A6
Hood River News, Saturday, April 25, 2015
O bituaries
Paid notices
Brian McClure
Brian Paul McClure, 51, of
Trout Creek Ridge Road in
Hood River, Ore., died April
9, 2015. Brian was born Jan.
3, 1964, in Milwaukee, Wis.
He was the beloved son of
Delbert and
Marie Mc-
Clure, broth-
er of Michael
D e l b e r t
(Anne) Mc-
Clure,
of
Woodinville,
Wash., and
Ellen Marie Brian McClure
McClure, of
Baltimore, Md., and uncle of
Tiana Marie Dragos, of Ren-
ton, Wash., and Cristal Anne
McClure, of Seattle, Wash.
Brian was a graduate of
Sammamish High School,
Bellevue, Wash., in 1982, and
of University of Washing-
ton, Seattle, in 1987, receiv-
ing his Bachelor of Science
degree in civil engineering.
He was a licensed profession-
al engineer in California,
Washington and Oregon, and
site manager for the Wash-
ington State Department of
Ecology.
Brian loved Hood River
and lived his life fully and en-
ergetically there, enjoying
mountain biking, hiking,
and skiing. He and his
beloved dog Chewy could be
found on all the trails. Brian
died on the Dog River Trail
while on a bike ride.
No services are scheduled.
Friends may want to orga-
nize a hike in his honor.
Donations in his memory
are suggested to the Parkdale
Fire Department, 4895 Base-
line Drive, Mount Hood Park-
dale, OR 97041, the American
Heart Association or the
Hukari Animal Shelter.
Arrangements are under
the direction of Anderson’s
Tribute Center (Funerals •
Receptions • Cremations),
1401 Belmont Ave., Hood
River, OR 97031; 541-386-1000.
Please visit andersonstrib-
utecenter.com to leave a note
of condolence for family.
Richard Phillips
Richard (Dick) A. Phillips,
of Hood River, Ore. passed
away April 2, 2015, in Yuma,
Ariz., from medical compli-
cations. He
was
bor n
Jan. 2, 1938,
in Tillamook,
Ore.,
to
Rober t M.
and Beatrice
M. (Kirby)
Phillips. He
Richard
graduated
Phillips
from Tillam-
ook
High
School in 1956, joining the
United States Army where
he was enlisted only a few
months before his unit was
disbanded and all were re-
leased from service.
Dick was preceded in
death by his parents and a
sister, Judith Barker, of
Tillamook, Ore.
He is survived by his wife
of 35 years, Darlene; a sister,
Sally Fitch (Dar rell), of
Crooked River, Ore.; a broth-
er, Robert Phillips (Kik), of
Tillamook; and children
Terry Phillips, of Tillamook,
Gregory Phillips (Stacie), of
Gresham, Ore., Brian
Phillips (Bobbie), of Hood
River, Darren Thenell, of
Phoenix, Ariz., and daughter
LeAnn Erikson (Ty), of
Parkdale, Ore.; 16 grandchil-
dren and five great-grand-
children; several nieces,
nephews and cousins.
Dick put in more than 30
years’ service as a weigh
master for the Oregon State
Highway Division, retiring
in 1995. Some of his fondest
memories began in 1970 with
the West Side Fire Depart-
ment, where its members be-
came like family to him. He
was a Little League softball
and baseball coach and um-
pire for the Hood River Dis-
trict and Region for over 20
years, having the honor to be
nominated and selected to
umpire a Regional Little
League softball playoff game
in Portland.
Dick took great pride in
teaching his children the art
of hunting and fishing and
looked forward to their big
hunting trips each year. He
also enjoyed teaching his
cooking, baking, gardening
and canning (sometimes a
good experiment, sometimes
not) skills to his children and
grandchildren and loved
sharing his creations with
everyone.
Dick loved being with fam-
ily, spoiling his children and
grandchildren individually.
He nearly always sent peanut
butter or chocolate chip
cookies home with any
grandchild who stopped by
the house. In his later years,
you could always find Dick at
the sidelines cheering for his
grandchildren’s sporting
events, whether it was base-
ball, softball, water polo, soc-
cer, track or football.
