A6
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, MAy 23, 2019
OBITUARIES
Marion ‘Dennis’ Williams
Aloha
March 23, 1953 — May 14, 2019
Marion “Dennis” Williams, age 66, of an auto mechanic, and worked for Aircraft At
Aloha, Oregon, passed away on Tuesday, Your Call at Hillsboro Airport, Flight Craft at
May 14, 2019, in his home.
Portland International Airport and
Dennis was born March 23,
Napa Auto Parts for over 20 years.
1953, to Percy and Dorothy Wil-
Together, Dennis and Jodi had
liams in Astoria, Oregon. After
the opportunity to attend the Billy
graduating from Warrenton High
Graham crusade in Portland and
School, Dennis served in the Army
sing in the choir.
for four years.
Dennis was diagnosed with Par-
Shortly after being honorably
kinson’s in his early 40s. Despite
discharged, Dennis met the love of
being diagnosed at such a young
his life, Jodi Nickens, at a Wednes-
age, he continued working and
day night Bible study. Dennis and
being there for his children and
Marion ‘Dennis’
Jodi knew they were going to get
family.
Williams
married after only knowing each
Dennis is survived by his wife
other for 11 days, and officially
of 36 years, Jodi Anne Williams;
married on Nov. 13, 1982.
father, Percy Elliott Williams; sister, Linda
In the mid-1980s, Dennis and Jodi volun- Hawkins (Patrick); brother, Vernon Edward
teered at the Astoria Rescue Mission, where Williams; six children, Justin Elliott Wil-
they served meals and Dennis led worship liams (Steffini), Brandon David Williams,
Aaron Richard Williams, Vanessa JoyLynn
songs for their services.
Dennis had a strong passion for all things Williams, Christina Loraine Syed (Amar)
aviation. He enjoyed spending time fly- and Nathan Edward Williams; two grand-
ing from a young age, and never missed an children, Emillia Rose Williams and Sofia
air show in 27 years. He enjoyed launching Lynn Williams; and numerous aunts, cous-
rockets with his kids and flying remote-con- ins, nieces and nephews.
trolled airplanes. He received his pilot’s
A celebration of Dennis’ life will be held
license from Astoria Flight Service in high at Pegg, Paxson Springer Funeral Chapel in
school, and loved taking Jodi on scenic rides. Beaverton, Oregon, on Saturday, June 15,
Among Dennis’ many talents, he was also from 2 to 5 p.m.
Neal A. Wyatt
Seaside
Nov. 26, 1955 — March 23, 2019
Neal A. “Andy” Wyatt passed
peacefully on Saturday, March 23,
2019, at his home in Seaside, at
the age of 63, surrounded by his
family.
He is survived by his wife,
Angeline. He was the loving
father of Gabriel and Jonathan,
and proud grandfather of Lillian
and Levi.
Neal A. Wyatt
Andy will be fondly remem-
bered by family and friends as a
loving father, distinguished men-
tal health counselor, sharp-witted,
hunter and fisherman.
Memorial services will be held
on Saturday, May 25, 2019, at
2 p.m., at Cannon Beach Commu-
nity Church, 132 E. Washington
St. in Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Port: Stevens recently became more
critical of Knight’s performance
Continued from Page A1
Compared to fellow
commissioners, Hunsinger
and Rohne recently handed
Knight a lackluster evalu-
ation over his treatment of
tenants at the East Mooring
Basin and other setbacks,
including a legal defeat in
a lawsuit over operation of
the Astoria Riverwalk Inn.
A jury found Knight made
fraudulent statements to a
potential operator, while a
judge called Knight’s tes-
timony in the lawsuit not
“particularly credible.”
McClaine declined to
comment on Knight’s man-
agement but said he will
keep his eyes open.
“He’s genuinely con-
cerned about the operation
of the Port,” McClaine said
of Knight. “I can see that. I
can also see, in other con-
versations I’ve had with
him, he’s holding some
cards closely that, as an
employee, I had no busi-
ness knowing about. I just
knew there were cards.”
