Obituaries - June 24, 2010

Yvonne Enzweiler Weed

A graveside celebration of life for Yvonne Mae Enzweiler Weed, 27, formerly of LaCrosse, will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, June 26, at the LaCrosse Cemetery. A potluck reception will follow at the LaCrosse Masonic Hall.

She died on Sunday, June 20, 2010 following an automobile accident north of LaCrosse.

Born Nov. 16, 1982, in Kennewick, to David and Margaret Perkins Enzweiler, she grew up in LaCrosse where she attended school.

Yvonne played on the high school softball team and was a cheerleader. After graduating from LaCrosse High school in 2001, she attended Eastern Washington University for a time and later worked at Crescant Jewelers in Spokane. She later worked in the customer service center for Bank of America where she was employed at the time of her death. She enjoyed the outdoors, especially fishing and enjoyed singing.

She is survived by her daughter Matea Enzweiler, her husband Matt of Elk; her parents David and Margaret Enzweiler of LaCrosse; a brother Adam Enzweiler of LaCrosse; her grandfather, Ralph Henry Enzweiler; her father and mother-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Memorial donations are suggested to the Yvonne Enzweiler Weed Memorial Fund in care of any Bank of Whitman branch.

Online condolences:

http://www.bruningfuneralhome.com

Charles Lowe

Charles (Chuck) J. Lowe, 67, life-long St. John area farmer, died Sunday, June 20, 2010, at Whitman Hospital in Colfax. He will be buried at the Bethel Cemetery in Steptoe. No service is planned.

Born on the family farm near St. John Nov. 12, 1942, to Jesse and Charlette Feenan Lowe, he attended St. John schools where he played football and baseball. He graduated in 1961 and went on to play football for Wenatchee Valley College for a few years.

He returned to the St. John area and began farming on land owned by his great-uncle, Frank Feenan.

He farmed in the area his entire life. His hobbies were friendly mules, fast race horses and a heifer that calved by herself.

He enjoyed playing cards with his cronies, watching high school sports, helping kids trap-shoot and harassing hay hands. He was a long-time member of the Wheatland Grange and the St. John Gun Club.

Chuck is survived by two sisters, Judy Lowe and Mavis Dickerson, both of St. John, six nieces and nephews.

On-line guest book:

http://www.bruningfuneralhome.com

Paul Eugene Bippes

Paul Eugene (Gene) Bippes, 83, a resident of Farmington, died June 22, 2010, at the Whitman Health & Rehab in Colfax after an extended illness with multiple myeloma. At his request, there will be no public services. He will be cremated and his family will have a private memorial at a later date.

Born on Aug. 5, 1926, in Tekoa, to Paul F. and Cleo Butler Bippes, he was raised on a farm in the Lone Pine area and attended a country school through the third grade. He then attended Tekoa Schools and graduated from Tekoa High School in 1944. Paul was active in sports and music and was student body president his senior year.

In early 1946 he enlisted in the Navy and received training as a medical corpsman. He served at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, Calif., and the Naval Hospital in Bremerton. After his discharge he returned to Tekoa. In 1949 he went to Boise and worked for Mountain States Telephone Co. as a lineman. He eventually moved up to become construction foreman.

He married Muriel Lang in 1946 and they were divorced in 1953. They had two children, son Floyd and a daughter Kelle. In 1954 as a single parent he met Geraldine Hogan, also a single parent of two sons, Barry and Blake. They knew they had a future together and were married Oct. 9, 1954, in Pocatello, Idaho.

In March of 1955 they moved to Farmington to work and help manage a farm that his dad had purchased. The couple settled on the farm between Garfield and Farmington. In 1956 they added a son Corey to their family.

They spent 50-plus years in that same home.

In 1974 the couple purchased a small place on Coeur d’Alene Lake and it became a hub for many joyous occasions over the years.

Paul loved the land and was an excellent steward. He was well respected by his peers for his farming practices.

Paul and Gerry loved to travel and had many trips over the years to . Hawaii, Bahamas, Mexico, Canada and the southwest. Paul was an avid fisherman and shared many fish stories.

Surviving are his wife, Gerry; son Floyd (Janet) of Gallup, N.M .; daughter Kelle Madden of Spokane; son Blake R. Bippes of Spokane; son Corey H. Bippes of Waverly; step-mother, Bunny Bippes of Tekoa; two sisters, Joyce (Ted) Flanagan of Burlington, Vt., and Donna Burkhardt of Boise; two step-sisters, Joan (Max) Blumeyer of Oceanside, Calif., and Jerrie Kennedy of Kirkland; five grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a son, Barry, in 2001.

