A5
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2022
OBITUARIES
William ‘Crow Man’ Ritter
Leo F. ‘Sonny’ Brown
Astoria
March 27, 1945 — May 18, 2022
Dallas
Oct. 28, 1937 — May 15, 2022
William “Crow Man” Ritter was born but knowledge and mentorship. He collected
in Astoria on March 27, 1945, and died in and meticulously catalogued tens of thou-
Astoria on May 18, 2022.
sands of seashells from all over the world.
He grew up at the Big Creek
He fi shed countless miles of
fi sh Hatchery near Knappa,
ocean from here to Alaska. He
where his father was the hatchery
never met a dog he didn’t love, and
superintendent.
always had a pocket full of treats.
Will attended college at the
He wouldn’t pass up a chance to
New Mexico Institute of Mining
tell a questionable joke. He loved
and Technology in Socorro, New
odd foods. He held tightly to 37
Mexico, and eventually graduated
years of sobriety, and he loved
from Oregon State University with
Astoria with everything in him.
a degree in geology.
Will passed surrounded by a
His obsession with the out-
loyal and committed team of care-
doors led to a career working on
William Ritter
takers and friends. He is survived
commercial fi shing vessels out of
by his sister, Jean, and her hus-
Astoria. Whether catching king crab or hal- band, Quentin; nephew, Michael, and niece,
ibut, this is a hazardous occupation, and he Celia; as well as lifelong friends Amber,
was fi nally sidelined with a burst appendix Gene, Lynn and Denise; his “girls” Audrey
while at sea.
and Kirista; and “his” dogs, “Snax” and
In retirement, Will devoted much of his “Patchouli.”
time to his shell collection, and became a
There will be a celebration of life on
true expert on n ortheast Pacifi c mollusks. He June 26 at 2 p.m. at Cambium Gallery, 1030
was generous with other collectors and deal- Duane St. in Astoria. All are welcome. Bring
ers around the world, trading not only shells, your best stories and worst jokes.
Leo F. “Sonny” Brown passed
ment of Transportation in Alaska
away May 15, 2022, at his home
as a project engineer in many
in Dallas . He was 84 years old,
remote native villages, building
roads and airports.
and was born Oct. 28, 1937, in
He retired from Nome,
Seaside, the son of Stub Brown
Alaska, in the early 1990s,
and Frances Witte.
returning to Oregon to plant and
A graduate of Gearhart Grade
operate a hazelnut orchard near
School and Seaside High School,
Dallas.
he married Nancy Cheney on
He is survived by his wife of
Jan. 3, 1958, in Seaside.
Leo and Nancy
64 years, Nancy; sons, Steve, of
A U.S. Air Force veteran,
Brown
Homer, Alaska, Craig, of Spo-
Leo served in Denver, Colorado,
kane, Washington, and Randy, of
Homestead, Florida, and Minot,
Dallas; daughter, Jorine, of Tigard; two sis-
North Dakota.
In 1969, he began work with the Depart- ters; two brothers; and six grandchildren.
John A. Pedersen
Svensen
May 9, 1940 — May 15, 2022
John A. Pedersen, “ Pete ,” 82, passed away often did them all. He also held part time jobs
at Swedish First Hill Medical Center in Seattle for the Wickiup Water District and Astoria
of an unexpected brief illness.
Public Works.
John was born in Astoria, on
John is survived by his wife of
May 9, 1940, to Enid and John G.
61 years, Wanda Pedersen, daugh-
Pedersen. He loved his childhood
ter, Donna Pedersen, granddaugh-
memories from living in Svensen,
ter, Meghan Pedersen, and two
and made long-lasting friendships.
great-granddaughters, Madisyn and
He left for California, and when
Raelynn Pedersen, all of Astoria;
old enough, joined the U.S. Army.
his sister, Patsy Cacren (Dennis), of
John met his wife, Wanda, in
Rio Dell, California; brother, Rich-
1960 in San Bernardino, Califor-
ard Timonen (Gail), of Penn Valley,
nia, and they married in Las Vegas
California; and numerous nieces
in March 1961. It wasn’t long before
and nephews.
John Pedersen
John received his orders for Ger-
John was preceded in death by
many, and Wanda joined him a few
his parents, Enid and Ray Timonen;
months later.
father, John G. Pedersen; and his sister, Judith
It was there they had their only child, Whitehurst.