Port Commissioner Rob-
The winners on Tues-
ert Stevens, a retired Coast day will take on oversight
Guard captain appointed of a Port facing a $20 mil-
in 2017 to Position 4, was lion maintenance backlog
unopposed in the elec- on its crumbling World War
tion. He has also recently II-era infrastructure. The
become more crit-
Port Commission
ical of Knight’s
will soon review the
performance,
as
draft of a strategic
customers come for-
business plan three
ward and complain
years in the making.
of a lack of respon-
The plan is required
siveness from Port
to get more money
staff.
from the state to
Robert
This year’s Port
help fix its docks.
Stevens
Commission race
H u n s i n g e r ’s
was quiet compared
term ends in July.
to two years ago, when He could resign at a Port
the agency had three hotly Commission
meeting
contested campaigns. Vot- June 4 before leaving to
ers handily elected Com- Alaska for the commercial
missioner James Camp- salmon fishery and to give
bell and Dirk Rohne and McClaine a head start.
Frank Spence over Com-
But the public should
missioner Stephen Fulton still expect to see him
and Dick Hellberg and Pat overseeing the Port in any
O’Grady. Fulton, Hellberg capacity he can, Hunsinger
and O’Grady had formed said.
an alliance critical of Port
“I will continue the fight
management and Knight, just as hard, whether I’m an
while Campbell, Rohne elected official or not,” he
and Spence lauded staff’s said, “because I feel I’ve let
performance.
the public down.”
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Festival: ‘We do have plans to
come back bigger and better in 2020’
Continued from Page A1
Lutheran Church, Clatsop
Community College’s Per-
forming Arts Center and
Grace Episcopal Church.
“Yes, it is still happening.
But it’s just going to hap-
pen in a little more intimate
of a setting for this year and
focus on the work of the
young artists and get it more
out into the community
rather than centering every-
thing at the Liberty,” Guidi
said. “We do have plans to
come back bigger and better
in 2020.”
When organizers of the
three-week festival missed
deadlines in April to book
the Liberty stage and the
theater decided to fill those
slots with other perfor-
mances, people worried the
festival may not happen at
all.
Conductor Keith Clark,
the festival’s artistic direc-
tor, insisted in April that
performances would pro-
ceed at the Liberty at the
end of June. But the festival
remained largely uncom-
municative with the the-
ater about its plans, Crock-
ett said.
The Liberty Theatre
has been a key venue since
the founding of the Asto-
ria Music Festival in 2003.
Guidi still hopes to be able
to hold at least one festival
performance at the Liberty
this year.
Fundraising issues are
the primary reason the fes-
tival will not be as big next
month as in prior years.
“There are more nonprof-
its around than when we first
started and a lot of people’s
attention is getting divided
among the newer stuff ver-
sus the older stuff,” Guidi
said, adding, “It’s just a little
more of a competitive mar-
ket to get some of the dona-
tions that once came rather
easily.”
For now, Guidi says fes-
tival organizers will be put-
ting out more information
about performances and
concerts soon. Student per-
formers are expected to
arrive around June 12. The
first concerts will likely
occur during the week of
June 16.
The Astoria Music Fes-
tival usually runs for three
weeks at several different
venues. It is one of only a
handful of summer classi-
cal music festivals in Ore-
gon and has long been
well-regarded, able to draw
world-renowned perform-
ers and provide a signifi-
cant economic boost to local
businesses.
For many years, the festi-
val was the main event at the
Liberty each June. In recent
years, however, the Liberty
started producing its own
classical series and shows
to run throughout the year
and broadened its offerings
in general.
“The festival was cer-
tainly one of our largest
rentals and it hurts to lose
it, but it’s not devastating to
us,” Crockett said.
Still, the festival remains
important to the community
and to the many profession-
als who perform in it, Crock-
ett said. She hopes organiz-
ers will be able to regroup.
“Hopefully they can
come back stronger next
year,” she said.
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