The BulleTin • Sunday, March 28, 2021 A11
OBITUARY
JESSICA WALTER • 1941-2021
Wickedly smart and smartly wicked,
actress brought strength to the screen
BY ROBERT LLOYD
Los Angeles Times
Jessica Walter, who died un-
expectedly Wednesday at home
in New York, was a wickedly
smart, smartly wicked actress.
Her work ran from drama to
melodrama and comedy, from
big, wide-screen Hollywood
productions to quirky small
films, through the heights and
depths of television, from the
middle of the mainstream to
close to the edge, leading to
late-career fame as a star of the
dysfunctional family comedy
“Arrested Development” and
the saucy spy cartoon “Archer.”
Being versatile and open,
she was rarely out of work in a
six-decade career; there was a
youthfulness to her person —
even as she did not bother to
mask her age — and an adven-
turousness to her choices that
made Walter interesting to an
audience whose parents were
not born when “Play Misty for
Me” was released in 1971.
Clint Eastwood’s directorial
debut, and a kind of precursor
to “Fatal Attraction,” “Misty”
threw a spotlight on Walter —
already more than a decade
into her career — as a woman
who mistakes a one-night
stand with Eastwood’s jazz DJ
Kevork Djansezian/AP file
Actress Jessica Walter applauds
after “Arrested Development”
wins for outstanding comedy
series during the 56th Annual
Primetime Emmy Awards in Los
Angeles in 2004.
for a lifetime commitment, and
when he drops her, turns mur-
derous. (“The next scream you
hear will be your own,” ran the
ads.) Her all-in performance
goes right to the edge but not
over the top; she’s more attrac-
tive in her psychopathic way
than Eastwood’s actual love in-
terest, played by Donna Mills.
She’s the smoking engine of the
film, and had she stopped act-
ing the next day, we would still
remember her.
Walter was casually glam-
orous and poised and sure of
speech, an alumna of New
York’s High School of Perform-
ing Arts and Sanford Meis-
ner’s Neighborhood Playhouse
School of Theater. She had
spine and strength; she was
not formed to play wallflowers,
shrinking violets, dishrags or
doormats, nor was she the first
person you’d cast as a happy
homemaker.
Although Walter once de-
scribed herself as “really a nice,
boring person,” there must
have been a spark of the imp
within her. She embraced the
rude, the weird, the mad. It was
a short walk from Lucille Bluth
to Malory Archer, the self-ag-
grandizing, sex-driven head of
a spy ring and hostile mother
of H. Jon Benjamin’s idiot se-
cret agent in FX’s “Archer.”
Together, “Arrested Develop-
ment” and “Archer” positioned
in her within modern comedy
and set the stage for her late
career, including a hilariously
profane turn in Julie Klausner
and Billie Eichner’s “Difficult
People” and a couple of epi-
sodes of Tru TV’s “At Home
With Amy Sedaris” as Amy’s
old teacher Mrs. Brittlecrunch,
who drops in to cheerily em-
barrass the host.
OBITUARY
Remembering Justin
July 17, 1977 - March 7, 2021
It is with great sadness the family of Justi n Douglas
Ward shares the news of his unexpected death on
Sunday, March 7, 2021, at the age of 43.
Justi n was born in Bend on July 17, 1977. He
att ended Jewell Elementary and Cascade Junior
High. He then att ended Bend Senior High School.
He played football, pole vaulted and was a member
of the ski team. He graduated in 1996 with honors,
earned many awards and left an imprint as a Lava
Bear. He then att ended University of Portland and
graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business
in 2000 with an emphasis in accounti ng and an
MBA in 2002 aft er spending a year of study abroad
in Salzburg, Austria. He moved back to Bend
soon aft er graduati on and worked in the family
business at Crown Villa RV Park. Alongside his
Sister and Dad, he created a world class RV resort
that hosted visitors from all over the world. He has
most recently built a successful business, WATT
Constructi on with his Brother-in-Law, Aaron Platt .
As a nati ve Oregonian, Justi n loved the outdoors from a young age and carried on his
passion for hunti ng, fi shing, horseback riding, boati ng and snow skiing with his family.