Memorial gifts may be given to The Oxford House, Box 30627, Spokane, WA, 99223 or to the Humane Society of the donor’s choice. Animal companions throughout his life included Beauty, Prince, King, Duchess, Trinket, Moose and Saidy.

Maxwell Pierce

Graveside services with military honors for Maxwell L. Pierce, 95, long time LaCrosse grocer, will be Friday, June 25, at 1 p.m. at the LaCrosse Cemetery. He died at his home in Spokane Monday, June 21, 2010.

Born 20 minutes after his twin brother Donald Nov. 19, 1914, in LaCrosse to Fayette and Amy Rudolph Pierce, he played football, basketball and other sports.

He was raised in LaCrosse except for a year in Oakesdale where his father was sent to run a grocery store. He graduated from high school in 1932 and moved to Spokane to attend Kinman Business School.

Upon completion in 1933, he moved back to LaCrosse and was the bookkeeper for Guske’s Ford Garage for one year. In 1934, he moved back to Spokane to work for Washington Trust Bank. He moved in 1939 to Colfax to work for the Cornelius Oldsmobile Garage as a bookkeeper until 1941. During that time he met Harriet Elizabeth Sherman. They eloped to Asotin.

In 1941, Max and Harriet moved to Endicott and bought the Endicott Grocery Store. However, after one year, Max was due to be drafted into the Army and they sold the store and moved to Spokane.

Max went to work for the Fairchild Air Force Base Commissary as a civilian for about one year before he was drafted into the US Army and sent to Virginia for specialist training in clerking. Max served 32 months in France and England and upon his discharge he was rehired to run the commissary.

Max and Harriet continued to live in Spokane until August 1949, when they bought out Fay Pierce’s half of Pierce’s Grocery and moved to LaCrosse. Max and Bryon Pierce moved to their established store on the corner of Main and 3rd where the store building still stands.

Max became involved in the community and was well known for his self-imposed medical training. He could be seen taking out gravel of a child’s knee on the store counter, and racing people to the Colfax hospital in the back of a station wagon. He spent many years on the LaCrosse Fire Department.

Max served his community by opening his store on a Sunday to help someone who had forgotten something the day before or by personally delivering groceries around town. He was active in the LaCrosse Lions Club, LaCrosse Gun Club and the Colfax American Legion.

He was the director of the LaCrosse Pet Parade for many years. Max and Byron ran the store until their retirement in 1976.

They moved to Spokane in 1980 and enjoyed many wonderful years there. Harriet died in 1988. Max has lived at the Riverside Retirement Community for many years.

He is survived by two daughters; Jan (Jon) Nottingham of Gilbert, Ariz .; Lynn (Jim Schultz) Pierce of Spokane and two grandchildren.

The family suggests memorials be made to the LaCrosse Fire Dept. or the LaCrosse Cemetery.

On-line guest book:

http://www.bruningfuneralhome.com

Kenneth Cossairt

Kenneth Leroy Cossairt, 70, Moscow, died Thursday afternoon, June 17, 2010, at Good Samaritan in Moscow. At his request there will be no memorial service and cremation has taken place.

Born Feb. 1, 1940, in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, to Lloyd Kenneth and Zula Frances Hylton Cossairt, he attended school in Moscow and graduated from Moscow High School in 1958. He enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Berlin. After an honorable discharge from the Army, Ken returned home to Moscow, Idaho.

In 1964 he married Ann Louise Sexton in Harvard, Idaho. They made their home in Moscow and had two children, Thomas Leroy Cossairt and Donald Lee Cossairt. They later divorced in 1984.

Ken went to work for The Daily Idahonian in 1963. He worked as a press operator there for more than 20 years. In 1996 he went to work for the University of Idaho. He worked there until 2003 when he decided to retire.

Surviving are his father, Lloyd Cossairt, of Moscow; his oldest son, Thomas (Cass) Cossairt of Athol, Idaho; his youngest son, Donald (Teresa) Cossairt of Moscow; two sisters, Patricia (Pete) Peterson of Meridian, Idaho and Mary (Mike) Spilva of Sweet Home, Ore., and two grandchildren,

The family suggests memorials be made to Warrior’s Promise, 13487 N. 1st Avenue, Garden City, Idaho, 83714 or to a charity of the donor’s choice.

Virginia Caldwell

Virginia L. Caldwell, 89, a resident of Pomeroy, died Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at Garfield County Long Term Care in Pomeroy. Arrangements are pending with Richardson-Brown Funeral Home in Pomeroy.