10A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 12, 2015
Polk County News
OBITUARIES
James D. Anthony
May 28, 1957 – Aug. 3, 2015
James D. Anthony, 58, of
Monmouth died of cancer
Aug. 3.
He worked as a project
scheduler at Bonneville
Power Administration.
James
was in-
volved in
the lives of
his family
a
n
d
friends,
providing
wisdom
and care when needed. He
was also a strong and stub-
born man who loved his
family and friends dearly.
Survivors include his wife,
son and daughter-in-law,
stepdaughter, grandson,
mother, three brothers, and
large extended family.
Wayne Kester
March 12, 1959 – July 28, 2015
Celebration of life for
Wayne Kester, 56, of Dallas is
Wednesday (today) at noon
at Trinity Lutheran Church,
320 SE Fir Villa Road in Dal-
las.
Contributions are sug-
gested to James2 Communi-
ty Kitchen in care of Boll-
man Funeral Home in Dal-
las, which handled arrange-
ments.
To send an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Virginia Vesper
Feb. 19, 1924 – Aug. 3, 2015
Virginia Vesper, 91, of Dal-
las died Aug. 3 in Dallas.
She was born in Toledo,
Ohio, to George and Beat-
rice (Cook) Schooley.
Virginia
married
Warren
Vesper on
May 4,
1940, in
Y u m a ,
Ariz. War-
ren and
Virginia were recently fea-
tured in the Itemizer-Observ-
er for celebrating 75 years of
marriage. They lived in Bur-
bank, Calif., and later moved
to Lake Tahoe, Nev., where
they resided for 27 years.
T h e y m ove d t o Pa l m
Springs, Calif., and lived
there for 12 years before set-
tling in Dallas in 2013.
She was an excellent
seamstress. She made dress-
es and clothing for her fami-
ly. She also did needlepoint
and shared her work with
her family and grandchil-
dren. Virginia was a wonder-
ful hostess and cook. She
enjoyed playing bingo,
bridge, canasta and
pinochle.
Virginia and Warren had
many fun camping trips
with family and friends. She
watched golf, tennis and
baseball with Warren. Vir-
ginia loved caring for her
grandchildren and great-
grandchildren.
Always loving, faithful and
kind, Warren and Virginia
have been a perfect example
of married love for all who
have known them.
Survivors include by her
husband, Warren Vesper;
daughters, Karen (Paul) Box
and Linda (George) Potsic;
11 grandchildren; and 18
great-grandchildren.
Service was Monday at
the Dallas Retirement Vil-
lage Chapel. Interment was
at Bethel Cemetery. Contri-
butions are suggested to
Willamette Valley Hospice in
care of Dallas Mortuary Trib-
ute Center.
To send an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Elden Ray
McKinney
Dec. 6, 1937 – Aug. 4, 2015
Elden Ray McKinney, 77,
of Monmouth, and longtime
Silverton resident, died of
cancer Aug. 4 in Monmouth.
He was born in Silverton
to Azel Glenn McKinney and
Sylvia Anna (Dick) McKin-
ney.
Elden attended school in
Silverton, later serving in the
Navy from 1959 to 1963.
Upon his return to Silverton,
he had various jobs until
finding his career as a finish
carpenter.
In 1980, Elden married
Virginia “Ginger” Neuling,
who preceded him in death.
Survivors include his sis-
ters, Glenva Ann Smith of
Monmouth and Elma Fay
Pack of Salem; children,
Susan Preston of Idanha,
C a r r i e
Thomas of
Oregon
City, Frank
Preston of
Salem,
Brenda (Scott) Schulte of
Hillsboro, Jim (Laurie) Pre-
ston of Idanha and Rogue
River; 10 grandchildren; 13
great-grandchildren; and a
large extended family.
Service is Saturday at 11
a.m. at Farnstrom Mortuary,
410 Monmouth St., Inde-
pendence.
To send an online tribute:
www.FarnstromMortuary.
com.
Stefan Michael
Ernst
Dec. 11, 1978 – Aug. 7, 2015
Stefan Michael Ernst, 36,
of Dallas died Friday in Dal-
las.
He was born in Salem to
Michael Ernst and Jody An-
derson.
He grew up in Hillsboro
where he attended high
school and lived for many
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Stefan was a person that
never met someone he
didn’t like and ended up
being friends with. He al-
ways enjoyed spending time
with friends and family. Ste-
fan was a prankster and
loved to get his family with
his antics and have a good
laugh.
He was someone that
loved the night life and
looked forward to going to
the next party and hanging
out with his friends.
Stefan never really liked to
be alone and so he sur-
rounded himself with peo-
ple he liked, doing the
things that he liked. Stefan
was a person that didn’t
judge.
