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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2016)
Polk County News 6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 5, 2016 OBITUARIES Geraldine Bernice Peel Shirley Mae Klassen July 3, 2016 Shirley Mae Klassen, 89, of Retsil, Wash- ington, passed away peacefully on Sun- day, July 3, 2016, with close family by her side. Shirley was born in Buffalo, Wyoming, to Miles and Sybil Turner. She was the eld- est of three children. Her family moved to Grandview, Washington, when she was in grade school. After high school, she mar- ried Donald Klassen. They had three children and eventually settled in Salem, Oregon. Shirley moved to Independence, Oregon, in 1960, with her children and parents and attended The Oregon College of Education (now Western Oregon Uni- versity) where she received her master’s in education, with a minor in special education. She taught elementary school in Monmouth for several years. In 1965, they moved to Enum- claw, Washington, where she taught special education. She and her two sons then moved to Guam in 1970 and she taught elementary school there for five years. While living in Guam, she continued to travel extensively throughout Asia. After a quick stint working in Alaska, Shirley came back to Monmouth, put all her belongings in storage, and with only the name and address of a company that was hiring, booked a flight to Iran. She arrived in 1976 and was promptly hired by Bell Helicopter. Her time in Iran was, as she would often describe, very exciting. She witnessed (and directly experi- enced) the Iranian revolution and fall of the Shah. She stayed on to help evacuate over 4,200 civilian Americans from Iran, a period that proved harrowing on more than a few occa- sions. In fact, her departure in 1979 was on the final plane to leave the country before the Iranians took 52 American hostages. She evacuated to Germany and met up Bonnie Agahi, a former roommate from her time in Iran who had evacuated earlier. Unfazed by closely witnessing a dramatic and at times violent revolution, they then traveled to Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia. After a short stopover in Monmouth, she moved to Germany and spent two years working for the Department of Defense. After Germany, she once again set- tled back in Monmouth and worked for Yamhill County Drug and Alcohol until her retirement. Her love of traveling didn’t diminish in her later years, and she visited England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Egypt, Bali, and China. But even though she had a passion for traveling, Grandma Shirley’s greatest joy was when her grandchildren and great-grandchildren came to visit her. In 2007, she met Robert Langager and they were married in March of 2008 , at age 81. As Shirley’s dementia worsened, in 2009, they moved to the Washington State Vet- eran’s Home in Retsil Washington, and remained happy com- panions until Bob passed away in 2011. Shirley continued to be well cared for until her death. Shirley was preceded in death by her son, Scott Klassen (2005) and her brother, Ted Turner, just eight days prior to her own passing. Shirley is sur- vived by her daughter, Christy (David) Riddell, Monmouth, Oregon; her son Bruce (Suzy) Klassen, West Linn, Oregon; her sister, Marylou Graff, Seattle, Washington; her sister-in-law Patricia Turner, Bremerton, Washington; her eight grandchil- dren Laurice Riddell, Independence, Oregon; Anissa Branch, Monmouth, Oregon; Carly Ruhnke, Highland, Kansas; Jessy Pfarrkircher, Berlin, Germany; T.J. Klassen, Sarah Al-Karzoun, Michaele Barrera and J.J. Klassen, Seattle, Washington; her 11 great-grandchildren Dylan, Rhiana, Nyah Branch, Mon- mouth, Oregon; Metta Beshay, Independence, Oregon; Rex and Zeke Ruhnke, Highland Kansas; Noah and Elise Pfar- rkircher, Berlin Germany; Christopher and Nicholas Barrera and Noah Al-Karzoun, Seattle, Washington; her “adopted” granddaughters Hilary Olsen, Lake Oswego, Oregon; Tamara Shannon, Oakland, California; her “adopted” great-grand- daughters Audrey and Candice Olsen, Lake Oswego, Oregon; Eva Shannon, Oakland, California; and numerous nieces and nephews. The family is very grateful to the Washington State Veteran’s Home for the excellent care she received. The staff were all very compassionate and treated our Mother/Grand- mother with great dignity. A celebration of Shirley’s life was held on September 16, 2016, at Farnstrom Mortuary, 410 Monmouth St, Independence, Oregon, 97351. In lieu of flow- ers, a donation may be made to your favorite charity. May 23, 1939 – Sept. 29, 