Donna, and came back to the U.S. when she
John will be laid to rest at Willamette
was 2 years old. John served in the Army for National Cemetery, with full military honors,
20 years, and retired in 1977 with honors.
on Thursday .
He worked at the U.S. Postal Service in
There are no words that can express how
Del Rosa, California, until 1990. He wanted to much John will be missed by his family and
return to his roots and the outdoor life that he close friends. He was loved by those who
enjoyed.
knew him, and never met a stranger. He was
He loved to hunt, fi sh and clam dig, and an honorable man who always had our backs.
Donald Jordan Obad
Lebanon
April 10, 1948 — May 1, 2022
Donald Jordan Obad, “DJ,” was
born on April 10, 1948, in Watson-
ville, California, to Alice and Mike
Obad. He is the oldest of three
children.
He was raised in Tracy, Califor-
nia, and graduated from Tracy High
School in 1966. After high school,
DJ went to Delta College, and later
worked on the railroads.
He joined the U.S. Navy in 1968
for four years during Vietnam, and
re enlisted for two more years as
a reserve. DJ was honorably dis-
charged from the Navy in 1974.
DJ moved to Astoria, where he
had three daughters. DJ moved to
The Dalles for a few years and then
moved to the Oregon Veterans’
H ome in Lebanon until his death.
DJ loved playing bingo on Sun-
days and participating in events at
the nursing home. He was a very
soft, caring person.
DJ has four granddaughters,
Monica Obad, Natalie Obad,
Rebecca Obad, all of Ocean Park,
Washington, and Sophia Obad, of
Astoria; and two grandsons, Angel
Obad, of Ocean Park, and Donte
Donald Obad
Obad, of Astoria. He loved spend-
ing time with his family.
DJ is survived by his three
daughters, Ashely Obad, of Ocean
Park, Whitney Obad, of Astoria,
and Madalyn Obad, of Seaside;
and his son, Michael O’neel, of
Salem.
A funeral service will be held at
a later date in Tracy.
Novel genetic experiment
shrinks tough-to-treat cancer
In a novel experiment, a woman with
advanced pancreatic cancer saw her tumors
dramatically shrink after researchers in
Oregon turbocharged her own immune
cells, highlighting a possible new way to
someday treat a variety of cancers.
Kathy Wilkes isn’t cured but said what’s
left of her cancer has shown no sign of
growth since the one-time treatment last
June.
“I knew that regular chemotherapy
would not save my life and I was going for
the save,” said Wilkes, of Ormond Beach,
Florida, who tracked down a scientist thou-
sands of miles away and asked that he
attempt the experiment.
The research, published Wednesday
in the New England Journal of Medicine,
explores a new method of harnessing the
immune system to create “living drugs”
able to seek and destroy tumors.
“It’s really exciting. It’s the fi rst time
this sort of treatment has worked in a very
diffi cult-to-treat cancer type,” said Dr.
Josh Veatch of the Fred Hutchinson Can-
cer Research Center in Seattle, who wasn’t
involved with the experiment.
It’s just a fi rst step and far more research
is needed, he cautioned — noting that Wil-
kes is one of only two people known to
have tried this exact approach and it failed
in the other patient.
Still, Veatch said the fi ndings are “a
proof of principle that this is possible” and
that other researchers also are testing this
type of immunotherapy.
T cells are key immune soldiers, able
to kill off diseased cells — but too often
cancer evades them. Doctors already have
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SEVENDAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
learned how to strengthen T cells to fi ght
some types of leukemia and lymphoma.
They add an artifi cial receptor to patients’
T cells so the immune fi ghters can recog-
nize a marker on the outside of blood can-
cer cells, and attack.
But that CAR-T therapy doesn’t work
against more common solid tumors, which
don’t carry that same danger marker.
The new twist: At Oregon’s Provi-
dence Cancer Institute, researcher Eric
Tran genetically engineered Wilkes’ T cells
so they could spot a mutant protein that’s
hidden inside her tumor cells — and only
there, not in healthy cells.
How? Certain molecules sit on the sur-
face of cells and give the immune system
a sneak peek of what proteins are inside.
If a complex receptor on the T cell recog-
nizes both the person’s genetically distinct
“HLA” molecule and that one of the pro-
tein snippets embedded in it is the targeted
mutant, that immune fi ghter can latch on.
It’s an approach known as T cell recep-
tor, or TCR, therapy. Tran stressed that the
research remains highly experimental but
said Wilkes’ remarkable response “pro-
vides me with optimism that we’re on the
right track.”