Survivors include his
mother, Jody Anderson; fa-
ther, Michael Ernst; son,
Trenton Ernst; brother,
Robert Plourd; grandparents
Marvina and Ed Pohrman;
and a large extended family.
Private family service was
held.
Dallas Mortuary Tribute
Center handled arrange-
ments. To leave an online
tribute: www.dallastribute.
com.
Joyce Eileen Frank
Oct. 24, 1935 – July 30, 2015
Joyce Eileen Frank, 79, of
Dallas died July 30 in Dallas.
She was born in Wiley,
Colo. She grew up on a farm
and enjoyed horseback rid-
ing in her youth and also
trained horses.
As
a
y o u n g
a d u l t ,
J o y c e’s
other in-
terests in-
cluded
m u s i c ,
dancing,
singing in a church choir
and spending time with
friends. She married young
and had four children.
A loving mother, Joyce
spent years at home raising
her kids.
When circumstances re-
quired it, she went back to
work at Hewlett Packard and
retired in the 1990s.
She was a wonderful cook
and created many needle-
work projects over the years.
Joyce and her husband
moved to Oregon in 1995.
There she enjoyed square
dancing, gardening, and
participating in an RV club.
She also liked bird watching
and feeding them in her
yard.
She was an avid reader all
her life. Joyce was active in
the Trinity Lutheran Church
in Loveland, Colo., and in
Dallas.
She was preceded in
death by her husband,
Richard Frank, and her son,
Alan Wood.
Survivors include her chil-
dren, Jessica Hopkins of
Salem, David Wood of Taco-
ma, Wash., and Paul Wood of
Loveland; and nine grand-
children.
Contributions are sug-
gested to a charity of your
choice.
Josie Elizabeth
Francis
Feb. 13, 1929 – Aug. 7, 2015
Josie “Jo” Elizabeth Fran-
cis, 86, of Salem died Friday
in Salem after suffering a
heart attack.
She was born in Aztec,
N.M., to Andrew and Mar-
garet Tyler.
Growing up, she and her
older sister Molly were in-
separable
as kids and
re m a i n e d
close all of
their lives.
Molly pre-
ceded her
in death in
December
2014. When they were
younger, Molly played the
guitar and they sang togeth-
er. They cut a record and
laughed at the notion that
they were asked to go on
tour.
Jo grew up in the Dallas
area where she met Donald
Ray Francis. They were mar-
ried on Jan. 9, 1947, in Van-
couver, Wash.
He preceded her in death
on Jan. 25, 2002.
Before she married, she
and her sister worked at the
Salem State Hospital.
They were both very
young and they talked about
how scary that job was. For
most of her life she raised
her family and enjoyed
cooking great meals and
keeping her home immacu-
late.
When her children were
older she worked as a maid
in a motel, a waitress, and,
ultimately, as a dietician for
the Veteran’s Hospital in
Roseburg.
One of her proudest
achievements was that she
studied for and earned her
GED.
After retiring from the Vet-
eran’s Hospital she moved to
Salem to be closer to her
family.
She and her husband
spent the next 10 years trav-
eling to Arizona and across
the United States before her
husband’s stroke prevented
them from traveling.
For the next four years she
devoted her life to taking
care of her husband.
After his death she spent
her free time working in her
yard, crocheting hundreds
of doilies and afghans,
watching old westerns on
T V, traveling with her
daughter and son-in-law
and treasuring times with
her daughter’s family.
Everyone who knew her
said she was an elegant lady.
She was also preceded in
death by her son, Dale
LeRoy; and sisters, Pearl
Mae Tyler Bowser and Molly
Nora Tyler Goforth.
Survivors include her
sons, Donald Joe Francis of
Bow, Wash., Michael Ray
Francis of Brownsville;
daughter, Linda “Lyn” Fran-
cis Jobe (Bill) of Monmouth;
brother, Andy (Peggy) Tyler;
five grandsons; seven great-
grandchildren; and extend-
ed family.
Me m o r i a l s e r v i c e i s
Wednesday (today) at 11
a.m. at Faith Lutheran
Church, 200 Monmouth In-
dependence Highway in
Monmouth.
Contributions are sug-
gested to Faith Lutheran
Church in her memory.
To send an online tribute:
www.FarnstromMortuary.
com.
Leslie Kay Pedigo
Wilson
Nov. 9, 1953 – July 20, 2015
Leslie Kay Pedigo Wilson,
61, died July 20 in Mesa,
Ariz., from complications of
myotonic muscular dystro-
phy.
She was born to Alan L.
and Betty L. Pedigo in
Salem.
