the U.S. Employment Service. Retired in 1970 after 30 years of service. Spend adult life in Seattle and Olympia areas. Chi Omega sorority.

Charles Meenach (’31 Agri.), 93, March 21, 2003, Spokane. Agriculture extension agent in San Juan County and Garfield County. Became State 4-H Club agent in 1941 and manager of the Spokane Interstate Fair in 1955. Retired in 1975.

Edward Wolf, Sr. (’32 Pharm.), 94, April 4, 2003, Spokane. Pharmacist in Rathdrum, Idaho; Pendleton, Oregon; Chewelah, and Cheney. Bought the Broadway Pharmacy in 1940 and operated it until 1952. Purchased the River Ridge Pharmacy, selling it in 1967. Worked at the Holy Family Hospital pharmacy, then was the supervising pharmacist at Eastern State Hospital at Medical Lake. Retired in 1976.

Robert Fulfs (’38 Ani. Husbandry), 87, April 4, 2003, Pullman. Family farmed. Strong supporter of agriculture at the local and state levels. Recipient of the Outstanding Alumnus Award in 1988 from the Department of Animal Sciences at WSU. Sixty-eight-year member of the Ewartsville Grange. Credited with writing the grange resolution that resulted in the law allowing citizens to pay sales tax only on the difference in value when they trade vehicles and farm equipment. Member of the National Farmers Organization.

1940s

Beth L. Barrett (’40 M.A. Bus. Adm.), 85, December 31, 2002, Medford, Oregon. Homemaker.

Stanley Dragnich (’40 Civil Engr.), 89, November 26, 2002, Richmond, Virginia. Served 27 years in the Army and Air Force. Retired in 1967 as a lieutenant colonel. Spent two years with an engineering firm in Saigon, Vietnam. His military career included tours of Alaska, France, Panama, Greenland, and Germany, in addition to Seattle, Walla Walla, Dallas, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

James C. Kraft (’41 D.V.M.), 84, April 25, 2003, Bellevue. Major in the Veterinary Corps while serving with the Army during WWII at Randolph Field, Texas. After the war opened Seattle Veterinary Hospital and, later, the Ballard Veterinary Clinic. Past president of the Washington and King County chapters of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Received the WSU Foundation’s highest honor, the Weldon B. Gibson Distinguished Volunteer Award, in 1996.

Lucille H. Baker (’42 Home Ec.), 82, November 25, 2002, Olympia, cancer. Worked for a number of Washington state agencies from 1961 to 1990, including Commerce & Economic Development, Employment Security, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Division of Social and Health Services. Also served as a legislator and a member of the Higher Education Personnel Board.

Carroll Dow (’43 D.V.M.), 81, January 5, 2003, Lodi, California, Alzheimer’s disease. Veterinarian, nursery owner, and grape grower in Lodi.

Robert Harvey (’43 Chem.), 81, March 28, 2003, Siesta Key, Florida. Army veteran of WWII and Korean War, retired as captain and received a Bronze Star. In 1986, retired as president of Amax Engineering and Management Group in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Leland Parker (’43 Engr.), 85, March 30, 2003, Corona, California. Ordnance specialist at the Pentagon during WWII. Worked for the National Bureau of Standards (now the Navy Welfare Assessment Center), transferring from Washington, D.C., to Corona in 1952. Retired in 1972. Later, created Parker Engineering, an agricultural engineering firm. Developed two patents and numerous agricultural products over 30 years.

Jean DeGlow (’44 Pharm.), 81, February 7, 2003, Spokane. Pharmacist.

William Corrigan (’46 Econ.), 68, December 10, 2002, Copalis Crossing, Washington, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Had a 27-year career in the U.S. Air Force. Was a pilot, air operations officer, and comptroller. Served in Vietnam and received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with six Oak Leaf Clusters, Joint Service Citation, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with three Oak Clusters & V Device, Air Force Organizational Excellence Award, and Vietnam Service Medal with four Bronze Stars. Lived in Spangle for 18 years before moving to Copalis Crossing for two years.

