Polk County News
6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 30, 2016
OBITUARIES
Earnest Jerral
Brown
Jan. 17, 1946 – March 20, 2016
Earnest Jerral Brown
“Jerry,” 70, of Monmouth,
died March 20 after a coura-
geous nine-month battle
with lung cancer in Mon-
mouth.
He was born to Frank and
Connie Brown.
In 1948, they traveled
from Hazlehurst, Miss., fol-
lowing saw
mill work
to Oregon
wrapped
in blankets
in the back
of a pick-
up.
H
e
spent his
childhood
in poverty,
g o i n g
without
food many
times, which greatly con-
tributed to his drive to suc-
ceed.
Jerry was an accom-
plished high school athlete,
but was only allowed to
compete because his track
coach agreed to take him
home in time to complete
his chores.
At 18, he enlisted in the
Army. Jerry spent his 32
years in the military advanc-
ing in rank in many posi-
tions and duty stations and
retired as a sergeant major
in 1995. His final duty as-
signment was as SGM of the
Military Academy in Mon-
mouth.
He loved his family and
was a proud American and
patriot, softball coach, Pied
Piper of homeless cats, ulti-
mate recycler, bargain hunt-
ing pack rat, vegetable gar-
dener, and was always in
motion.
During their 26 years in
Monmouth, Jerry and Julie
were seen daily on their
walks. They enjoyed vaca-
tioning in Cancun.
He was preceded in death
by his siblings, Barbara,
Dewey, Floyd, Charlie and
James Jr.
Survivors include his lov-
ing wife of 28 years, Julie;
daughters, Sheri and Angela;
seven grandchildren; and
one great-grandchild.
He will be interred at
Eagle Point National Ceme-
tery with full military honors
on Monday at 2 p.m.
Celebration life will be
held in Monmouth at a later
date.
Contributions are sug-
gested to the USO at
www.uso.org/donate.
Farnstrom Mortuary han-
dled arrangements.
To send an online tribute:
www.FarnstromMortuary
.com.
DAVID ARTHUR HOLMES
March 8, 1927 - February 24, 2016
David Holmes passed away peacefully in
Spokane, Washington on February 24,
2016. He was preceded in death by his wife
of 65 years, Eileen on July 29, 2015. David
was born in Auburn, Washington on March
8, 1927 to Arthur and Myrtle Holmes.
David met his future wife Eileen while
serving in the United States Air Force in
England. He also had served in the United
States Merchant Marines during WW II.
David was a long time resident of Dallas, Oregon where he
worked at Willamette Industries, retiring in 1989.
During their retirement years, David and Eileen wintered
in Desert Hot Springs, California and greatly enjoyed the
Almar Acres Retirement Community. David was known in
both communities as a runner. He loved golf, and along with
Eileen volunteered at numerous professional tournaments in
the Palm Springs, CA area. David loved to garden. He had a
passion for the out of doors and led numerous backpacking
trips with his grandchildren in the Wallowa Mountains of
northeast Oregon, even climbing Eagle Cap at age 80!
David is survived by his children, Susan (Michael) Went-
worth and Craig (Cathy) Holmes; grandchildren: Joshua Lehto,
Robin Lehto, Nathan (Liz) Holmes, Christopher (Jenn)
Holmes, Matthew Holmes and Kassette (Jared) Harris, as well
as nine great- grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
A Graveside Service with military honors will be held for
David at the family gravesite in Auburn, WA at Mountain
View Cemetery on April 23, 2016. On August 6, 2016 his
grandchildren will climb Eagle Cap in David’s honor. (He
would have liked that).
David was a simple man, with a great faith, who loved his
family and his community. He had a wonderful smile and will
be greatly missed and always remembered. We love and miss
you dad! The family wishes to thank all of the staff that
helped take care of David over the past few months, especially
those at Guardian Angel Homes.
To view David’s online memorial, please visit www.hen-
nesseyfuneralhomes.com.
Patricia Blanton
May 19, 1931 – March 11, 2016
Patricia Blanton, 84, of
Dallas, died March 11.
She was born in Cottage
Grove to Glenn and Lillian
(Eastman) Miller.
Patricia grew up and at-
tended early education in
Cottage Grove where, at
times, due
to the des-
olation of
her home,
she rode
the train to
town to at-
t e n d
school.
Later the family moved to
Oakridge where she began
high school. She played vol-
leyball and was very active
in school sports, and this
was where she met her fu-
ture husband.
Patricia moved from place
to place while her husband
was in the military, and they
lived in the Albany area and
later settled in Dallas.
