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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2017)
Polk County News 6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 29, 2017 OBITUARIES Robert ‘Bob’ Eugene Taylor Nov. 11, 1929 – Nov. 16, 2017 Robert “Bob” Eugene Tay- lor was born on Nov. 11, 1929, in San Pedro, Calif., and died peacefully in his home on N o v. 1 6 , 2017, at the age of 88. In his last days, he was surround- ed by fam- ily who he loved and laughed with. Bob joined the service at an early age, and quickly at- tained the elite rating of jumpmaster in the 82nd Air- borne Division of the United States Army. He was honor- ably discharged in 1957 with the rank of sergeant first class. He was very proud to have served his country, and was a member of the Ameri- can Legion. He married in 1966, and raised a family in San Pedro. Their favorite times were family vacations to Death Valley for dune-buggy ad- ventures (he built most of their dune buggies!), and annual vacations to a work- ing ranch in the White Mountains of Arizona. Fly- ing small planes was a defi- nite passion in his life! He was an extremely intelligent and humorous man with a quick and creative mind. A mechanic by trade, he opened his own auto shop in the ’60s, and later in life worked at Metropolitan Marianna Elizabeth Peters Quiring August 3, 1917 - Nov. 18, 2017 Marianna Elizabeth Peters Quiring died on Saturday November 18, 2017. Her husband pre- ceded her in death on Mar 11, 1981. Her sib- lings also preceded her in death. She is survived by her children Julia D. Emblen (Dallas), Jay and Ruth Quiring (Dallas), and Merrilee and Frank Carpenter (Hillsboro), grandchildren Jason Quiring, Aaron Quiring, Karen (Darren) Mans, Lisa (Jamie) Nelson and Brittany(Dustin) Burch. Great grandchildren include Rowan Quiring, Riley and Abby Quiring, Tana Diamond and Eleanor Stone, Brayden, Brody and Brooklyn Mans, Spencer and Austin Nelson, and Bella and Kinsley Burch. Marianna graduated as Valedictorian from Dallas High School in 1935 and married Elvin Quiring in 1936. For all of her life she was active in church activities including teaching childrens’ Sunday School classes. She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Special Education from what is currently Western Oregon University. She taught Special Education Reading in Marion and Polk County Schools. She later was a coffee hostess at Salem Hospital for over 20 years. Marianna and Elvin traveled the southern states follow- ing his retirement from Quiring Printing Company. Mari- anna assisted Elvin in building homes in the Dallas and Salem areas. Marianna counted it a privilege to cook for her family and the extended family. She always enjoyed her grandchildren and great grandchildren and often shared stories of her life growing up on the farm. She was entertained by her pet cats as a young girl through to her one hundredth birthday. Graveside services were held in the Dallas Cemetery. Memorials may be given Evangelical Bible Church at 1175 SE Howe St. Dallas, OR 97338 or American Bible Society at 101 N. Independence Mall E. FL8 Philadelphia, PA 19106- 2155. The Dallas Mortuary Tribute Center is caring for the family. www.dallastribute.com Stevedore in Long Beach, Calif., for several decades before retiring in 1994 and moving to Dallas, where he met and married Joan Turn- er in 1995. They enjoyed 22 years of happiness and traveled to many different places in the U.S. in their motor home before settling down in Dal- las. One of his passions was restoring old cars, and he did several of them during that time. Bob had many friends in Dallas and en- joyed making the rounds and having coffee and help- ing in any way he could. He especially loved the antique stores in Dallas and the peo- ple who worked in them. His friends were very important to him. He enjoyed retired life, and he put his creative energy into several different types of projects, including brass artwork and detailed dioramas. Some of his art- work is on display at the local museum. He contin- ued to fly planes whenever he had the chance. He was loved by all who knew him and will be dearly missed! The family would like to express their heartfelt grati- tude to the nurses and care- givers at Willamette Valley Hospice. The tender and dignified care they gave over the last month was a bless- ing to the entire family. They will always