Mary Jane Woerner (’46 Gen. St.), 79, March 14, 2003, Spokane. Volunteer and gift shop buyer-manager at both St. Luke’s and Deaconess hospitals in Spokane. Assisted her husband in his business for nearly 40 years. Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

William Yerkes (’48 Botany, ’52 Ph.D. Plant Path.), 81, March 29, 2003, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retired professor and former chairman of plant pathology at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, where he spent nearly 15 years. Previously worked for Kimberley-Clark Corp. as a scientist at Neenah, Wisconsin, and earlier for the Rockefeller Foundation at Mexico City with the Green Revolution project. Served in the Pacific with the Army Medical Corps during WWII.

Jack Carlson (’49 Bus. Adm.), 77, January 29, 2003, Portland. Production analyst for Champion International. Lived in Eugene, Oregon; Lebanon; Stamford, Connecticut; and Santa Rosa, California.

Velma Williams Hyatt (’49 Home Ec.), 75, February 13, 2003, Spokane. Lived in many locations, including New Orleans; Salinas, California; Bahrain; and Ghana. Homemaker. Member of the WSU Cougar Club Directors’ Circle for 12 years.

1950s

Archie Dale Buys (’50 Pharm.), 81, January 4, 2003, resided in Heber, Utah, died in Mesa, Arizona. Medic and X-ray technician in the Army during WWII. Pharmacist and store manager for Payless Drug Stores in Oregon and Washington for more than 30 years.

Wallace Rasmussen (’50 Educ.), 90, February 22, 2003, Wilsonville, Oregon. High school teacher and superintendent in North Dakota, high school principal in Prescott, Washington. Retired as an elementary school principal in Phoenix, Oregon.

William Merritt Smith (’50 Phys. Educ.), 86, February 7, 2003, Federal Way, heart failure. Earned a physical therapy degree from Stanford, and started the Physical Therapy Department at Deaconess Hospital in Wenatchee, where he worked until 1960. Later employed by the William H. Rorer Pharmaceutical Co. as regional manager in Chicago, and traveled the West Coast as a broker/manager until retiring in 1986. Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

Ivan Corbridge (’52 Ph.D. Ag. Econ.), 85, October 15, 2002, Provo, Utah, pulmonary fibrosis. Participated in the invasion of Normandy during WWII as a captain in the Army Air Corps. His company was cited for meritorious service. He was awarded the Bronze Star. Professor of agricultural economics at Brigham Young University, 1952-82, during which time he served in foreign assignments in Argentina, Venezuela, Canada, and Mexico. After retiring, he served on assignments in Saudi Arabia and Peru.

Vernon Colenbrander (’54 Animal Sci.), 77, February 7, 2003, Bellingham. Named the 1954 WSU Agricultural Student of the Year. Dairy extension agent in Whatcom County, 1957-60. Became a professor in dairy nutrition at Purdue University in 1965. Retired from Purdue in 1990 and moved to Mabton to raise alfalfa. Moved to Lynden in 2000.

Shirley T. Gunston Dugan (’57 Home Ec.), 73, December 12, 2002, Tacoma. Worked in San Francisco before returning to Tacoma. Retired decorator/realtor.

Doris Spangler Gollnick Harwood (’57 Educ., ’77 M.A. Educ.), 67, April 3, 2003, Spokane. Private piano teacher for years in Pullman. Taught music in Moscow public schools (1981-89) and Lewiston, Idaho, public schools (1991-95).

Capt. Donald Holsten (’57 Econ.), 67, February 8, 2003, Houston, Texas, liver cancer. Joined the Navy in 1957, serving in Alaska, Spain, Germany, and Japan. Retired in 1982 from the Navy’s Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities Office, which coordinates and disseminates intelligence from space systems. Then was a consultant with Systems Planning Corp. in Arlington, Texas, and taught business classes at Montgomery College. Lived in Rockville, Texas, for 25 years before moving to Houston in 2002.

Betty Jean Vellias (’58 Music), 66, October 8, 2002, Roy, brain aneurysm. Teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent for elementary education in the Bethel School District for 30 years. Retired in 1990.

1960s

Gerald “Gary” Poor (’61 Ag. Econ.), 79, April 3, 2003, Lynnwood. County extension agent in charge of 4-H Club work in Longview. Began work in cooperative extension at state level at WSU in 1954. After retiring in 1980, he was a realtor for Century 21 in Pullman for nine years.

