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Sayles, Elsie Jane Tuesday, 11 Nov 2003
Elsie Jane Sayles, age 89, of Seattle died Nov. 11 at her home, surrounded by her family.
She was born June 5, 1914, in Tacoma to Ora Belle Smith Voorhees and Melvin H. Voorhees, then editor of the Tacoma News Tribune.
She graduated from Stadium High School, then attended the University of Puget Sound and Nellie Cornish School of the Arts, where she met her future husband John M. “Jack” Sayles of Ketchikan, Alaska.
She lived in Seattle all of her adult life. She was a 60-year member of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, and worked for years for the Diocese of Olympia and for the Olympia Churchman newspaper.
She was instrumental in founding the Epiphany Day School.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 1989, after 54 years of marriage; her brother, Melvin B. Voorhees; and a baby daughter, Ora Jean.
She is survived by daughters Susan (Charles) Christenson of Bainbridge Island, Sara Sayles of Issaquah and Jane Sayles of Seattle; grandchildren Sarah (Abe) Markillie of Bainbridge Island, Samantha Christenson of Bainbridge Island, John (Tricia) Barry of Lake Sammamish and Noah Berry of Issaquah; and great-grandchildren Susannah Schaffer, Katherine Markillie and Abram Markillie, all of Bainbridge Island.
A memorial service and interment will be held Dec. 19 at Epiphany Parish in Seattle, followed by a celebration of life at the Seattle Tennis Club.
Memorials can be made to Epiphany Parish. Arrangements are by Bonney-Watson of Seattle.
Smith, Laurel George Monday, 10 Nov 2003
Laurel George Smith, age 95, of Bainbridge Island, died Nov. 10, at Messenger House Care Center.
He was born July 18, 1908, in Seattle to Laurel Burchard Smith and Clara Radford Smith, the oldest of four brothers.
Raised in Ellensburg, he attended the University of Washington.
He taught general science at Aberdeen Junior High School.
While in Aberdeen he met his future bride Jennie Margaret Ove. They were married
on Sept. 11, 1937.
Laurel returned to college and earned a master’s degree in entomology at Washington State University. He was subsequently appointed to the faculty and served as the first state Extension entomologist for seven years.
In 1945, he joined what would become the Agricultural Chemicals Division of Shell Chemical Company. He spent the rest of his career at Shell serving in product development, marketing, and sales positions in San Francisco, Denver, New York, and Atlanta.
While district sales manager for Shell in Atlanta, he also served as president of the Georgia Entomological Society, president of Ascension Lutheran Church, and was a member of the Atlanta Athletic Club and East Lake Country Club.
Retiring from Shell in 1968, he and Margaret built their retirement dream home on the Wing Point golf course on Bainbridge Island, and became members of Wing Point Golf and Country Club. An avid golfer, he scored three holes-in-one and played weekly until age 88.
He also worked part-time at Bainbridge Gardens where he became a favorite of many islanders for his ability to diagnose and treat plant diseases.
He served in several elective positions both at Wing Point Golf and Country Club and at Bethany Lutheran Church.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Margaret Smith of Bainbridge Island; sons Brent Smith of Alpharetta, Ga., Craig Smith of Minneapolis, Minn., and Cory Smith of Seattle; and six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by brothers Chet, Jimmy, and Dick.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Dec. 4 at Bethany Lutheran Church. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests remembrances in his name to Alzheimer’s Association, 12721 30th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98125.
Arrangements are under the direction of Kass Funeral Home.
Sergent, Thelma Katherine Brown Sunday, 09 Nov 2003
Thelma Katherine Brown Sergent, age 86, died Nov. 9 at Messenger House.
She was born July 24, 1917 in Beulah, N.D.
When she was a little girl, her father called her “daddy’s dolly.” She was too little to pronounce it, so she said “dobby dobby dobby.”
Her sisters then called her “Dobby” and the name, to her mild chagrin, stuck. All of her nieces and nephews called her Aunt Dobby, and her grandkids called her Grandma Dobby.
When she was in high school, she was a member of a roller skating team that traveled around the area giving exhibitions of trick skating. She played jazz saxophone, and was a lifelong jazz lover.
Her father, Archie Brown, ran a small-town paper called the Beulah Independent, where the sisters learned the newspaper trade.
Her father died when she was 17 and she took over substantial responsibility for the paper’s production, doing everything from setting type to setting editorial policy.
In 1942, she joined her mother and sisters in Seattle, where she took a job as a pressman at Kelly’s Print Shop at Second and Union. It was there she became the first woman west of the Mississippi River to get a journeyman’s card in the Pressman’s Union.
