A5
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, FEbRuARy 24, 2022
OBITUARIES
Janet ‘Jan’ Kay (Simonsen) Ferguson
Robert R. MacDonald
Warrenton
May 5, 1952 — Jan. 22, 2022
Silver Peak, Nevada
1947 — 2022
Janet “Jan” Kay (Simonsen) Club dog show.
Ferguson died peacefully at her
She had many memorable jobs
home on Jan. 22, 2022, after a throughout her life that always
short battle with cancer.
provided her with a
Jan was born in
plethora of stories to
Astoria, and entered the
share with others. Her
world on May 5, 1952.
tales of bartending,
She was the second
dog grooming, book-
keeping and brownie
child of Howard and
baking were always
Colleen Simonsen.
She grew up in Ham-
entertaining.
mond, and spent most
Her favorite job, and
of her life in the War-
the one she enjoyed the
renton and Hammond
most, was working for
Janet Ferguson
area. She was a gradu-
Clatsop County Edu-
ate of Warrenton High
cation Service Dis-
School, Class of 1969. She gave trict. She always looked forward
birth in Astoria to her son, Jona- to helping the students and get-
thon W. Brown, in October 1972. ting ready for the Clatsop County
She met her husband, Terry Fair.
Ferguson, in 1980. In 1984, she
Jan could make friends wher-
ventured to California and Ari- ever she went; her smile and
zona for several years, pursu- friendliness were what attracted
ing Terry’s construction work, others to her. She openly shared
but they soon found themselves her help and knowledge with
returning to the area she called anyone about a multitude of top-
ics, including baking ideas and
home.
Jan’s family has lived in Clat- advice, travel, crafts and any-
sop County for many genera- thing animal-related.
tions. She always loved the area,
She was on the park commit-
tee that established the Warrenton
even the wind and rain.
Jan and Terry had many dog park. She was always excited
adventures. They traveled often, to experience a new local shop or
and it was rare that they weren’t restaurant.
off on some adventure over the
Jan was preceded in death by
weekend in their RV.
her father, Howard Simonsen
At home, she had many hob- (2004) and her mother, Colleen
bies. She was a talented art- Simonsen (2017). Her brother
ist with her drawings, quilting, Robert “Robbie” Simonsen
beautiful cross stitching, baking (1994) was lost while skippering
and cooking. Her family is going a crab boat in the Gulf of Alaska.
to miss her cinnamon rolls, cran-
She will be forever missed by
berry sauce, cheesecakes, mac- her husband, Terry Ferguson, of
aroni and potato salads and the Warrenton; her son and his wife,
dinner rolls that she brought to Jonathon and Laura Brown, of
each holiday meal.
Astoria; and her pups, “Dozer,”
Many of her favorite activi- “Winnie” and “Piper.” She is
ties included animals: dogs, cats, also survived by her brother,
horses, birds and even raccoons. Mark Simonsen, of Hammond,
She was always looking to help and nieces, nephews and many
when an animal was in need. For cousins.
many years, Jan and Terry cared
The family would like to thank
for several horses that were res- the CMH-OHSU Knight Can-
cer Collaborative and Columbia
cued from an abusive owner.
She was mom to many Old Memorial Hospital staff for the
English sheepdogs. Over the last care that they provided.
few years she could be found
A celebration of life will be
traveling the West Coast and held on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m.
attending dog shows with her at the Gateway Masonic Lodge,
three Old English sheepdogs 66 S.W. Fourth St. in Warrenton.
from the SnowDowne line. Two
In lieu of flowers, please send
of her dogs became grand cham- donations to: Clatsop County
pions, and one pup barely missed Animal Shelter, 1315 S.E. 19th
going to the Westminster Kennel St., Warrenton, OR., 97146.
Robert MacDonald, of Sil-
ver Peak, Nevada, passed away in
the evening of on Feb. 18, 2022.
He was traveling from Tonopah,
Nevada, to his home in Silver Peak,
with his friend, Jesse Mazur, when
he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Rob’s life work was varied, as he
worked as an engineer in the Alaska
(Akutan) and Northwest coast com-
mercial fishing industry for many
years. One of his most prolific cap-
tains said, “he was the best man on
a fishing vessel I ever had!”