She had three children
and, although she was a
homemaker for quite some
time, she decided to work
outside the home and go
into the grocery business.
Patricia eventually landed a
job at Roth’s Grocery in In-
dependence and worked
there for 40 years, until her
death.
She loved the Roth’s fami-
ly and the business she
worked for; it was her life.
There wasn’t much more of
importance to her than
work besides her family, but
she did enjoy bowling and
even went to national bowl-
ing tournaments several
times.
Survivors include her
sons, Jack, Glenn and Den-
nis; sister, Mary Ann Salas-
Miller; three grandchildren;
and five great-grandchil-
dren.
Private family service was
held.
Dallas Mortuary Tribute
Center handled arrange-
ments.
To send an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Myrtle Evelyn
Barker
July 10, 1917 – March 21, 2016
Myrtle Evelyn Barker, 98,
of Dallas, died March 21.
She was born in Shafer,
Minn. When she was 11
months old her family
moved to Saskatchewan,
Canada, and farmed.
Myrtle moved to Hillsboro
in the fall of 1936, looking
for work during the Depres-
sion. She married Leroy
Barker, of Hillsboro, on Aug.
30, 1939.
Myrtle raised her family in
West Union, outside of Hills-
boro.
She worked for many
years in the food service de-
partment of Tektronix. She
later moved to the Mon-
mouth/Dallas area to be
near her daughter.
Myrtle enjoyed gardening,
yardwork, being a Cub Scout
leader, hunting, fishing,
clam dig-
ging, play-
ing cards,
traveling
and camp-
ing.
She was
preceded
in death by
her husband, Leroy in 1987.
Survivors include her chil-
dren, Gerald Barker, of Keiz-
er, Barbara Barlow, of Dallas,
and Edward Barker, of Gre-
sham; 13 grandchildren; and
17 great-grandchildren.
Graveside service is Satur-
day at 11 a.m. at Forest View
Cemetery in Forest Grove.
Dallas Mortuary Tribute
Center handled arrange-
ments.
To send an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Jim ‘J.J.’ Johnstone
Feb. 17, 1960 – March 22, 2016
Jim “J.J.” Johnstone, 56, of
Falls City, died March 22 in
Salem from a massive
aneurism. He and his family
have lived in Falls City for
more than 30 years.
Jim was
born in
Fresno,
Calif.
J i m
loved fish-
ing, play-
ing pool,
w o o d
working, karaoke, barbecu-
ing, cooking, helping others
and being with his friends.
He was loved by everyone
and loved helping everyone
as well.
Survivors include his wife
LLOYD RANDOLPH MASSEY
Sept. 28, 1987 - March 11, 2016
Lloyd is one of 14 children of Charles
"Randy" Massey and Vicki (Black) Massey.
Grandparents are Carl and Melba Black of Dal-
las. (Both deceased.). Lloyd died after being hit
by a car in Sacramento County, California.
Lloyd was born in Portland, Oregon. As
children, he, two brothers and his sister
formed "The Hot Shot Tap Dancers." They
performed throughout Oregon and Washington and were con-
testants on America's Got Talent.
In 2002, the family moved to Salem. After graduation from
Sprague High School, Lloyd attended Western Oregon Univer-
sity and then became the show announcer for WGAS Motor
Sports in Cool, California. At the time of his death, Lloyd was
President of WGAS.
Funeral Services have been held and interment was at Rest-
lawn Memory Gardens. Assisting the family was Virgil T.
Golden Funeral Service.
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Personally involved
and invested in the
Dallas community
of 33 years, Lisa Johnstone;
son, Brandon Grenier John-
stone; daughter, Amanda
( Johnstone) Guthrie
(William); two grandchil-
dren; stepmother, Dorothy
Johnstone; and stepsisters
and stepbrothers.
Celebration of life for Jim
is Saturday, with a potluck
and time of sharing at 6 p.m.
followed by one of his fa-
vorite activities, karaoke, at
9 p.m. at the Boondocks Bar
and Grill in Falls City.
Norman Lester
Boyd
May 2, 1926 – March 25, 2016
Elder Norman Lester
Boyd, 89, of Dallas, died Fri-
day.
He was born to Harley
and Emma (Cover) Boyd in
Modesto, Calif.
Norman grew up on a
farm in Modesto doing
chores of feeding and milk-
ing cows, and caring for the
animals and later farmed.
School days were long with
having to walk three miles to
school and
three miles
back home
each day.
He was
baptized at
age 15 into
the fellow-
ship of the
Old German Baptist
Brethren Church at the
Stanislaus River near
Modesto. In 2009, he was
united with the New Confer-
ence to which he remained
faithful.