Dick and Darlene enjoyed
many years traveling in their
fifth-wheel to many places
and wintering in Texas and
the last couple of years in
Yuma. He will be greatly
missed by many friends, fam-
ily, loved ones and people in
all the communities wherev-
er he was parked at the time.
A memorial service is
planned at the West Side Fire
Department, 4250 Barrett
Drive, Hood River, Ore., at 1
p.m. on Saturday, May 2. In
lieu of flowers, memorial do-
nations may be made to the
West Side Fire Department.
Elizabeth Asbury
Elizabeth Kilbuck Asbury,
raised in Hood River, Ore.,
passed away on Easter morn-
ing, April 5,
2015, at her
home in Port-
land, Ore. She
was 96. Born
to Joseph and
Novello Kil-
buck in 1918,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Henry Kil-
Asbury
buck spent
her earliest
years at the family farm-
house in Ottawa, Kansas. In
1923, the Kilbucks moved to a
cherry farm in Pine Grove,
which Elizabeth’s father had
swapped for the Kansas
wheat farm. Tragedy struck
a year later, when Elizabeth’s
mother succumbed to pneu-
monia, leaving behind four
small children and a grief-
stricken husband. Elizabeth,
the second of the four, was
just 5.
Under the watchful eye of
Grandmother Kilbuck, the
three oldest children —
Katherine, Elizabeth and
John — pitched in to take
care of toddler Margaret and
to participate in domestic
chores. Little Elizabeth be-
came the cook and baker for
the household, a special tal-
ent that gave pleasure to all
who ate at her table through-
out her lifetime. When their
father married Kansas friend
Emma Stratton, the children
had a mother once again, and
were eventually joined by
two more sisters, Helen and
Edith. The family moved into
Hood River, where Elizabeth
and her five siblings complet-
ed their secondary educa-
tion.
The Kilbuck children grew
up during the lean years of
the Depression. In addition
to family chores, the children
contributed to the family’s
income with part-time jobs
like babysitting and deliver-
ing papers. They brought
that same work ethic to their
studies. Elizabeth, always a
serious student, was the 1936
valedictorian at Hood River
High School. She earned her
Bachelor of Science degree
from Oregon State College in
1941, then studied laboratory
science at the University of
Ore gon Medical School
(OHSU), where she met Fred-
erick Asbury, a medical stu-
dent. The two married in
1943, and Elizabeth worked at
Portland’s Good Samaritan
Hospital laboratory while
Fred finished up his intern-
ship and served as a Navy
doctor in post-World War II
Japan.
After the birth of their
first child, Katherine, the lit-
tle family moved to Corval-
lis, where Fred and two med-
ical school friends founded
the Corvallis Clinic. Two
more children, Ray and Mar-
garet “Peggy,” were to follow.
Elizabeth put her profession-
al career on hold to raise
their young children while
Fred served his country
again during the Korean
War, completed an OB/GYN
residency in Portland, and
developed his practice in
Corvallis. Though always a
dedicated mother and sup-
portive wife, Elizabeth never
lost her intellectual indepen-
dence and curiosity. When
her children matured, she re-
turned to OSU to earn a Mas-
ter of Arts degree in 1972,
and restarted her laboratory
career, this time at OSU’s
Marine Geology Repository.
In 1984, she took a leave of
absence to care for husband
through his terminal battle
with cancer, then retired in
1985 to the Seal Rock vaca-
tion home where she and
Fred had hoped to live out
their days.
But life still held much in
store for Elizabeth. At age 67,
she surprised family and
friends alike by joining the
Peace Corps, serving first as
a community health care vol-
unteer in Fiji, and then in
the offices of the agency’s
Washington, D.C., headquar-
ters. Elizabeth returned for a
time to Seal Rock, but she
could not resist the lure of
family and the rich cultural
offerings of Portland. She
made a final move to Port-
land, where she lived many
active and fulfilling years at
Terwilliger Plaza, and wor-
shipped at her church, Trini-
ty Episcopal Cathedral.
Elizabeth Kilbuck Asbury
is survived by siblings
Katherine Kilbuck Beggs
and John Kilbuck, of Califor-
nia, and Helen Kilbuck Mu-
chow, of Por tland; her
daughter Katherine Asbury
Giachetti and son Ray As-
bury, of Portland; daughter
Margaret Asbury Kralovec,
of Seattle; grandchildren
Lorenzo and Michele Gia-
chetti, Elliott Asbury, Mar-
garet Asbury Roi, Anastasia
Kralovec Anderson and
Francis Kralovec; great-
grandson Hunter Anderson;
and many nieces and
nephews.
