Polk County News
10A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 29, 2016
OBITUARIES
William Patrick
O’Malley
Aug. 22, 1949 – June 16, 2016
William Patrick “Paw”
O’Malley, 66, died June 16
from injuries sustained from
a tractor accident.
As
a
y o u n g
man, he
served two
tours in
Vietnam as
a helicop-
ter crew
chief on
H u e y
UH1C069.
Follow-
ing his
military
service, he
worked as a logger as well as
a federally licensed aircraft
mechanic at Columbia Heli-
copters and Boeing.
Throughout his life he was
devoted to farming.
His parents and son,
Dayne, died before he did.
Survived by wife, Terri;
sisters, Molly, Hester and
Annette; sons, Ryan and
Tygh; stepsons, Sean and
Kevin; and 12 grandchildren.
Memorial service will be
at 7 p.m. on Friday at
Br idgepor t Community
Chapel, Dallas. Dallas Mor-
tuary Tribute Center han-
dled arrangements.
To leave an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Irvin H. Ratzlaff
June 20, 2016
Irvin H. Ratzlaff, of Salem,
formerly of Dallas, died June
20 in Salem.
He was born to Henry H.
and Anna Lutke Ratzlaff in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
Canada.
He graduated from high
s c h o o l i n D a l m e n y,
Saskatchewan, and attended
two years of Bible college.
He married Mabel D.
Baerg on
July 6,
1950, in
Dalmeny.
They came
to Dallas
in 1958. He
was
a
member of
Evangelical Bible Church in
Dallas, and later Salem First
Baptist.
He taught Sunday school
and sang in the choir. To-
gether with Mabel, he sang
in a quartet with their dear
friends.
He was born to a farming
family and continued farm-
ing until 1964.
His other work experi-
ences included retail, real
estate sales, car sales, truck
and bus driving, and many
years as a metal lathe ma-
chinist for Towmotor (Cater-
pillar) in Dallas.
Irvin and Mabel spent 15
years volunteering with mis-
sion work in Texas, Arizona,
California, Europe, Cannon
Beach, and Wildhorse
Ranch.
His son, Donald, died on
July 15, 1964. His wife,
Mabel, died on Jan. 30, 2004.
Survivors include son,
Ray, of Mission, British Co-
lumbia; daughters, Phyllis
Souter, of La Pine, and
Doreen Ratzlaff, of Dallas;
brother, Vern Ratzlaff, of
Dallas; four grandchildren;
and two great-grandchil-
dren.
Graveside services were
held. Contributions may be
made to Wycliffe Bible
Translators in care of Dallas
Mortuary Tribute Center in
Dallas, which handled
arrangements. To leave an
online tribute: www.dallas-
tribute.com.
Steve Whitus
Sept. 2, 1945 — June 17, 2016
Steve Whitus, 70, of Dal-
las, died on June 17 in
Salem.
Steve was born in
Lafayette,
Ind., to
Emery and
L e o n a
Whitus,
and gradu-
ated from
Riverside
H i g h
School in 1965.
Steve was an avid sports
fan, and especially loved the
Oregon Ducks.
He went out of his way to
spend time with friends and
family.
Steve was a graduate of
ICC Bible College in San
Bernardino, Calif., and his
desire was for everyone to
understand the concept of
grace.
After retirement in 2012,
he served as an itinerant
Bible teacher in churches in
Washington state, Califor-
nia, Nevada and Arizona.
Steve spent his working
years as a manager. He man-
aged Denny’s in Huntington
Beach, Calif., and then
transferred to Eugene, where
he worked in his father’s
restaurant, Whitey’s Cafete-
ria.
Then he took his manage-
ment skills to newspapers,
where he took the carriers
under his wing to teach
them good customer serv-
ice. Most of his newspaper
years were spent at the
Salem Statesman-Journal,
The World in Coos Bay, and
The Daily Astorian.
Steve enjoyed movies,
concerts, Diet Pepsi, basket-
ball with his grandkids,
cards with his sister, and
Ducks football games.
Survived by his best friend
in life, Irene Stoops; son,
Brannon ( Julie) Whitus;
daughter, Raeha (Raymond)
Steinle; eight grandchildren;
sister, Judy (Jim) Hawkins;
and extended family.
His brother, Dave Whitus,
died before he did.
Celebration of life will be
held at Dallas Mortuary
Tribute Center, 287 Wash-
ington St., on Sunday at 3
p.m. Dinner will follow at
Grace Community Church,
598 Ellendale Ave., Dallas.
David R. Wilkes
Dec. 15, 1953 – June 22, 2016
David R. Wilkes, 62, of
Dallas, died on June 22 in
Dallas.
