Whitman County, Washington Obituaries and Death Notices

Whitman County
Washington
Genealogy and History

Obituaries and Death Notices

Faye Ellen (nee Kennedy) Beitz
A graveside service for Faye Ellen Beitz, 65, was Friday with Pastor Jeff Kinne of the Farmington SDA Church officiating at Goldenrod Cemetery in Tekoa. Mrs. Beitz died Thursday, May 23, 1991, at the Valley Hospital and Medical Center in Spokane. Born July 18, 1925 at Watsonville, CA, to Guy R. and Millicent Mayer Kennedy, she was raised in Redwood City, CA; graduated from Vallejo High School in 1943. She attended the University of California at Berkeley for one year and married Howard D. Beitz Jan. 11, 1947 at Vallejo. Over the years, they lived in Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Montana, where her husband was a traveling salesman for an agriculture chemical company. They moved to Tekoa from Great Falls, MT, soon after his retirement in 1987 and after Faye had an apparent stroke. They made their home at the Tekoa Care Center Retirement Apartments. She was a member of the Lutheran Church in Rudyard, MT, and also a bridge club there. She enjoyed writing poetry and painting.

Surviving are her husband, Howard D. at the home; two sons, John Guy Beitz, Macon, GA, and Robert Beitz, Tekoa; one daughter, Betty Jo Hilyard of Fort Benton, MT; two brothers, Donald E. Kennedy, Sun River, OR, and Leroy C. Kennedy of Walnut Creek, CA; and one sister, Marilyn Isom of San Jose, CA; and eight grandchildren [Unknown newspaper, May 1991 - Submitted by Kathie Marynik]

Howard Derel Beitz
Graveside service for Howard D. Beitz is scheduled for 11 AM today at the Goldenrod Cemetery in Tekoa, Wash. Kramer Funeral Home in Tekoa is in charge of arrangements. Mr. Beitz, 68, died Thursday of an apparent heart attack. Born in Lincoln, NE, he attended school in Nebraska and Ruppert, ID. He joined the Army during World War II and served as a military police officer in the signal corps in the Pacific Theater. He was also stationed in the Philippines, Guam, Guadalcanal, and New Guinea.

Mr. Beitz returned to California after the war. He married Faye Ellen Kennedy in 1947. They moved to Corvalis, OR, in 1949 where he attended Oregon State University. He graduated with a degree in entomology. Mr. Beitz then moved to Idaho Falls and worked as a salesman for the Ortho Chemical Co. In 1952 he moved to Mount Vernon, WA, where he continued to work for Ortho. He was transferred in 1960 to Othello, WA, and worked there until 1963. Mr. Beitz moved to Moses Lake in 1963 and worked for Collier Carbon and Chemical Co. until 1967. From 1968 to 1969 he worked for Purgro in Farmington, WA. In 1971 he moved to Chester, MT, and worked for Ag Air Inc., retiring in 1987. He moved to Tekoa and made his home at the Tekoa Retirement Center. Mrs. Beitz died in 1991. Mr. Beitz attended the Farmington Seventh-day Adventist Church and was a member of the Rockford (WA) Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 7815. He received several awards for being a top salesman for the Western Division of the Ortho Chemical Co.
Survivors include two sons, John Beitz of Macon, GA, and Robert Beitz of Tekoa; a daughter, Betty Jo Hilyard of Fort Benton, MT; his mother, Elizabeth Beitz of Las Vegas; a brother, Willard Beitz of Las Vegas; and eight grandchildren.
[Spokane-Review, October 4, 1993 - Submitted by Kathie Marynik]

(child of George) Buys
Drowned - We learn that the little boy of Mr. George J. Buys, formerly proprietor of the GUARD, was drowned near Colfax, W. T., recently, and the body was not recovered for several days, but was at last discovered lodged in the roots of some trees. Mr. and Mrs. Buys have the sympathies of many friends of this community. [Saturday, November 23, 1878, The Eugene City Guard (Eugene, OR) - JD - Sub by FoFG]