Some of his happy childhood days included waterskiing, houseboati ng at Lake Powell, bird
hunti ng along the John Day River, deer hunti ng in the Ochoco Mountains, family travel
trailer trips to all edges of the NW and the family lake cabin in the summers. He loved
his world experiences hunti ng with his Dad from the mountains of Colorado and Alaska
to Africa and Argenti na and many hunti ng trips with his high school and college friends
in some of the most beauti ful places in America. Just to name a few Andy Rhoads, Matt
Smith, Craig Sopke & Aaron Platt . He was an incredible marksman. The more challenging
the hunt the bett er Justi n performed.
At home you would fi nd him working the land on his farm with his three sons and looking
for new adventures. You could oft en fi nd Justi n spending ti me hunti ng and fi shing at the
Dowell Ranch and other places across Oregon and Idaho with his family. Justi n was an
incredible father who always took ti me with his boys Zane (7), Colt (5), Sky (3) teaching
them how to be great outdoorsmen like himself.
Justi n will be held in our hearts and never forgott en by his family; parents Kim and Sally
Ward, his sisters, Donna (Andy) Moore, Dayna (Jake) Ralston and Jessica Ward. Justi n will
also be forever remembered by his nieces and nephews Charlie & Sally Moore, Savannah &
Brynley Ralston, Cash & Iris Ward, aunts & uncles(11), cousins(14), his childhood, college,
adult friends and co-workers. He will be lovingly remembered by his wife Amy, his Boys,
in-laws Winton Platt , Patt y (Mike) Begin, brother-in-laws Aaron (Kristen) Platt and Randy
(Valerie) Platt .
We all will miss the sly smile, dimples and witti ness. Keep Justi n in your hearts and prayers.
To make memorial donati ons and Parti cipate in a Memory Book for his boys being created
by his brother in law Aaron & Kristen Platt , please visit Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home
website: www.bendfuneralhomes.com
Constance “Connie” Eileen Riddell Elkins
June 28, 1922 - November 2, 2020
Connie Elkins, at the remarkable age of 98, passed away of natural causes on
November 2, 2020. Connie was born in Portland, Oregon on June 28, 1922. She
grew up in Monmouth in a historic house near the Normal School (teachers’ college,
which much later became Western Oregon University.) Connie spent her childhood
practi cing her violin and piano, studying foreign languages, listening to “Big Band” on
the radio, and playing on the famous Riddell sheep farms.
A top student all her academic life, Connie graduated from high school at age 16. Her
family then leased their house to the college and moved to Eugene, where Connie
was accepted to the University of Oregon School of Music. She studied violin with
Dr. Rex Underwood. It was during these college years that this fi ve foot-two, eyes of
blue, brunett e beauty met her future husband on a blind date. William “Bill” David
Elkins II was tall, dark, and handsome; and always liked to say, “I fell in love with
Connie before I ever met her, hearing her play the piano as I climbed the stairs to her
front door.”
Then came Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Bill enlisted in the army, became an
offi cer, and was sent to Florida. Before he left , he slipped an engagement ring on
Connie’s fi nger. One year later Connie graduated from University of Oregon with two
degrees: Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts. A twenty year old who had never
been separated from her family, Connie boarded a train and traveled all by herself
across the country during warti me. When she arrived at Drew Field, Tampa, Florida,
she married Bill on December 18, 1942.
They spent about a year together on posts in Florida and Mississippi, where Connie
developed a lifelong fear of snakes. When Bill was deployed to Saipan, Connie
returned to Eugene to deliver their fi rst child, William David “Dave” Elkins III. He was
nearly a year old before Bill saw him. With family to help with the baby, Connie went
back to the university for her masters in music educati on. When the war was over,
Bill and Connie were reunited. They made Eugene their home, and built the house
they would live in for 44 years. They raised three children there.
Connie devoted her career to classical music, with a litt le jazz and Frank Sinatra on the
side. She played in the orchestra that became the Eugene Symphony. The fi rst chairs
of the string secti on formed a quartet that performed throughout the northwest.