have a special place in the family’s heart. His is survived by his wife Joan; his daughters Michelle (Russell) Smith, of Enum- claw, Wash., Roberta Taylor, of Portland, Kathy (Craig) Linson, of Gresham, Connie (Steve) Marshall, of Dallas, and Sherry (Kevin) Sailors, of LaPine; and many grand- kids, great-grandkids and great-great-grandkids. A memorial celebration will be held at a later date, yet to be determined, and all who knew and loved him are welcome. The Dallas Mortu- ary Tribute Center is caring for the family. To leave a message or memory for the f a m i l y, p l e a s e g o t o www.dallastribute.com. Gordon Comstock English Feb. 7, 1922 – 2017 Gordon Comstock English was born in Van Nuys, Calif., on Feb. 7, 1922, to Albert English and Theo Darling English. He attended Laurel G r a d e School, Bancroft J u n i o r High, and Fairfax H i g h School, where he graduated with the Winter Class of 1941. Gordon had a sharp mind, enabling him to solve difficult problems and figure out how things worked often using creative ingenuity to fix them. One time he built his own kayak and engi- neered a way to tow it be- hind his bicycle for the 17- mile ride to Santa Monica from his home. While in high school, Gor- don developed a passion for flying racing pigeons. He also worked for Harlan C. Palmer, publisher of the Cit- izen News, as a paper boy, assistant cashier, and ac- count manager. As America’s involvement in World War II escalated and with an im- pending draft, Mr. Palmer suggested Gordon might benefit the war effort by joining the signal corp and using his pigeon racing ex- perience to help the troops communicate with one an- other. After careful consider- ation, Gordon chose to at- tend trade school and study airplane mechanics, which eventually propelled him to become a lead mechanic for Pan American Airlines and earned him special recogni- tion for the provision of vital air transportation under contract to the United States Navy. As a supervisor of Lockheed Vega, Gordon no- ticed one of the original Rosie the Riveters on the as- sembly line. He fell in love with her and asked this love- ly Puerto Rican woman to become his wife. After the war, Gordon used his mechanics skills and expertise to open his own machine shop, Angor Precision Products Inc. In 1964, Gordon moved his family to Dallas, built their beautiful family home, and continued operating his ma- chine shop. A change of occupation came in the early ’70s. Gor- don earned his real estate broker’s license and began working at Hildebrand and Kromer Realty. Within two years, he became the owner/broker of Angor Real- ty, successfully selling and managing real estate, in- cluding his own. Gordon sold the business to his eld- est son in 1995. Gordon and Ana enjoyed traveling to places such as Hong Kong, Spain, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, West- ern Europe, St. Thomas, as well as many places around the USA. He even flew a small plane with a some- what reluctant co-pilot, Ana, on some journeys as well. Gordon flew racing pi- geons for nearly 40 years. His reputation earned him the honor of providing his pigeons to be released at the 1 9 6 0 Sq u a w Va l l e y Olympics. In 1962, he was presented the Outstanding Flyer of California by Walt Disney. Over the years his homers were champions, flying distances from 200 to 600 miles. Gordon had many other hobbies includ- i n g b ow l i n g , b a s e b a l l , stamps, coins and family ge- nealogy. Gordon was a dedicated family man and friend to the community. He was always there to lend a hand to some- one in need. He volunteered substantial time to building the current grandstands at the Dallas High School foot- ball field, receiving a lifetime pass to all Dallas High School home football games. He was a member and past presi- dent of the Dallas Rotary Club, where he earned a cer- tificate for 47 years of perfect attendance. He served on the state Boundary Commission under Tom McCall, Ash Creek water district, and the Polk County Board of Real- tors. Gordon joined the con- gregation of Trinity Lutheran Church in 1964. He served as a board member; helped with the remodel of the Washington Street building; arranged for lectors for many years; and negotiated the deal for the property this new building sits on. Gordon’s wife, Ana pro- ceeded him in death on Nov. 20, 2012. They were married for 67 years. He lost