Obituaries

Robert Hagman

Karl Robert (Bob) Hagman, 74, former LaCrosse city councilman who enjoyed writing letters chiding county officials for publication in the Whitman County Gazette, died unexpectedly Dec. 30, 2011, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. In accordance with his request, a funeral service will not be conducted. He will be cremated and his ashes will be scattered at his favorite site on the family’s forest land.

Mr. Hagman and his wife, Betty Jo, in 2004 purchased a home a mile from his grandparents’ homestead in Snow Valley north of Priest River and resided there for the last five years.

He served on the city council from 1986 until 2005 at LaCrosse where he resided while he was employed as manager of the Central Ferry Grain Terminal on the Snake River. Mr. Hagman enjoyed writing his “West of the Dusty Cafe” letters to the Gazette with the Port of Whitman one of his favorite topics. He also enjoyed surfing the internet, attending auctions, riding four-wheelers and tending the family forest land.

Born in Hartford, Conn., April 18, 1937, he earned a degree in agriculture from the University of Connecticut and spent summers working for the Forest Service at Packwood, Wash. He later met his wife of 48 years while stationed at Ft. Lewis.

Surviving in addition to his wife are a son, John Hagman; daughter, Sandra (Mark) Nunnally, and a sister, Lynn Halkias.

Roy Thomas Wise

A funeral mass for Roy Thomas Wise, 91, a native of Hay who went from riding to school on the back of a horse with his two older sisters to spending most of his professional life flying for Pan American Airways, was last Wednesday, Jan. 4, at St. Henry Catholic Church in Gresham, Ore. Interment will be at the cemetery in Newport, Wash. Mr. Thomas died Dec. 28, 2011, in Gresham.

Roy was born the son of Thomas and Rose Jaynes Wise, Sept. 10, 1920. An honors graduate of Hay High School, he watched barn stormer pilots fly over Hay as a youth and dreamed of becoming a pilot. After college days at Cheney Normal School he became a certified pilot and started his own flying school. During the first part of World War II, he worked as an air traffic controller in Boise.

Later in the war he was hired by Pan Am for whom he worked 31 years. Initially he became a first officer on Pan Amercan’s B314 flying boats, one of the largest aircraft of the time. He was assigned flights across the Pacific Ocean as an adjunct to the Navy to transport military supplies and mail to ports all over the world. In later years, as Pan Am became known as a luxury international airliner, he flew many famous people to their destinations.

After his first wife died in 1966 he volunteered for Pan Am crews to fly soldiers in and out of Vietnam.

In 1967 he married June McClarty Werr who was a first cousin of his first wife.

Nearing retirement, they purchased a large wheat ranch near Enterprise, Ore., and he commuted to San Francisco for flight assignments. They lived in Enterprise for 16 years and finished raising their blended family. In 1983 they moved to Kirkland. Mr. Wise kept in contact with friends in Hay and drove over from Seattle to attend the Hay picnic while he was in his 80s.

His second wife died in 2004, and he moved to Gresham, Ore., in 2007.

He is survived by eight children, Cecile Anderson (Bruce) of Fox Island; Danielle Chapman (Art) of San Luis Obispo, Calif .; John Werr (Kathleen) of Newport; Tom Wise (Noreen) of Seattle; Martin Werr (Deborah) of Easley, S.C .; Sara Wise of Gresham, Ore .; Patrick Werr of Cairo, Egypt; Michael Wise (Evelyn) of Seattle; 12 grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

Memorial donations can be be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.