Family and friends are in-
vited to celebrate her life at a
memorial service at Ter-
williger Plaza, 2545 S.W. Ter-
williger Blvd., Portland,
Ore., on Saturday, May 16, at
2 p.m. In lieu of flowers,
please consider a charitable
donation in memory of Eliz-
abeth Asbury to Legacy Hos-
pice Services – Portland, c/o
Good Samaritan Foundation,
P.O. Box 4484, Portland, OR
97208, or the Trinity Episco-
pal Cathedral Friends of
Music, 147 N.W. 19th Ave.,
Portland, OR 97209.
Robert Coffey
Robert Lucas “Bob” Coffey,
a lifelong resident of Port-
land, Ore., died of complica-
tions of cirrhosis of the liver
on Feb. 13, 2015, at the age of
70. Born in Salem, Ore., on
March 10, 1944, to Gordon
Bartholomew
and Martha
L o u i s e
(Lucas) Cof-
fey, he was the
great-grand-
son of
a
Umatilla
Reservation
Robert Coffey Indian agent,
and had an
aunt who was a national
champion rodeo and trick
rider. More significantly, his
parents were pioneers in the
civil rights movement when
they opened their home and
provided transportation to
black jazz musicians who per-
formed in their dance hall,
“Cottonwoods,” near Albany
and at the Jantzen Beach
dance hall, at a time when
blacks were denied access to
Portland hotels and taxi ser-
vice. Thus it was that Bob re-
membered sitting as a small
child on the knee of the great
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong.
Bob attended Holy Re-
deemer Grade School in Port-
land, and graduated in 1962
from North Catholic High
School, where he excelled in
basketball, drama, math and
English. In 1963 and 1964 he
attended the University of
Portland, performing in nu-
merous drama productions.
In 1965 he won an open poet-
ry competition at Portland
State University.
In the 1960s Bob was mar-
ried briefly to Kathleen
Mason. They had two chil-
dren, Reidun and Jeremy,
who were raised according to
the Summerhill philosophy
of A.S. Neill, by agreement
reached during their parents’
very first conversation (over
slices of an apple pie Kath-
leen was pulling out of the
oven when Bob, on his way
home from a Dubois Society
meeting, stopped by the col-
lective house looking for a
friend). It was a mostly polit-
ical, intellectual relationship
that didn’t survive the chal-
lenges of marriage, but pro-
duced two extraordinary new
human beings and many
vivid memories.
Bob had a lifelong love of
music. He worked for a time
as a disc jockey for several
Portland radio stations fea-
turing classical, blues and
jazz. He emceed the Mount
Hood Festival of Jazz, and
enjoyed playing rock, blues
and improvisational jazz
with friends and family on
several instruments – at least
one of which he mastered by
pure, persistent experimen-
tation. He also had a deep,
rich, warm speaking voice,
which gave his family much
pleasure, especially when he
read aloud to them.
During the Vietnam War,
while awaiting the birth of
their first child in Berkeley,
Bob worked swing shift on an
extruder machine for a Cali-
fornia company producing
plastic-lined foil containers
for foods and beverage mixes
sent to soldiers overseas.
(Kathleen would send him off
with a recycled aluminum
TV dinner tray holding a
homemade meal which Bob
would heat up on the scald-
ing hot extruder to eat dur-
ing his lunch break.)
Through the years he was
also employed variously as a
shoe salesman; a quality con-
trol inspector for a Portland
welding company and for
Lockheed-Martin, the air-
plane manufacturer in Cali-
fornia; as a nightclub musi-
cian playing acoustical bass;
as a U.S. Forest Service fire-
fighter; and more recently as
a movie extra. He also
coached grade school and
middle school basketball
teams.
For his entire adult life he
was focused on the allevia-
tion of physical and mental
discomfort – his own and that
of others, often through pure
comic relief, but by other
means as well. Had he lived
long enough to see it become
a reality, he would have cele-
brated the legalization of
recreational marijuana in
Oregon, a cause he champi-
oned early on.