his beloved grandson, Joshua English, in 2000. He is sur- vived by his four children: Gordon English Jr., of Dallas, and his wife, Virginia; Vir- ginia (Ginny) Kirk, of Dallas; Nancy Kinder, of Stockton, Calif., and her husband, Johnny; and Greg English, of Rockaway Beach, and his wife Joellyn; along with eight grandchildren; and 18 great- grandchildren. Services were held on Sat- urday, Nov. 25, in the Trinity Lutheran Church with pri- vate interment in the Salt Creek Cemetery. The Dallas Mortuary Trib- ute Center is caring for the family. To leave an online tribute: www.dallastribute.com. Arthur Eugene Mosher June 6, 1922 – Nov. 21, 2017 Arthur Mosher passed away on Nov. 21 in Portland. He was 95. Art was born in Hot Spring, S . D. , i n 1922. His f a m i l y owned a dairy farm, and Art and his brothers and sister all helped out on the farm. The f a m i l y moved to Oregon during the latter part of the 1930s, settling in Yamhill County. Art lived with a family in McMinnville during high school and graduated from McMin- nville High. Following school, he joined the Navy and, while on a leave, married Eliza- beth Wilkinson, whom he had met while visiting rela- tives in California. Art served in the Pacific during World War II, assigned first to the Indianapolis and then the Pittsburg. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1945 with the rank of gun- ners mate first class. Art and Elizabeth moved to the Yamhill-Carlton area, where he initially worked on a farm, then raised turkeys and worked for a Carlton lumber company. The com- pany was acquired by Willamette Valley Lumber Salem 412 Lancaster Drive NE Salem, OR 97301 Company, and Art and fami- ly moved to Dallas in 1956. At Willamette, he worked as a land surveyor and eventu- ally became resident logging and construction engineer, managing timber sale prop- erty lines and laying out log- ging roads on Willamette property. Art and Elizabeth were very active in the Dallas community. He served on the Dallas Planning Com- mission and was elected to Dallas City Council in 1982. They were both very active in the Polk County Historical Society, especially with Brunk House, and provided time and support for the construction and develop- ment of the Polk County Historical Society Museum at the county fairgrounds in Rickreall. After he retired he made deliveries for Meals On Wheels. They were members of the Dallas Presbyterian Church, with Art serving in various lay roles. In 2005, they were hon- ored by the Dallas Chamber of Commerce jointly being named Dallas Good Samari- tans. He was a fly fisherman, climbed mountains, enjoyed woodworking and garden- ing and, after retirement, became an avid golfer. He enjoyed RV camping with family and friends through- out Oregon and regularly made winter trips to Califor- nia and Arizona. He enjoyed sports and was a Dallas High booster. Most of all Art and Eliza- beth had great friends, and there was nothing they loved more than spending time with friends and family. Their home was always filled with love and joy, and all were genuinely welcome. They of- fered love and support to many young people in their church and the community throughout their lives. Following Elizabeth’s passing in 2007, Art moved to Dallas Retirement Village, where he continued his life of service, becoming a resi- dent representative on the DRV steering committee. Additionally, he spent much of his free time visiting with and lending his support to other residents. He is survived by sons Alan (Vicki Vondross) and David (Christine); and daughter Jane Petersen (David); five grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. The family suggests re- membrances be made in Art’s name to the Polk Coun- ty Historical Society or Meals on Wheels. Dorothy Dell Starkey Aug. 31, 1927 – Nov. 6, 2017 Dorothy Dell Starkey, 90, of Dallas, died on Nov. 6 in the Dallas Retirement Village. Dorothy is survived by husband Les; sons Jerry, Doug and Kim; daughters- in-law Jeannie, Kyrie, Julie and Carla; five grandchil- dren; and seven great- grandchildren. A grandchild died before she did. Memorial services will begin at 11 a.m. on Nov. 30 in the Evangelical Bible Church. Private interment was in the Dallas Cemetery. The Dallas Mortuary Tribute Center is caring for the fam- ily. To leave an online trib- ute: www.dallastribute.com. 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