Lillie (Ringer) Crampton
THE WORK OF DEATH
Mrs. C.F. Crampton.
Word has been received of the death of Mrs. Lillie (Ringer) Crampton, wife of Charles F. Crampton, formerly of this city, at her home in Colfax, Washington, on Tuesday, August 10. She was buried last Thursday, in that city. Mrs. Crampton was an aunt of Mrs. Samuel U. Gregg, this city, and had many other relatives here. Besides her husband she is survived by the following children: Albert, Frank and Dr. J. Hamilton Crampton and Miss Goldie Crampton.
[August 17, 1915 The News, Frederick Maryland - Sub by Shauna Williams]

Harvey L. Gritman
Funeral Services Held On Tuesday For H. L. Gritman
H. L. Gritman, 68, a pioneer resident, and prominent businessman of Palouse, passed away suddenly Sunday morning while out hunting. Mr. Gritman had been suffering from heart trouble for some time, but his sudden demise came as a shock to his many friends and relatives.
Harvey Luther Gritman was born August 8th, 1873 at Greenville, Illinois, and had been a resident of Palouse since 1892. For many years he had been the proprietor of the cigar store and pool room known as Harve’s Place. He was a member of the Elks and the Modern Woodmen.
Mr. Gritman is survived by his wife, Ida; two daughters, Mrs. Ruth Ickes of Malden and Miss Lelia Gritman of Renton, Wash.; one son, Robert, of Klamath Falls, Ore.; five grandchildren; four brothers, W. L. of Seattle, S. H. and C. E. of Pendleton, Ore., and John of Troy, Ida.; one sister, Mrs. Blanche Magee of Venus, Calif.
Services were conducted Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 from the Christian Church by the B.P.O.E. No. 249, Moscow. Two solos: “Lead Kindly Light” and “Rock of Ages” were song by Robert Walls, accompanied by Mrs. Hall Macklin both of Moscow.
Pall bearers were: R. L. Smith, Roy Clark, B. W. Throop, Charles Blaxall, Jack DeVries and Frank Poe.
Interment was in the fraternal cemetery, Palouse.
[Friday, October 31, 1941, The Palouse Republic (Palouse, WA) - Submitted by Jim Dezotell]

Ida L. Gritman
Saturday Service Set For Ida L. Gritman
Graveside services will be held Saturday, March 5th at t2:00 p.m. from Greenwood Cemetery in Palouse for Ida L. Gritman. The rev. Keven Widener will officiate.
Mrs. Gritman was 96 years old was born at Junction City, Oregon. In 1900 she came with her family to Palouse and in 1948 she moved to Eatonville, Wa. after the death of her husband.
She was a member of the Christian Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Mrs. Lelia Osterdahl of Eatonville, Wa., and Mrs. Ruth Ickes of Palm Desert, Ca.; a son Robert of Eatonville; a half-brother, Leo Bond of Portland, Or., and a half-sister, Mrs. Linna Smith of the Yukon Territory in Canada. Also surviving are seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
[Thursday, March 3, 1977, The Palouse Republic (Palouse, WA) - JD - Sub. by a FoFG]

Robert M. Hanna, Sr
Pullman, Wash., Aug. 28 – The funeral for R.M. Hanna, Sr., who died in San Francisco, Cal., several days ago, will be held at the Congregational church here tomorrow at 11:30, interment being in the cemetery near here. The body will arrive from California on the Oregon Railroad & Navigation company train at 11 o'clock. Mr. Hanna was a pioneer of this section and was well known and highly respected. His two sons, Judge E.K. Hanna and R.M. Hanna, prominent attorneys of Colfax, and his daughter, Miss Georgia Hanna, are the surviving relatives. Mrs. Hanna died several year ago, and was buried here, and a son is also buried in the same cemetery. [The Spokesman Review, Aug. 30, 1907, Spokane, Washington]

Colfax, Wash. – Aug. 27, Robert Hanna of Colfax, the father of E.K. And R.M. Hanna, attorneys, died at Berkeley, Cal. On the 23d last. Mr. Hanna was one of the pioneers of the Pacific coast. He was born July 14, 1825, at Steubenville, Ohio, and in his younger days was a steamboat captain on the Mississippi river. In 1852 he came to Oregon, via the isthmus of Panama, and was the captain of the first steamboat run on the Willamette river. This steamboat was built by a New York company in sections and shipped from New York around the Horn. It was set up and first run on the Willamette below the falls. Afterwards she was taken by Mr. Hanna around the Willamette falls on skids, and run on the river above the falls.
When Mr. Hanna came to Oregon the city of Portland had no existence and the place it now occupies was then a primeval forest. Oregon City was then the chief city of the Willamette valley. He resided in the Willamette valley from 1852 until 1891, and took part in the development of that valley. In 1891 he moved to and has since resided in Whitman county, Washington. In May last he went to California for his health, and was preparing to return home when attacked by pneumonia, which resulted fatally. His wife, who came to Oregon in 1848, died a few years prior to his death, and he will be buried beside her grave. In addition to his two sons mentioned, he leaves surviving him a daughter, Miss Georgia E. Hanna of Colfax, Wash. [The Spokesman Review, Aug. 30, 1907, Spokane, Washington]