Also, he and his brothers worked
in the Nevada mining industry, and
he was a mechanical wizard. There
wasn’t an antique automobile, or
part or engine he couldn’t identify,
expound about or work on!
Finch, and his wife, Alyssa, and
their children, Leontine and Albin,
of Washington.
Rob was a unique, “one of a
kind” person who had many long-
time friends throughout his life.
Gunter’s Funeral Home in Haw-
thorne, Nevada, is charged with the
arrangements, and the MacDonald
family will be planning “a celebra-
tion of a special life” on the coast of
Washington this summer.
Rob was a friend to all animals;
please consider a donation in his
name to: the Tonopah Animal Shel-
ter, 20 Goldfinch Lane, Tonopah,
NV., 89049; or the South Pacific
County Humane Society, P.O. Box
101, 330 Second St. N.E., Long
Beach, WA., 98631.
He was a master storyteller and
loved listening to the blues.
He is survived by many who
loved him and will miss him very
much. His family members are: a
son, R. Gideon MacDonald, and
his wife, Heather, of Nevada; a son
and a daughter, Matthew and Emily
Ayn MacDonald, of Washington;
brothers, Bruce MacDonald, and
his wife, Kristine, of Washington,
Douglas MacDonald, of Washing-
ton, and Brodie MacDonald, of
Oregon; sisters, Mary MacDonald
Garner, of Oregon, and Janie Mac-
Donald, of Arizona; granddaugh-
ter, Kendra Perry, of Oregon; niece,
Tara Hano, and her husband, Jeff,
and their children, Ravyn and Cam-
eron, of Oregon; and nephew, Joel
Wildfires getting worse globally with
governments unprepared, report says
By MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. — A warm-
ing planet and changes to land use
patterns mean more wildfires will
scorch large parts of the globe in
coming decades, causing spikes
in unhealthy smoke pollution and
other problems that governments
are ill prepared to confront, accord-
ing to a United Nations report
released Wednesday.
The Western U.S., northern
Siberia, central India and eastern
Australia already are seeing more
blazes, and the likelihood of cata-
strophic wildfires globally could
increase by a third by 2050 and
more than 50% by the turn of the
century, according to the report
from the United Nations Environ-
ment Program.
Areas once considered safe
from major fires won’t be immune,
including the Arctic, which the
report said was “very likely to
experience a significant increase in
burning.”
Tropical forests in Indone-
sia and the southern Amazon of
South America also are likely to
see increased wildfires, the report
concluded.
“Uncontrollable and devas-
tating wildfires are becoming an
expected part of the seasonal cal-
endars in many parts of the world,”
said Andrew Sullivan, with the
Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation
in Australia, one of the report’s
authors.
The report describes a worsen-
ing cycle: Climate change brings
more drought and higher tempera-
tures that make it easy for fires to
start and spread, and in turn those
blazes release more climate-chang-
ing carbon into the atmosphere
as they burn through forests and
peatland.
Some areas including parts of
Africa are seeing decreasing wild-
fires, in part because more land is
being devoted to agriculture, said
report co-author Glynis Humphrey
from the University of Cape Town.
But U.N. researchers said many
nations continue to spend too much
time and money fighting fires and
not enough trying to prevent them.
Land use changes can make the
fires worse, such as logging that
leaves behind debris that can easily
burn and forests that are intention-
ally ignited to clear land for farm-
ing, the report said.
Poor communities are often hit
hardest by fires, which can degrade
water quality, destroy crops and
reduce land available to grow food.
“It impacts people’s jobs and
the economic situation that people
are in,” Humphrey said. “It’s inte-
gral that fire be in the same cate-
gory of disaster management as
floods and droughts. It’s absolutely
essential.”
In the United States, officials
recently unveiled a $50 billion
effort to reduce fire risks over the
next decade by more aggressively
thinning forests around “hot spots”
where nature and neighborhoods
collide. Only some of that work has
funding so far — about $3 billion
over five years under the recently
passed federal infrastructure bill,
according to officials in President
Joe Biden’s administration.
Critics of the administration’s
plan say it continues to put too
much emphasis on fighting some
fires that can be useful to clear
out underbrush when the flames
remain relatively small and don’t
threaten houses.