He was born in Valdosta,
Ga., to Charles and Reba
Haller.
D a v e
grew up in
the San
Francisco
Bay area.
He gradu-
ated from
Pe t a l u m a
H i g h
School in 1972.
In 1977, Dave met Cathy
Givens. They were married
on Oct. 18, 1980, in Lake
Tahoe, Nev.
Dave had his own plastics
fabrication business in Cali-
fornia. They moved from
San Jose to Dallas in 1994.
Dave worked as a truck driv-
er for Western Interlock in
Rickreall for 17 years.
Due to his declining
health, he had to stop work-
ing in January of 2014.
He enjoyed hunting, fish-
ing and his garden every
year. He would barbecue
year-round and also make
jerky.
Dave was always experi-
menting with his cooking,
developing new dishes. He
won a number of Chili
Cook-off’s in both California
and Oregon, earning grand
champion honors. Dave
liked to tinker and was al-
ways working on projects.
Mother, Reba, and broth-
er, Edward Wilkes died be-
fore he did.
Survived by wife, Cathy, of
Dallas; sons, James and
Adam, both of Dallas; father,
Charles Haller, of Union,
Ohio; sister, Carol (Ron)
Austin, of Piqua, Ohio; and
extended family.
Celebration of life will be
announced in the near fu-
ture.
Memorials are suggested
to a charity of choice. Dallas
Mortuary Tribute Center
handled arrangements.
To leave an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Violet Lillian Scott
July 21, 1921 – June 23, 2016
Violet Lillian Scott, 94, of
Falls City, died Thursday in
Falls City.
Violet Scott was born in
Dallas to Peter and Lena
(Weins) Diehm.
Violet enjoyed sewing,
knitting, and crocheting. She
raised Boston terriers and,
later, Dachshunds. She lived
in the same house for 73
years in Falls City. Many
years ago, the Falls City City
Council asked her to be a
member. She told them they
wouldn’t want her to be on
the council
because
they would
regret it
after get-
ting ear
fulls from
her.
Survived
by sons, Arthur Wayne Scott,
a n d Da n n y Ne i l S c o t t
(Betty); sister, Evelyn Ander-
son; seven grandchildren;
many great-grandchildren
and great-great-grandchil-
dren; and extended family.
Her husband, Elwin Alon-
zo Scott, died in 1972. Three
brothers and one sister also
died before she did.
Viewing will be on
Wednesday from 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. at Dallas Mortuary
Tribute Center.
Memorial service will be
held on Thursday at 2 p.m.
in Dallas at Dallas Mortuary
Tribute Center, with recep-
tion to follow.
The Dallas Mortuary Trib-
ute Center handled arrange-
ments.
To leave an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Frances Anna
Haines
Dec. 13, 1922 – June 26, 2016
Frances Anna Haines, 93,
of Dallas, died Sunday in the
Dallas Retirement Village.
She was born in St. Paul,
Minn.
Viewing will be from 1 to 5
p.m. on Saturday and Sun-
day in the Dallas Mortuary
Tribute Center. A funeral
Mass will be held in the lat-
ter part of July 2016.
The Dallas Mortuary Trib-
ute Center handled arrange-
ments.
To leave an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Obituary
Information
Obituary information must
be submitted by 4 p.m. on the
Monday before publication to
be included in the newspaper.
Most funeral homes handle
obituary information and pro-
vide it to the newspaper. How-
ever, information can also be
submitted directly from family
members.
Color and black-and-white
photos can be submitted, but
photos will only be published
in black and white. The Itemiz-
er-Observer uses a flag logo in
the obituaries of people who
served in the armed forces.
Obituaries — like all infor-
mation submitted to the news
department — are subject to
editing for style, content and
length.
Information can be brought
or mailed to the Itemizer-Ob-
server, 147 SE Court St., Dallas,
OR 97338, or emailed to
ionews@polkio.com.
For more information: Emily
Mentzer, 503-623-2373.
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITIES
These Polk County groups would welcome individuals
who have time or expertise to volunteer. Organizations
that would like to be added to this list should call 503-
623-2373 or email IOnews@polkio.com.