Near the end of World War II she met and married
Jim Sergent. They moved to Lee Hill in North Auburn and started a family in 1950, when her son Jim was born. Her daughter Nora followed in 1955.
She was active in the local garden club and was a Cub Scout den mother. Many holiday and general family gatherings were held at her place, out on the farm.
When the rented house her family lived in was put up for sale, they moved to Bainbridge Island, because “$28, 000 was just too much money for 48 acres and a house.”
She took a job as a housekeeper at Messenger House and was soon promoted to head housekeeper. While working in that capacity, she oversaw unionization of the workforce and instigated the first nursing-home workers’ strike in Washington’s history.
She walked the picket lines from dawn until after dark, seven days a week, and when the strike eventually went to federal arbitration, she served as the union’s representative.
While living on Bainbridge Island, she was active in the Rolling Bay Presbyterian Church, where she taught Sunday school. She was also a Campfire leader and was active in Girl Scouts.
In the mid 70s, she and her husband moved to Ballard and took over operation of Lou’s Market, a corner grocery. Later they ran another grocery, Brier Market.
She went back to school and, at 62 years of age, got her nurse’s aid certification.
When her husband died, she moved back to Bainbridge Island and worked as a nurse’s aid at Messenger House until her retirement at age 80.
She is survived by her son, Jim Sergent (Ann Fisher) of Bainbridge; her daughter, Nora (Ron) Tiffany of Bainbridge; her grandchildren, Sophie Tiffany, Mark Tiffany, Samantha Sergent and Rose Fisher-Sergent; and her great-granddaughter, Haylee Pearson.
Services will be held at a later date. Remembrances can be made to Helpline House.
Madane, James Friday, 07 Nov 2003
Bainbridge Island resident and former Hawaiian entertainer and member of the Royal Hawaiian Family, James “Jimmy” Madane, age 87, died Nov. 7 at Messenger House Care Center on Bainbridge Island.
He was born on April 2, 1916, in Hilo, Hawaii.
Following his service in the Merchant Marines during World War II, he worked as a crewmember for various sea freighter lines for 10 years.
He married
Peggy Ann Oliver in Seattle in 1954. The next year, they returned to Hawaii, where Jimmy worked as an entertainer at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
While there, he greeted guests and entertained them by singing and playing the ukulele. He treated all guests with the same degree of respect, whether they were famous or not. He met many of the stars of the day, including Elvis Presley, Bob Cummings and President John F. Kennedy.
The Kennedys were so fond of Jimmy that they put him in charge of taking care of John, Jr., during one stay. He was so well known in Honolulu that items mailed to “Jimmy at the Hilton” never failed to reach him.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Peggy Madane of Bainbridge Island and her two daughters, Joan (Robert) Prigge of Boise, Idaho, and Janet (Charles) White of Parma, Idaho.
Visitation will be 3-5 p.m. Nov. 12 at Kass Funeral Home. A celebration of Jimmy’s life will be 5-8 p.m. at the family residence.
Arrangements are under the direction of Kass Funeral Home.
Chandler, Sherry Anne Thursday, 06 Nov 2003
Sherry Anne Chandler of Bainbridge Island died Nov. 6 at age 57.
She was born Feb. 18, 1946, in Seattle to Lyman and Marjorie Bosserman.
The Little Sisters of Saint Clare will say a rosary in her honor for friends and family at 6 p.m. Nov. 14 at St. Barnabas. The funeral service will be held at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church at 10 a.m. Nov. 15, with burial to follow at Kane cemetery, Bainbridge Island.
Arrangements are under the direction of Kass Funeral Home.
Ball, Robert L. Tuesday, 04 Nov 2003
Twenty-one year Bainbridge Island resident, Robert L. Ball, age 83, died Nov. 4 while in Virginia Mason Hospital, Seattle.
Bob, as his friends knew him, was born May 14, 1920 in Anderson, Mo. During the Depression era, the family moved to Southern California where Bob graduated from Burbank High School.
During WWII, he worked for Lockheed in Burbank where he met Leona Samuelson, who would become his wife on March 4, 1945.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s they lived in Salem, Ore. where they owned and operated a meat- smoking company. In the 1950s they moved Mariposa, Calif. to the Ball family’s ranch, and Bob worked for the California Department of Forestry. Bob and Leona returned to Southern California in the late 1950s, moving to North Hollywood where Bob worked construction and then for Technicolor as a film technician.
Bob retired in 1982 and they moved to Bainbridge Island.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Leona Ball of Bainbridge Island; five nephews, three nieces; one great-nephew; four great-nieces and great-great nephews and nieces.
There will be a gathering of family and close friends at a later date to celebrate Bob’s life.