The U.N. researchers also called
for more awareness of the dangers
from wildfire smoke inhalation,
which can affect tens of millions
of people annually as plumes from
major wildfires drift thousands of
miles across international borders.
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WWW.DISCOVEROURCOAST.COM
SEVENDAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
www.smileastoria.com
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
JEFFERY M. LEINASSAR
DMD, FAGD
REGIONAL FORECAST
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
45 30
Periods of sun;
chilly
51 35
52 39
Partly sunny
Rain in the
afternoon
51 41
52 42
52 42
Cloudy, showers Chance of a
around
shower
Rain
50 38
Showers
possible
Aberdeen
Olympia
46/26
43/27
Wenatchee
Tacoma
Moses
Lake
42/22
ALMANAC
UNDER THE SKY
TODAY'S TIDES
Astoria through Tuesday
Tonight’s Sky: Last quarter
moon (2:33 p.m.)
Astoria / Port Docks
Temperatures
High/low ................................ 41/29
Normal high/low .................. 51/37
Record high .................. 67 in 1908
Record low .................... 27 in 2018
Precipitation
Tuesday ................................... 0.00”
Month to date ........................ 1.71”
Normal month to date ......... 5.68”
Year to date .......................... 15.19”
Normal year to date ........... 16.27”
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Time
6:13 a.m.
8:27 p.m.
8.5 12:00 a.m. 3.3
5.7 1:56 p.m. 0.9
Cape Disappointment
5:56 a.m.
8:16 p.m.
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Hammond
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today .................. 7:04 a.m.
Sunset tonight ............... 5:54 p.m.
Moonrise today .............. 2:31 a.m.
Moonset today ............ 11:06 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
6:08 a.m.
8:18 p.m.
Warrenton
6:08 a.m.
8:22 p.m.
Knappa
6:50 a.m.
9:04 p.m.
Depoe Bay
Feb 23 Mar 2 Mar 10 Mar 17
5:08 a.m.
7:27 p.m.
8.3 1:05 p.m.
5.6
none
0.8
8.5 1:26 p.m.
5.8
none
0.5
8.9 1:40 p.m.
6.1
none
1.0
8.8 1:01 a.m.
6.0 2:57 p.m.
2.8
0.8
8.5 12:38 p.m. 0.6
5.7 11:53 p.m. 4.3
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Honolulu
Houston
Los Angeles
Miami
New York City
Phoenix
San Francisco
Wash., DC
Today
Hi/Lo/W
Fri.
Hi/Lo/W
77/62/c
35/27/pc
28/24/sn
38/25/i
20/5/c
83/69/s
67/46/r
60/39/s
82/71/pc
37/32/c
59/41/s
56/41/pc
39/36/i
67/43/r
33/18/sn
29/16/c
42/33/sh
27/12/pc
82/69/pc
53/47/c
66/41/s
82/70/s
38/22/r
66/44/s
61/42/s
57/31/r
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy,
c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
32/16
Hermiston
The Dalles 36/18
Enterprise
Pendleton 23/0
30/13
45/23
La Grande
27/5
46/21
NATIONAL CITIES
High (ft.) Time Low (ft.)
26/12
Kennewick Walla Walla
29/17 Lewiston
35/16
45/22
Salem
Pullman
38/15
Longview
45/30 Portland
44/25
29/13
Yakima 31/16
44/21
Astoria
Spokane
32/18
Corvallis
44/19
Albany
45/15
John Day
Eugene
Bend
45/22
38/8
29/7
Ontario
37/14
Caldwell
Burns
38/14
33/7
Medford
48/16
Klamath Falls
42/9
City
Baker City
Brookings
Ilwaco
Newberg
Newport
Today
Hi/Lo/W
26/-1/sn
52/34/c
46/31/c
44/21/pc
44/31/c
Fri.
Hi/Lo/W
29/4/s
55/40/pc
52/37/pc
51/20/s
51/37/s
City
North Bend
Roseburg
Seaside
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Today
Hi/Lo/W
48/31/c
47/24/pc
46/26/pc
45/16/c
44/19/pc
Fri.
Hi/Lo/W
54/33/s
52/28/pc
53/32/pc
51/22/pc
50/20/s