—
• AARP Foundation Tax-Aide — 503-930-7636
• After DARC — 503-623-9501
• Arc of Polk County — 541-223-3261
• Central School District — 503-838-0030
• City of Dallas — 503-831-3502
• City of Independence — 503-838-1212
• City of Monmouth — 503-751-0145
• Crime Victims Assistance Program — 503-623-9268
• Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce — 503-623-2564
• Dallas Fire Department — 503-831-3532
• Dallas Food Bank — 503-623-3578
• Dallas Kids, Inc. — 503-623-6419
• Dallas Police Department — 503-831-3582
• Dallas Public Library — 503-623-2633
• Dallas Retirement Village — 503-623-5581
• Dallas School District — 503-623-5594
• Delbert Hunter Arboretum — 503-623-7359
• Girl Scouts of Southwest Washington and Oregon — 503-
581-2451
• Ella Curran Food Bank — 503-838-1276
• Falls City Arts Center — 503-559-6291
• Falls City School District — 503-787-3531
• H-2-O — 503-831-4736
• HandsOn Mid-Willamette Valley — 503-363-1651
• Heron Pointe Assisted Living — 503-838-6850
• Independence Health and Rehabilitation — 503-838-0001
• Independence Public Library — 503-838-1811
• Kings Valley Charter School — 541-929-2134
• Luckiamute Watershed Council — 503-837-0237
• Luckiamute Valley Charter School – 503-623-4837
• Meals on Wheels — 503-838-2084
• Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce —
503-838-4268
• Monmouth-Independence YMCA — 503-838-4042
• Monmouth Public Library — 503-838-1932
• Northwest Human Services — 503-588-5828
• Oregon Child Development Coalition — 503-838-2745
• OSU Extension Service - Polk County — 503-623-8395
• Perrydale School District — 503-623-2040
• Polk County Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
— 503-623-9268, ext. 1301
• Polk Community Development Corporation — 503-831-
3173
• Polk County Community Emergency Response Team —
503-623-9396
• Polk County Museum — 503-623-6251
• Polk County Public Health — 503-623-8175
• Polk County Resource Center — 503-623-8429
• Polk Soil and Water Conservation District — 503-623-9680
• Reading for All — 503-623-9664
• SABLE House — 503-623-6703
• Salvation Army — 503-798-4783
• SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) — 503-391-8423
• West Valley Hospital — 503-623-8301
• Willamette Valley Hospice — 503-588-3600
Minet to develop
strategic plan
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — The
management of Mon-
mouth-Independence Net-
works has been given the
go-ahead by its board of di-
rectors to create a strategic
business plan for the com-
pany.
During the process, the
management team will
consider the company’s
strengths, weaknesses, op-
portunities and threats,
corporate finance officer
Mark Thoenes said.
For more than a year,
Thoenes has called Minet
“stable and flat” as far as
revenue is concerned. To
move the company for-
ward, it will look at other
revenue opportunities.
Minet has been able to
pay its operational costs,
but has struggled to pay the
debt the cities of Independ-
ence and Monmouth took
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503-623-0290
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Itemizer-Observer staff report
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Salem
412 Lancaster Drive NE
Salem, OR 97301
(503) 581-6265
Low Cost
Cremation & Burial
Funerals & Memorials
Simple Direct Cremation $495
Simple Direct Burial
$550
Traditional Funeral
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Discount priced
Caskets, Urns and
other Memorial items.
Privately owned
cremation facility.
Locally owned and operated
by Oregon families.
www.ANewTradition.com
~ Polk County’s ONLY Family Owned Funeral Homes ~
out on its behalf to build
the infrastructure for the
telephone, cable and data
company.
“These are plans that
have unique benefits,” said
Jon Carey, Minet board
member and Monmouth
city councilor. “Minet’s an
interesting company in
that, because of its nature,
it’s dynamic. Things are
changing all the time. Tech-
nical demands are increas-
ing, and in some cases
falling by the wayside. It’s
backed by public debt and
landlocked in the tradition-
al sense, with plans to
break out.”
Scott McClure, board
president and Monmouth
city manager, said he hopes
the strategic business plan
will help find new business
opportunities, form the
baseline and core of the
business, while identifying
long-term goals and objec-
tives.
Protect your pet
from loud noises
during the 4th of July.
POLK COUNTY — The
best place for your pet during
the heat of the day is inside,
not in a car, according to the
Oregon Humane Society.
If you see a dog in distress
in a hot car, dial 911. Local
law enforcement may assess
the situation and determine
if the car needs to be entered.
“The best thing to do is call
the police and request they
respond,” Monmouth Police
Department officers stated.
“We have resources to find
vehicle owners and if not can
force entry into a vehicle as a
last resort if the animal is in
distress.”
Oregon does not have a
“good Samaritan” law that
protects citizens from break-
ing into a car to access a dog
or animal.
Instead, the Oregon Hu-
mane Society recommends
leaving animals at home in a
cool place, not in the car
while you run errands.
For more information
about pet safety during the
summer heat: oregonhu-
mane.org.