Dr. Eric Rubin, the New England Jour-
nal’s top editor, said the study raises the
possibility of eventually being able to tar-
get multiple cancer-causing mutations.
“We’re talking about the chance to dis-
tinguish tumor cells from non-tumor cells
in a way that we never could before,” he
said.
Wilkes underwent chemotherapy, radia-
tion and surgery for her pancreatic cancer.
Later doctors discovered new tumors in her
lungs — the pancreatic cancer had spread, a
stage when there is no good treatment.
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
Associated Press
We look forward to meeting you!
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
REGIONAL FORECAST
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
62 56
Rain at times
60 50
61 48
66 52
64 51
A couple of
showers
A shower in the
a.m.
Clouds and
sunshine
A passing
shower
65 54
67 55
Cloudy, showers Cloudy, showers
around
around
Aberdeen
Olympia
61/56
65/55
Wenatchee
Tacoma
Moses
Lake
65/54
ALMANAC
UNDER THE SKY
TODAY'S TIDES
Astoria through Thursday
Tonight’s Sky: Just below the
bowl of the Big Dipper and above
Leo’s head is the constellation
Leo Minor.
Astoria / Port Docks
Temperatures
High/low ................................ 63/53
Normal high/low .................. 63/49
Record high .................. 79 in 1970
Record low .................... 39 in 1987
Precipitation
Thursday ................................. Trace
Month to date ........................ Trace
Normal month to date ......... 0.20”
Year to date .......................... 38.74”
Normal year to date ........... 35.07”
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Sunrise today .................. 5:26 a.m.
Sunset tonight ............... 9:02 p.m.
Moonrise today .............. 9:42 a.m.
Moonset today ............ 12:53 a.m.
Full
Last
High (ft.) Time Low (ft.)
4:04 a.m.
6:18 p.m.
New
3:50 a.m.
5:58 p.m.
4:00 a.m.
6:06 p.m.
Warrenton
3:59 a.m.
6:13 p.m.
Knappa
4:41 a.m.
6:55 p.m.
Depoe Bay
June 7 June 14 June 20 June 28
7.6 11:27 a.m. 0.0
6.3 11:30 p.m. 3.6
Cape Disappointment
Hammond
SUN AND MOON
First
Time
3:02 a.m.
5:18 p.m.
7.4 10:47 a.m. 0.0
6.1 10:45 p.m. 4.1
7.6 11:02 a.m. -0.2
6.4 11:05 p.m. 3.9
7.9 11:11 a.m. 0.1
6.7 11:14 p.m. 3.7
7.8 12:28 p.m. 0.0
6.6
none
7.3 10:17 a.m. -0.4
6.1 10:16 p.m. 3.9
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Honolulu
Houston
Los Angeles
Miami
New York City
Phoenix
San Francisco
Wash., DC
Sun.
Hi/Lo/W
86/67/s
73/56/pc
71/59/c
87/69/t
82/56/pc
86/71/pc
93/74/pc
76/60/pc
83/77/r
80/58/s
102/77/s
71/61/c
84/62/s
85/68/pc
73/57/pc
79/62/t
94/74/s
81/56/c
86/73/s
96/75/pc
76/62/pc
91/78/t
77/63/s
102/79/pc
71/56/r
80/63/pc
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy,
c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
63/55
Hermiston
The Dalles 73/59
Enterprise
Pendleton 61/48
69/57
72/59
La Grande
64/52
68/59
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Hi/Lo/W
56/51
Kennewick Walla Walla
65/56 Lewiston
74/59
65/58
Salem
Pullman
70/54
Longview
62/56 Portland
66/60
58/49
Yakima 69/53
62/55
Astoria
Spokane
68/55
Corvallis
66/56
Albany
68/58
John Day
Eugene
Bend
67/57
68/53
66/52
Ontario
68/53
Caldwell
Burns
64/48
68/55
Medford
69/56
Klamath Falls
63/46
City
Baker City
Brookings
Ilwaco
Newberg
Newport
Today
Hi/Lo/W
61/48/r
58/53/r
61/55/r
66/58/r
59/54/r
Sun.
Hi/Lo/W
65/43/sh
59/50/c
60/53/sh
65/49/r
55/49/sh
City
North Bend
Roseburg
Seaside
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Today
Hi/Lo/W
63/57/r
69/58/r
63/56/r
71/58/r
67/60/r
Sun.
Hi/Lo/W
62/53/sh
73/54/sh
62/51/sh
68/52/r
65/51/r