She graduated from Cen-
tral High School in Inde-
pendence
in 1971.
She lived in
Seattle for
eight years
a
n
d
worked for
Tr a v e l e r s
Insurance
Co. She returned to Salem
and finished her working ca-
reer with Oregon Cascade
Plumbing.
She enjoyed reading, fam-
ily gatherings and playing
board games with family.
She was also quite a movie
buff. She was baptized at the
First Christian Church in
Monmouth.
She was preceded in
death by her father, Alan L.
Pedigo and brother, Steven
A. Pedigo.
Survivors include her
sons, Christopher Svehaug
and Kevin Wilson; mother,
Betty (Ron) Kline; stepmoth-
er, Patty (Jack) McElravy; sis-
ters, Shirley (Rick) Davis,
Lori (Rob) Coffman, Melinda
(Mike) DeRochier; and ex-
tended family.
No service will be held.
She was cremated in Mesa,
and her ashes will be placed
at Fir Crest Cemetery in
Monmouth.
Contributions are sug-
gested to the Muscular Dys-
trophy Association, 4800 SW
Macadam No. 205, Portland,
OR 97239.
Farnstrom Mortuary in
Independence handled
arrangements.
Eileen Holmes
Dec. 17, 1927 – July 29, 2015
Eileen Holmes, 87, of Lib-
erty Lake, Wash., and former
longtime Dallas resident,
died July 29 in Liberty Lake.
Memorial service is Sept.
11 at 4 p.m. at Guardian
Angel Homes, 23102 E. Mis-
sion, Liberty Lake.
Contributions are sug-
gested to the American Can-
cer Society at www.runfor-
nana.com or to St. Jude Chil-
dren’s Hospital.
To send an online tribute:
www.hennesseyfuneral-
homes.com.
Garland Bennie
Roy ‘Ben’ Goforth
until he joined the Army at
the age of 17. He served in
Germany during the Korean
War. He played for the Army
football team, was an expert
marksman and received the
Good Conduct Medal. He
was chosen to drive his
commanding officer be-
cause of his sharp dress and
keen attention to detail.
When he left the Army, he
fell in love with cooking and
began a ca-
reer that
would last
his lifetime.
Ben had a
God-given
gift and
whatever
he did was
done with
excellence.
He mar-
ried his
wife, Terry
Slack on
Nov. 12, 1974, and they
raised three children togeth-
er.
He and Terry operated the
Fireside Café in Sheridan
from 1978-1981. On April 30,
1981, they opened the Fort
Hill Restaurant, which they
still own and operate today.
In 1992, he opened the
Arbor Inn Restaurant in
McMinnville and operated it
for eight years. He had a
generous spirit and gave to
the community in various
ways. He loved sports and
especially liked feeding the
Willamina Bulldog football
team before their games. He
operated a concession stand
at the Yamhill County Fair-
grounds for many years and
was very active with the 4-H
horse program.
In December of 1977, he
committed his life to Jesus
Christ.
He was a recovering alco-
holic and loved sharing his
story of redemption. He was
a member of the Sheridan
Baptist Church.
He was preceded in death
by his son, Patrick Fortner.
Survivors include his wife
of 40 years, Terry of Willami-
na; daughters, Julie Marston
of Oceanside, Calif., Pamela
Fortner of Lincoln City,
Sarah (Josh) Jones of Salem,
Oretha ( Jaron) Dunn of
Willamina; son, John
(Shelly) Goforth of McMin-
nville; brother, Gene Go-
forth of Louisville, Ky.; and
five grandchildren.
Service was Monday at
the Sheridan Baptist
Church.
Dallas Mortuary Tribute
Center handled arrange-
ments. To send an online
tribute: www.dallastribute.
com.
Leta Velma
Watson
Dec. 30, 1916 – Aug. 9, 2015
Leta Velma Watson, 98, of
Dallas died Sunday in Dal-
las.
Viewing is Friday from 2
to 7 p.m. at Dallas Mortuary
Tribute Center.
Graveside service is Satur-
day at 1 p.m. at Salt Creek
Cemetery.
To send an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Sept. 5, 1935 – Aug. 6, 2015
Garland Bennie Roy “Ben”
Goforth, 79, of Willamina
died Aug. 6 in Willamina.
He was born at home in
Howe, Texas, to Opal Mae
Brannon and Sadler Garland
Goforth.
Ben left home at the age
of 14 and worked odd jobs
Fred Carlton
Griffith
May 24, 1925 – March 13, 2015
Memorial gathering for
Fred Carlton Griffith, 89, of
Dallas is Sunday at 1 p.m. at
Oak Grove Grange, 2760 Oak
Grove Road, Rickreall.