Many Attend Hanna Funeral
Whitman County Pioneer Leaves Wide Circle of Friends
Pullman, Wash., Aug. 31 – The funeral of Robert Hanna, St., was held yesterday at noon from the Congregational church of Pullman and was largely attended. Mr. Hanna was a resident of this place about 15 years ago and had a wide circle of friends, while his two sons are among the best known attorneys of Whitman county, and many members of the Whitman county bar attended the funeral.
The Spokesman Review, Sep. 3 1907, Spokane, Washington - Sub by Robyn Greenlund

Lilla May Higgins
Colfax, Wash., Aug. 25 – The body of Mrs. Lilla May Higgins, wife of J.W. Higgins, who died of consumption at Ashland, Ore., Thursday morning, arrived at Colfax this morning and will be buried from the Tennessee first church at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Interment will be in the church cemetery.

Mrs. Higgins was 23 years of age and was born in eastern Tennessee. She came to Whitman county with her parents when two years old and had resided continuously in the vicinity of Colfax until about two months ago, when she was taken by her husband to Ashland in the hope that a change of climate would be of benefit to her. Besides her husband Mrs. Higgins is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. F.P. Goddard, and three sisters and two brothers, all living near Colfax.
[The Spokesman Review, Aug. 30, 1907, Spokane, Washington - Sub by Robyn Greenlund]

F.M. Jeffreys
F.M. Jeffreys, a pioneer of Colfax, Washington, aged sixty, hanged himself because he was on the verge of bankruptcy, owing to having indorsed notes for a friend who absconded. [January 28, 1894 Daily Nevada State Journal, Reno Nevada - SW - Sub by a FofFG]

S.E. McClure
Died, S. E. McClure, formerly of Elmira, Lane county, died a day or two since at Palouse City, Wash. His wife is at Junction City where the remains will be buried. [The Eugene Weekly Guard (Eugene, OR), Saturday, September 6, 1902 - JD - Sub by a FoFG]

Augusta Peer
WASHINGTON RITES FOR MRS. AUGUSTA PEER
[Full name: Augusta Rebecca Bott Peer]
Word was received by the family Sunday advising them of the death of Mrs. Augusta Peer, August 15, 1959 in Endicott, Washington. She is survived by a son, Max Peer, a granddaughter, Mrs. Karen Gordon, and a grandson, Dennis Peer, all of Endicott, Washington. Mrs. Peer was a sister of Mrs. Cedoria Williams and the late Roy L. Bott and Mrs. Nellie Hutchinson. Mrs. Peer was born at Humeston, Iowa and as a young woman moved to Endicott, Washington as a school teacher where she later married Alvin W. Peer who preceded her in death. Mrs. Peer was 88 years of age at the time of her death. Funeral services were held Tuesday, August 18th in Endicott and interment in the Endicott Cemetery. (Submitted by Lowell Krahn, unknown newspaper, dated Aug. 10, 1959 )

Charles Wyman
Death of Charles Wyman At Colfax, Washington
Word has received in the city yesterday to the effect that Charles Wyman, brother of Harry C., Frank T. and George H. Wyman of this city had died at Colfax, Wash., Monday morning of typhoid fever.
The first news of the serious illness of Mr. Wyman was contained in a dispatch received in the city Sunday morning, which stated that he was very low with typhoid fever and was not expected to live. Mr. and Mrs. Frank T. Wyman left at once for the bedside of the sick man, arriving only a short time before his death.
Deceased was a practicing attorney of Colfax before his death. He leaves a wife and six children besides the brothers named. The funeral occurred yesterday afternoon at Colfax.
[August 27, 1902 Idaho Daily Statesman, Boise City Idaho - SW - Sub by a FofFG]