2016 GERALDINE BERNICE PEEL, 77, passed away Thursday, September 29th in Dallas, Oregon. She was born on May 23, 1939 in Kirkland, Ohio the daughter of Edward and Bernice Simmons Dremann. Geri graduated from Grant Valley High School in Orwell, Ohio in 1957. She married Carl Peel in Orwell, Ohio on June 29, 1957. She spent some time in California while her husband Carl went to seminary school. Geri was a loving mother of 5 children. She moved with Carl to Oregon for work. Geri and Carl were missionaries in Ivory Coast, Africa from 1981 to 1983. Geri worked alongside her husband Carl as a book- keeper for their carpet business for many years in Salem, Oregon. She really enjoyed knitting, sewing, gardening and most of all spending time with family. She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Carl Peel. She is also survived by her brother, Mark Dremann, her children, John Peel, Tim Peel, Andy Peel, Becky Kutz, and Suzie Kolka, as well as 19 grandchildren and 8 great grand- children. Private services for family will be held. To leave a mes- sage or a memory for the family go to www.dallastribute.com. The Dallas Mortuary Tribute Cen- ter is caring for the family. Ronda Hipp Aug. 20, 1956 – Sept. 27, 2016 Services are pending. Dallas Mortuary Tribute Center is caring for the family. NEWS IN BRIEF Free lessons for future guitarists DALLAS — A free guitar clinic will be offered from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday at Dallas Church, 450 SE Washington St., in Dallas. The clinic is for those aged 10 and older. Participants must bring their own guitar. Donations are accepted. For more information: 503-559-2600. Dallas Chamber to host debates DALLAS — The Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce’ Public Policy Committee is holding three election forums this month and is looking for people to submit question for candidates to answer. Candidate questions are due to the chamber by Monday. They can be submitted All three forums will be held at the Dallas Civic Center, 945 SE Jefferson St. The two evening forums are free while the lunch- eon event (Oct. 17) is $12 and requires an RSVP by Oct. 14. The first forum is Oct. 13 from 7 to 8: 30 p.m. and invited can- didates are Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton and his challenger Todd Whitlow; Oregon House District 23 candidates Rep. Mike Nearman and challenger Jim Thompson; U.S. Congressional Dis- trict 5: Rep. Kurt Schrader and challenger Colm Willis; and Sen- ate District 12 Sen. Brian Boquist and challenger Ross Swartzen- druber. On Oct. 17 the second forum during the chamber’s luncheon is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Topics will include Measure 97 – Business Tax Increase and Measure 98 – Career Tech 1. The last forum is Oct. 20 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and invited are Dallas City Council candidate LaVonne Wilson, Kelly Gabliks, Ken Woods Jr., Paul Trahan, Marsha Heeter, Jennie Rummell, and Terry Crawford. Joyful Sound Hearing 312 Main Street • Dallas • Hearing Testing • Hearing Aids • Service Call today for your FREE Consultation Mark Sturtevant 503-623-0290 Personally involved and invested in the Dallas community Welcoming new patients. Most insurance health plans accepted. Also a Moda preferred provider. Call us. The Itemizer Observer can help you expand your market share, and make your business more profitable. Call Heidi, Rachel or Karen at 503-623-2373. ADVERTISING THAT WORKS. Dallas set to increase water, sewer rates By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — The city of Dal- las’ Utility Rate Committee has made a recommendation to increase water and sewer rates each year until 2019. Joe Koubek, chairman of the committee, presented the results of its review of current rates and how they compare with operating costs and necessary im- provements of the systems at the Dallas City Council’s Sept. 19 meeting. The committee is recom- mending increasing water rates by 4.31 percent and sewer by 2.75 percent each year until 2019, when the rates will be reviewed again, Koubek said. That would have the aver- age monthly water bill for residential customers go from the current $29.98 to $33.55 in 2019. Average residential sewer bills would increase from $41.67 now to $45.60 in 2019. The rates were last adjust- ed following a 2012 study that recommended the city adopt the Portland-area Consumer Price Index (CPI) as a method of figuring an Pool: No easy fix to center’s money woes Continued from Page 1A Locke didn’t see adding workout equipment as feasi- ble unless the facility was