On Thursday, September 26, 2019, Burrita Gongwer Perry, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully at home from complications of Alzheimer’s, with her beloved husband, Dr. Robert L. Perry, at her side.
Jack Bernet Coffin, age 79 of Seattle, Washington passed away September 20, 2019 in his forever home, which his wife Merri lovingly designed. Jack was born on September 14, 1940 in Leavenworth, Washington to Eugene “Shag” Coffin and Margaret Coffin.
Tom Taylor, Jr. passed away in Des Moines, Washington on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at the age of 75 after a long illness.
Tom was born in Portland, Oregon the second of three children of Edna and Thomas E. Taylor. He graduated from Cleveland High School in Portland and Portland State University with a degree in marketing and minoring in law. He married Mary Lou Hensley Easterly and raised her son, Scott, as his own. Mary Lou preceded him in death. He had many friends who stayed in contact from grade school, high school and college.
Ed was born September 25, 1937, in Bellingham, WA to Edward Horace Smith and Myrtle Orpha Smith. He died August 14, 2019 at Highline Hospital.
John (Jack) Gabler passed away July 30, 2019. Born February 6, 1935 on a farm near Eagle Bend, Minnesota, he was the third son of Louis and Louise Gabler When he was two years old, his family moved to Chicago. He began his education in Oak Lawn, Illinois, attending school there for three years. In 1943 the family moved back to Minnesota on a small farm near Long Prairie. There he attended a one-room country school for five years before entering Long Prairie High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball (although not very well, according to him). He was an honor stude
Doris Richards Cole (née Christensen), a woman entrepreneur ahead of her time and whose history in West Seattle included time with the West Seattle Herald as well as decades of service to the community, passed away the morning of Saturday, August 10, 2019 at age 89 (born December 1929 in Seattle, WA).
John L. Bailey, Jr. passed away peacefully on July 12, 2019, surrounded by family. He was born in Wheatland, Wyoming, graduating from Wheatland High School in 1937. He had a passion for aircraft and flying and went on to serve in the Army Air Force in WWII. He then returned to study mechanical engineering and graduate from the University of Wyoming. In 1950, he was hired by the Boeing Company to work on designing aircraft instrument panels, circuits, cargo loading systems, and many other projects over his career there.
AUGUSTA – Jeffery Paul Otto, 64, passed away unexpectedly Monday, July 29, 2019, at his home. He was born January 8, 1955, on Whidbey Island Naval Base, in Washington State, the son of Paul and Donna (Clark) Otto.
Mary was born to Jay Rolph and Mary Ann Wetzel on 9/4/1929 in Dallas, Oregon and passed away 7/13/19, just two months shy of her 90th birthday. She grew up in Vancouver, WA, graduated from Vancouver High School and then attended Whitworth College in Spokane where she graduated with a nursing degree in 1951.
After college she returned to Seattle to marry her college sweetheart, Larry, her beloved husband of 55 years. They married at West Side Presbyterian church and settled in a house in the North Admiral area where Mary lived for almost 60 years.
Catherine R. Mesich born on May 1, 1952, in Seattle, WA, passed unexpectedly at her home in Vancouver, WA on June 11, 2019. Catherine “Katie” graduated from Holy Rosary High School. She received her B.A. in Biology from Western Washington University in Bellingham, and her MBA from Eastern Washington University in Cheney/Spokane in 1990.
