2A | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS
On The Record
OBITUARIES
WARD—Alfred
Evans
Ward, 95, a long-time resi-
dent of Florence, Ore., and
Sacramento, Calif., passed
away peacefully Oct. 6, 2020.
He was preceded in death
by his wife of 20 years, Gena
Ward; his parents Thomas
Hender-
son Ward
and Lil-
lian Irene
Ward; and
sisters
Kat h l e e n
Lillian
Wa r d ,
Goe and
Alfred Ward
Ma r j or i e
Jane Ward
Young; and brothers Thom-
as H. Ward Jr and Charles
Edward Ward.
He is survived by his sons
Alfred Henderson Ward and
Jeffery Dean Ward.
Responding to the nation’s
call in World War II, Al
joined the U.S. Coast Guard,
where he served aboard the
USS Bittersweet in the Aleu-
tian Islands. He was always a
proud WWII veteran.
Upon returning from
the war, he obtained a de-
gree from the University of
Southern California taking
advantage of the GI Bill.
After college, he joined
Aerojet, an aerospace com-
pany in Sacramento where,
incidentally, his son joined
the workforce 20 years later.
An employee that had
worked with Al and was still
at Aerojet, thought that Al
had rejoined the company.
Dropping by the office, he
remarked, “You haven’t aged
a bit!”
Al was a business owner
of a series of successful cus-
tom/handmade candy stores
in Davis, Auburn and Sacra-
mento Calif.,, which made
him wildly popular with
friends and family.
Tiring of the 24-7 grind of
the food business, Al joined
the Air Force as a civilian
employee until his retire-
ment. Through his 34 years
of successful retirement, he
loved to travel and work the
land he owned.
He owned several pieces
of property where he raised
chickens, cows, geese and
the occasional stray dog,
and cultivated the best and
largest victory garden since
WWII.
He was a kind and loving
partner to his spouse Gena,
as well as an amazing father.
Al’s favorite saying was
“never love something that
can’t love you back,” and this
is exactly how he choose to
live his life. He was always
there for his wife and chil-
dren through their ups and
downs, and taught them to
enjoy every moment life has
to offer.
The family would also like
to thank the wonderful staff
at Spruce Point in Florence
for providing such great care
and support for the last four
years of Al’s life.
No services are planned
due to the COVID-19 pan-
demic.
“He didn’t tell me how
to live; he lived and let me
watch him do it.”
—Clarence Budington
Kelland
BEECHER —Perry
George Beecher was born
May 22,
1956
in
San Fran-
c i s c o ,
Calif., to
Janet and
Benjamin
Beecher.
He de-
parted
Perry
this life on
Beecher
Oct. 20,
2020, in his home while sur-
rounded by family after a
long battle with cancer.
Perry married the love of
his life, Carol Stewart, on
Oct. 22, 1981. They built an
amazing life in the state of
Alaska.
He is survived by his sons:
Sean and Samuel; his daugh-
ters, Jeannie, Gwendolyn
and Melinda; four grand-
children, as well as his sisters
Janet and Laura and, lastly,
his brother Benjamin.
Perry approached every-
thing he did with kindness
and warmth, and an open-
ness that spread itself easily
among others.
He had a contagious love
and joy for others that was
compounded further when
he found salvation through
Jesus Christ. He was never
afraid of death in the end
because he knew his eternal
life would be in Heaven with
his Savior.
Free from pain, free from
the burden of sin and sur-
rounded by God’s glory.
He was intentional and
inspirational as a father,
husband, brother, son and a
friend to so many — he was
a devout supporter, always
full of hope for a better fu-
ture to those he loved.
He will be greatly and in-
tensely missed by all who
knew and loved him.
BLISS—Fred Bliss, 80, of
Florence, passed away Oct.
9, 2020, after a hard-fought
battle with cancer.
Fred graduated from Illi-
nois Val-
ley High
School
in Cave
Junction,
Ore., in
1958 and
began an
eclectic
career
Fred Bliss
that in-
cluded log
trucks, mills, hauling rock
and long-haul trucking up
and down the West Coast.
Even after challenging
careers, Fred still dreamt of
driving trucks.
Fred’s sister, Carole, along
with her husband Gary
Clawson, owned Fisher-
man’s Wharf on Bay Street in
Old Town Florence. In 1978,
they asked Fred to move
to Florence to manage the
Wharf for them. Later, they
bought The Whistler and
Fred managed that as well.
In 1986, Fred bought The
Muffler Center on Hwy. 101
and managed it until 2000.
After his “retirement,” Fred
did many things because
“retirement” wasn’t really in
his vocabulary.
He worked part time for
Johnston Motor Co.; worked
on golf carts for anyone who
owned one; and worked as a
campground host managing
Thousand Trails for six years
in Oregon and Washington.
Traveling and cruising
was another of his loves,
from the Carribbean and
Tahiti to Canada and Mexi-
co. But his greatest love was
golfing. He was most proud
of his two hole-in-ones.
Beng a Valentine’s Day
baby, Fred loved everything
— fishing, crabbing, playing
in a pool league for Jerry’s
tavern and doing jig-saw
puzzles on cold winter days.
He has 13 grandkids, a
bunch of great-grandkids
and more neices and neph-
ews than you can count.
Fred leaves behind his
wife of 22 years, Jarolyn; his
two daughters: Jeni Vinson
and Julie (Dan) Blythe (both
of Bellingham, Wash.); his
son Jeff of Myrtle Point,
Ore.; his sister Carole (Gary)
Clawson of Florence; his
brother Richard (Linda)
Bliss of Brookings, Ore.;
and his sister Dianne (Ray)
Hauck of Grants Pass, Ore.
A celebration of Fred’s life
will be held at the Florence
Events Center on Saturday,
Friends of Florence Van Fans
(P.O. Box 598, Florence, Ore.
97439).
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