ex- panded. “This facility was not de- signed for that and the addi- tion of that type of equip- ment,” he said. “It would have to go somewhere, and in order for it to go some- where right now, without expanding the facility, you have to take up some of the existing rentable space that we rent fairly often.” He didn’t think a contract with an outside agency would save money, either, based on his research. “It’s simply not cost effec- tive without some sort of subsidy,” he said. “We are probably going to pay more to do that, and we are not going to have as much con- trol in the operations.” On the expenditure side, Locke didn’t find much room for savings given the increas- ing employee and mainte- nance costs. Visits to the facility have increased in recent years, meaning even more employ- ees are required for the pool to operate safely. “Those costs are going to keep increasing as the mini- mum wage increases and as we have to staff the facility in order to accommodate all the different user groups and activities and lessons,” Locke said. “It’s great to be busier, but the flipside of that is you have increased pressure in your personnel costs.” Salem ©2002 Adfinity™ The effects of a single decision can ripple through a family for years... even generations. We’re experts on one of the most profound decisions your family will face—preplanning your funeral. Knowing that everything is taken care of, you spare your family any stressful or confusing considerations. Preplanning is simple, and surprisingly, not something you have to pay for immediately. Preplanning... a decision that’s easy to make as picking up the phone. 412 Lancaster Drive NE Salem, OR 97301 (503) 581-6265 Low Cost Cremation & Burial Funerals & Memorials Simple Direct Cremation $495 Simple Direct Burial $610 Traditional Funeral $2,175 Discount priced Caskets, Urns and other Memorial items. ~ Polk County’s ONLY Family Owned Funeral Homes and Crematory ~ The Polk County Itemizer-Observer Your community newspaper. He added a loan used to pay for energy efficiency up- grades will be paid off next year, reducing costs by $50,000. Locke did find a way to in- crease revenue by increasing admission costs and annual memberships by 10 to 20 percent, which could net the facility $40,000. Options that would elim- inate the subsidy, such as an operating levy or form- ing a recreation district, need more research before the city committee could accept or reject them in a recommendation to the Dallas City Council, said committee chairwoman Kelly Gabliks. A rec rea ti o n di st r i ct wo ul d req ui re vo te r a p- p rova l an d wo uld cre- ate a permanent tax rat e. A vo ter-a pp roved operating levy would provide temporary p ro p er ty ta x reven ue to th e f a ci l it y. “Anything that we take to council, I want to make sure that we can explain why we think this is the best way to go,” Gabliks said. “I would ultimately like to be able to provide the council a list of every- thing that we considered and why we ultimately re- jected (some options).” The committee asked Locke to do more research on a levy and district, and bring a report back at a fu- ture meeting. Obituary Information S OME D ECISIONS H AVE A V ERY P ROFOUND E FFECT . M AKE O NE T HAT B ENEFITS Y OUR E NTIRE F AMILY . annual increase to rates to keep up with costs. Koubek said the 2012 study made assumptions about growth in the commu- nity and increase in costs to provide water and sewer services that were off target. Furthermore, the Portland- area CPI, which calculates the increase in cost for goods and services, showed slower growth in costs. City Manager Ron Foggin said the study estimated an average CPI increase of 3.1 percent. That didn’t happen, with the actual growth at 1.9 percent. “The CPI was actually going down because energy costs were going down,” Foggin said. “That didn’t necessarily change the cost of construction over that same amount of time.” Koubek added the com- mittee recommends remov- ing the CPI because it wasn’t working. “The operations costs don’t track well with that index we talked about,” Koubek said. “That’s why we were asked to revisit water and sewer rates.” The council made no de- cision about the recommen- dation at the meeting. Privately owned cremation facility. Locally owned and operated by Oregon families. www.ANewTradition.com The Itemizer-Observer has changed its Obituary policy. Obituaries now cost $8 per col- umn inch (25 words). Death notices are run free of charge. 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. 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, ext. 117.