Their shining hour was a day spent with Swiss composer Ernest Bloch, in his home at
Agate Beach on the Oregon coast. He coached as they rehearsed his string quartet,
which soon aft er they performed for an internati onal music conference in Salt Lake
City.
Connie taught orchestra in the public schools, and private violin and piano in
her home. She volunteered for the music program at the Pearl Buck School for
handicapped children. She was a member of the Committ ee for the Performing Arts,
that raised money to help build the Hult Center. She served on the board of the
Eugene Junior Symphony all the years her children were members. She was a Cub
Scout and Girl Scout leader, and taught Sunday School at the Congregati onal Church
where the family att ended.
Connie was a loyal member of PEO, Mu Phi Epsilon, OMEA, and three bridge clubs. In
the winter, she skied, both nordic and alpine, more for the love of Bill than of skiing.
In the summer she could be found in the orchestra pit for the community musical, or
on the Pacifi c Crest Trail for the annual family backpack trip. She conti nued her love
aff air with Romance languages unti l the end of her days.
When Bill sold his cable television company and reti red, Connie gave up teaching so
they could travel. And travel they did, all around the world, someti mes taking their
children and grandchildren with them. In 1984 they built a vacati on home in Bend,
where the family then gathered for all holidays. In June of 1990 they sold their family
home in Eugene, and moved to Bend. Two months later their house burned to the
ground in the Awbrey Hall fi re. With love from and for their family, and support from
the community, Connie and Bill rebuilt their home and their lives. They conti nued to
travel unti l they were in their mid-eighti es.
December 2014 was the fi nal chapter in their love story. On December 9th, Bill turned
94. On December 18th, Connie and Bill celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary.
On December 30th, with Connie’s hand in his, Bill passed away. Connie never played
her violin again.
She spent her remaining years in assisted living, with an att enti ve family close by.
Other than short term memory and hearing loss, Connie was healthy and content,
if not happy. For fi ve and a half years Connie had two outi ngs every week, to hair
and Sunday brunch. She att ended the Central Oregon Symphony concerts and her
daughter’s piano recitals. She had many out-of-town family visitors, who brought her
gift s and took her out for a meal. She was well loved and never forgott en.
From March 16th to October 1st, 2020, Connie’s facility was in lockdown, due to
COVID-19. Then through the month of October family was allowed in to see Connie,
to say hello and goodbye. Bill, before he died, had promised to take Connie back to
Ireland one last ti me. On the evening of November 2nd, Connie must have dreamed
of Bill and decided to take him up on his off er.
May joy and peace surround you,
Contentment latch your door,
And happiness be with you now
And bless you evermore.
- Irish Toast
Connie was preceded in death by her father, John Alexander Riddell, who died when
Connie was 5; her mother, Cora Greene Riddell, who lived to be 90; her uncle and
stepfather, David Riddell, who died when she was 8; two older sisters who died in
the Spanish Infl uenza Pandemic of 1918; younger sister, Davida Riddell Bergstrom,
whom Connie adored; and her beloved husband, Bill. She is survived by her son
Dave Elkins (Karson) of Eugene, daughter Margaret Litt lehales (Tom) of Bend, and
son Dr. John Elkins of Salt Lake City; grandsons Dr. Dave Elkins (Dr. Gina), Mike
Elkins, and Paul Elkins of Salem; granddaughter Tonya Litt lehales (Geof Hasegawa)
of Bend; grandsons Ben Elkins of Palo Alto, and Chris Elkins of Salt Lake City; 8 great
grandchildren; and two nieces and a nephew, Kris, Dena, and Eric Bergstrom.
The family wishes to thank the staff of Mt. Bachelor Memory Care for six years of
professional and compassionate care; Heart n’ Home Hospice for additi onal care and
medical att enti on the last few months of Connie’s life; and Baird Funeral Home of
Bend for making the fi nal arrangements for both Bill and Connie.
A private family urn committ al will be held on April 17, 2021 at the Masonic Cemetery
of Albany, where Connie will be laid to rest next to her husband, Bill.
Contributi ons may be made in Connie’s name to Central Oregon Symphony (15 SW
Colorado Ave., Ste. 320, Bend, Or 97702); or to University of Oregon School of Music
and Dance (1225 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1225.)