Arrangements are under the direction of Kass Funeral Home.
Taylor, Stanley Arthur Sunday, 02 Nov 2003
Stanley Arthur Taylor, age 85, died Nov. 2 at Messenger House Care Center on Bainbridge Island, where he had lived since 2001.
He was born in Flathead Lake, Alberta, Canada on Feb. 17, 1918, to Frederick William and Elizabeth (Prickett) Taylor.
He graduated summa cum laude in forestry from the University of Washington.
It was there he met Gayle Smith, and they married
in Seattle in 1942.
He was a flight instructor and fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and served aboard USS Bennington flying Hellcats and Corsairs in the Pacific theater, where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.
He later was commanding officer of his reserve squadron at Sand Point Naval Air Station.
He had a long career promoting plywood products with the American Plywood Association and Weyerhaeuser in Tacoma until retirement.
Beginning with stints in the Civilian Conservation Corps and the U.S. Forest Service as a young man, he was an avid outdoorsman who greatly enjoyed camping, fishing and bird watching. He and Gayle made several trips to Europe on Audubon Society exchanges.
He took up wood carving in his 60s, specializing in birds in their natural habitats, and was a fixture at craft shows as “Stan the Bird Man” for many years.
He and his wife had three children and lived in Lakewood beginning in 1953. They moved to Poulsbo in 1996 to be closer to their children.
He is survived by his children, Liz Taylor and Scott (Diana) Taylor of Bainbridge Island, and Bill Taylor of Seattle; cousin Nance Hulbert of Norwich, England; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife Gayle, sister Ruth Nooney and brother Bill Taylor.
At his request there will be no service. His ashes will be scattered in Puget Sound.
Dennis, Roy G. Friday, 09 Apr 2004
Roy G. Dennis, age 97
Former Bainbridge High School principal Roy G. Dennis, age 97, died April 9 in Longview.
He was born Oct. 21, 1906, to Samuel and Artie Dennis, near the town of Knoxville, Tenn. When he was age 7, his family moved to Eastern Washington, where his father worked in the logging industry and later in wheat farming.
In 1925, he graduated high school in Valleyford, and moved with his family to the brand new town of Longview, where he and his father were employed at the Long-Bell mill.
After two years, he had saved enough to enroll at the University of Washington. He graduated in 1930 with a degree in education; he spent the next five years teaching math and coaching basketball and baseball in small school districts in Montana.
In 1935, he took a teaching job at Bainbridge High School, where after one year he was made school principal, a post he held for the next six years.
It was during this time he met and fell in love with Helen Pierce, the school music teacher; they were married
in Tacoma.
During World War II, he earned a place of honor with Bainbridge Island’s Japanese American community. In early 1942, when families of Japanese origin were ordered to interment camps in California, he insisted that their school records be preserved and diplomas awarded to senior students forced to moved before their graduation, thus guaranteeing their right to enter college after the war.
After leaving Bainbridge High School, he served as principal at Kelso High School and later at Kent Meridian High School, before returning to Kelso where he was to remain until retirement after 22 years as superintendent.
During his years with District 403, no annual school levy failed, and all but two of the district’s buildings were built and paid for. He knew every district employee by their first name.
In 1971, after the death of his wife, he married
Onda Marie Nation. They shared 33 years of retirement raising chickens, blueberries, vegetables and a pony for the grandchildren to ride.
His commitment to the community ran long after his retirement, and he served on numerous boards of education, museum, library, business, industrial, philanthropic and port organizations.
For more than 50 years, he was a member of the Kelso Rotary Club, and was a Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary’s highest honor.
In 1970, he was chosen Cowlitz County First Citizen; in 1971 was named Administrator of the Year by the Kelso Education Association; and in 1984 was named as City of Kelso First Citizen. In 1996, he was named a charter member of Kelso High School’s Hall of Fame.
He was a lifetime member of the United Methodist Church, serving as lay leader and member of almost every church committee.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Hazel Hogerty; brother, James Clarence Dennis; his first wife, Helen Pierce Dennis; and daughter, Nancy Marie Dennis.
He is survived by his wife, Marie, of Longview; daughter, Susan Dennis Langham of Salem, Ore.; stepdaughter, Sherry Steppert of Longview; son Paul Dennis of Walla Walla; sister Agnes Staggs of Longview; 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Memorials can be made to the Salvation Army, PO Box 1218, Longview, WA 98632; the Roy G. Dennis Scholarship c/o the Kelso Public School Foundation, PO Box 344, Kelso, WA 98626 or to the Kelso United Methodist Church, 206 Cowlitz Way, Kelso, WA 98626.