In addition to a diverse ex-
tended family of musicians,
friends, artists and other ec-
centric geniuses, he is sur-
vived by his wife, Alexandra
Papadakis Coffey; brother,
Gordon Bartholomew Coffey
Jr., of Brier, Wash.; sister,
Martylou Plinski (Leo), of
Atlanta, Ga.; his children,
daughter Reidun Coffey Mac-
Gregor (Caleb), of Corbett
and Tacoma, son Jeremy Joel
Coffey (Chihiro Honda), of
Por tland, and daughter
Morghan Carney, of Port-
land; former wife Kathleen
Mason Coffey, of Cascade
Locks; for mer par tners
Diane Ferguson and Tony
Carney, each of whom wel-
comed his children into her
life for a time; one grand-
daughter, Jamie Lee Inman
(Travis Munson), of Yakima;
one grandson, Preston Ed-
ward Inman (Lindsey Gagn-
er), of Tacoma; one great-
grandson, Tucker Travis
Munson, of Yakima; four
nephews and their children;
and a stepdaughter, Lace Dill,
who, with Alexandra and Je-
remy, helped care for him in
his final days.
He was preceded in death
by his beloved grandmother
Helen Coffey, his parents, one
ne phew and one g rand-
nephew.
His playful, at times auda-
cious nature, genial disposi-
tion, sharp mind, ready wit
and verbal facility will be re-
membered fondly by those
who knew and loved him.
His cremains will be in-
terred in the Coffey family
plot at Mt. Calvary Cemetery
in Portland.
A memorial gathering is in
the planning.
(Information provided by
Kathleen Mason Coffey)
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Death Notices
Ruth Nelson
Ruth Nelson, 84, passed
away Tuesday, April 21, 2015,
in Portland, Ore. Ruth was
born April 16, 1931.
Arrangements are under
the direction of Anderson’s
Tribute Center (Funerals •
Receptions • Cremations),
1401 Belmont Ave., Hood
River, OR 97031; 541-386-1000.
Please visit andersonstrib-
utecenter.com to leave a note
of condolence for family.
William Mohr
William Mohr, 51, passed
away Thursday, April 23,
2015, at his home in Hood
River, Ore. William was born
Feb. 16, 1963.
Arrangements are under
the direction of Anderson’s
Tribute Center (Funerals •
Receptions • Cremations),
1401 Belmont Ave., Hood
River, OR 97031; 541-386-1000.
Please visit andersonstrib-
utecenter.com to leave a note
of condolence for family.
Mary Covey
Mary Martha Covey, 94,
passed away Friday, April 24,
2015, at her home in Hood
River, Ore. Mary was born
Sept. 26, 1920.
Arrangements are under
the direction of Anderson’s
Tribute Center (Funerals •
Receptions • Cremations),
1401 Belmont Ave., Hood
River, OR 97031; 541-386-1000.
Please visit andersonstrib-
utecenter.com to leave a note
of condolence for family.
Bette Benjamin
Bette A. Benjamin, 64,
p a s s e d aw ay T h u r s d ay,
April 23, 2015, at her home
in Hood River, Ore. Bette
In your time of need...
541-386-1000
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was born March 19, 1951.
Arrangements are under
the direction of Anderson’s
Tribute Center (Funerals •
Receptions • Cremations),
1401 Belmont Ave., Hood
River, OR 97031; 541-386-
1000. Please visit anderson-
stributecenter.com to leave
a note of condolence for
family.
William Logue
William K. Lo gue, 81,
passed away Friday, April
24, 2015, at his home in Cas-
cade Locks, Ore. William
was born Jan. 1, 1934.
Arrangements are under
the direction of Anderson’s
Tribute Center (Funerals •
Receptions • Cremations),
1401 Belmont Ave., Hood
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Create to Heal Workshop
Wednesday, April 29, 6 - 7 pm
Please join us for a creativity class that uses art,
music, creative writing and meditation to explore your
journey with cancer. Family members are welcome!
(Facilitator: Patricia Varga)
Classes are FREE and sponsored by
Providence Hood River Cancer Services
For more info or to RSVP
please contact Patricia Varga (626) 403-7575
or pv@womenwwings.org
Providence Hood River
810 12th St.
Please check in at front desk for
Conference Room 9
Light refreshments will be served