He married Doris Jean
Balsbaugh on Sept. 28, 1946.
He worked for “ The
Farmer’s Phone Company”
as a lineman and farmed
and milked cows.
In June of 1956, Norman
and Doris were called to the
office of deacon at Modesto
District Church and moved
to Tuolumne District for
nine years.
In 1967, they moved to
the Sierra Nevada Moun-
tains and helped form the
Sierra Pines District.
While there, they were
elected to the office of min-
ister.
They became elders in the
church in 1978.
Norman replaced his
farming days to be a welder
and do metal fabricating,
welding on bridges, logging
trucks and decorative iron
projects.
During this time of his
life, he studied and took fly-
ing lessons.
He received his private
pilot’s license, which he had
until he was 83 years old. He
enjoyed taking family mem-
bers and friends flying.
He and his wife, Doris,
moved to Dallas District in
1992 to help support and
serve in a small and growing
church.
Both Norman and Doris
enjoyed being with the
church fellowship. Doris
died in August 2011.
Norman was always a
peacemaker and always
looked for the good in oth-
ers. While living in Oregon,
they made lots of friends,
shared God’s love to all and
shared Bible truths to the
world around them.
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They took many trips to
the coast with children,
friends and grandchildren.
He enjoyed building wood-
en model airplanes and he
gave them to friends, family,
and strangers.
Because of macular de-
generation in his eye, he was
forced to give up his driving
privileges and used an elec-
tr ic wheelchair to get
around. At any given time
you may have seen him in
his electric wheelchair on
the streets of Dallas.
He was preceded in death
by his brothers, Maurice
Boyd and Donald Boyd; and
sisters, Ona Boyd and Muriel
Onkst.
Survivors include his fam-
ily, Rachel Salter and her
companion, Larry, Linda
Crawford and her compan-
ion, Mike; Calvin and his
companion, Barbara; Car-
men Boyd and her compan-
ion, Jonathan; sister, Ruth
Beery and her companion,
Paul; 12 grandchildren; 28
great-grandchildren; and
one great-great-grandchild.
Viewing is Friday from 5
to 8 p.m. Service is Saturday
at 11 a.m. at the Dallas Old
German Baptist Brethren
New Conference meeting
house, 13180 Beck Road in
Dallas.
Dallas Mortuary Tribute
Center handled arrange-
ments.
To send an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Dwight Kennel
Nov. 7, 1947 – March 23, 2016
Dwight Kennel, 68, of
Monmouth, died March 23
in Monmouth.
He was born in Albany to
Earl W. and Berneice Kennel.
Dwight spent his child-
hood in Albany with his sib-
lings and learned the family
business of farming.
He loved any time he
c o u l d
spend with
his dad or
grandfa-
ther out in
the fields.
At the age
of
16,
Dwight and
the rest of the family moved
to Monmouth, after Inter-
state 5 split the family’s
farm.
Dwight had a life chang-
ing stroke on Feb. 22, 1964,
which the doctors felt he
would not survive.
But with faith, determina-
tion, and the loving support
of his family he continued
on.
The stroke left him para-
lyzed on the right side of his
body and he had to relearn
how to speak and function
with half of his body.
After years of therapy in
Oregon, Dwight headed to
Southern California seeking
additional therapy.
It was in California where
he met a beautiful brown-
eyed woman, Lydia Ann
Schrock. They later married
on June 20, 1976, in Ontario,
Calif.
They, along with their two
children, made their home
on the family farm in Mon-
mouth.
Dwight loved and ad-
mired everything about his
dad, Earl W. He was an ex-
cellent athlete and Dwight
aspired to be an excellent
football player.
Also like his dad, Dwight
developed a strong faith in
God.
After his stroke, he found
that reading and memoriz-
ing scripture helped him re-
learn to speak.
Survivors include his wife
of more than 39 years, Lydia
Ann; children, Earl L. Ken-
nel, of Corona, Calif., and
Annalin “Annie” ( Justin)
Hedlund, of Monmouth;
siblings, Kathy Schweitzer,
Ardiss (Ron) Burch, Bob
(Sally) Kennel, and John
(Mary Jane) Kennel; and two
grandchildren.
Memorial service is Satur-
day at 2 p.m. at Albany Men-
nonite Church.
Contributions are sug-
gested to MCC.org for water
wells or to Samaritan Ever-
green Hospice.
Farnstrom Mortuary in
Independence handled
arrangements.
To send an online tribute:
www.FarnstromMortuary
.com.