Kenneth A. Domina (’69 M.Ed.), 75, June 18, 2003, Ritzville. Teacher and principal in Trout Lake, 1961-64. Principal at Ritzville High, 1974-77, at Washtucna High, 1977-82, and at Joyce High, 1982-84. Substitute teacher until 1998.

1970s

Timothy Douglas Moore (’72 Pharm.), 53, March 5, 2003, Columbus, Ohio, cancer. Joined The Ohio State University Hospitals and College of Pharmacy in 1973. Received his master of science degree in 1979 from OSU. Clinical professor in the College of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and in the College of Pharmacy. Later, increased responsibility to senior director of pharmaceutical services. First recipient of the Richard B. Davies, M.D. Award for his efforts in integrating behavioral healthcare programs. Author and/or co-author of more than 100 publications.

Ben Burtzloff (’74 Pharm.), 63, November 13, 2002, Liberal, Kansas. U.S. Army veteran. Registered pharmacist in Washington and Missouri. Worked 18 years at Southwest Medical Center Pharmacy in Liberal. Retired in 1999.

Lynnette Stoltz Johnson (’74 Music), 51, March 13, 2003, Woodland. Band and classroom teacher for Yacolt and Amboy schools in Woodland and for the Green Mountain School District. Taught pre-school and adult GED classes in Brewster and Woodland. Member of the Battle Ground Community Band.

Robert Rodney Johnson (’75 Police Sci.), 53, April 4, 2003, Lacey. Joined the Aberdeen Police Department as a patrol officer in 1975. Promoted to detective sergeant in 1983. Became supervisor of the Grays Harbor County Drug Task Force in 1989, but returned to Aberdeen detective division in 1990. Assigned to supervise drug task force in 1992. Retired in 1993. Received Aberdeen Daily World’s Police Officer of the Year award in 1985.

Orlando “Red” Duran (’77 Industrial Tech., ’77 Teaching Cert.), 64, December 27, 2002, Alameda, New Mexico. Taught industrial arts in the Cuba and Los Lunas schools in New Mexico. Worked at Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute and the University of New Mexico.

1980s

Gina Tomasi (’84 Engl.), 42, January 30, 2003, Gig Harbor, cancer. Served as chief executive officer of Irving Cares, Inc. Was an English-as-a-second-language trainer for a Vietnamese relocation project.

Guy Stehly (’87 Ph.D. Pharm.), 49, March 6, 2003, La Crosse, Wisconsin. Worked for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1987-88; the Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, 1989; and the Food and Drug Administration’s Fishery Research Laboratory on Dauphin Island, Alabama, 1990-93. From 1993 on, he was a research pharmacologist at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center in La Crosse.

Faculty & Staff

Marvin Fairbanks, 81, February 17, 2003, Nampa, Idaho. WSU civil engineer and surveyor for 25 years.

Oliver H. Johnson (’36 Agri., ’52 M.S. Agri.), 91, June 21, 2003, Pullman. Joined WSC as an instructor in bacteriology and public health and as campus sanitarian in 1947. Moved through the ranks to assistant professor (’52), associate professor (’65), and professor (’73), splitting his time between his academic department and overseeing plant operation for University sanitation. Retired in 1976.

Jan Noel (’73 D.V.M.), 54, May 3, 2003, farm accident on family farm she owned with her husband, Jim Henson, near Enterprise, Oregon. Joined the WSU faculty in 1979 as a project development officer for International Program Development and associate project director, Western Sudan Agricultural Development Project. Prepared proposals and served as U.S. coordinator for projects totaling more than $100 million. At the time of her death, she was associate director of International Programs and an associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology at WSU. 

Sylvia Deavitt Steele, 71, February 22, 2003, Tiburon, California. Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.

Sherry Vaughan, 60, April 13, 2003, Portland, Oregon. Started at WSU in 1983 as an assistant professor in the College of Education, promoted to associate professor in 1989. Named acting associate dean in 1990. Went to WSU Vancouver as associate dean and associate professor in 1994. Returned to full-time teaching in 1995. Retired in 2001.