John William Purvis
Services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, April 27, at Forest Hill East, 2440 Whitten Road, Memphis, Tenn., for Sequim resident John William Purvis Jr., who died April 19, 2012, at the age of 85.
He was born Dec. 8, 1926, in Ripley, Miss., to John and Maybelle Purvis.
He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and later took a Bachelor of Science degree in business from the University of Mississippi. He married Serita Tucker in 1953. She predeceased him in 1991.
He worked for more than 50 years in the mid-South insurance and surety bond business, retiring to Sequim in 2009. He was the subject of a Sequim Gazette “Verbatim” article on Sept. 29, 2010.
He is survived by his daughter, Shannon Purvis, of Memphis, Tenn.; sons John Purvis III, of Sequim, and Jay Purvis, of Arlington, Va.; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

 

 

Rosemarie Chaisson
Port Angeles resident Rosemarie Chaisson died April 10, 2012, at the age of 67.
She was born Dec. 4, 1944.
At her prior request, there will be no services.
Arrangements were by Drennan & Ford Funeral Home.

 

 

Yvonne Marcelle Durham
Sequim resident Yvonne Marcelle Durham died April 13, 2012, at the age of 86.
She was born April 28, 1925.

A full obituary with information about services will appear in a later edition. Drennan & Ford Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Virginia Eleanor (Traversa) Dvorshak

69, passed away peacefully in her sleep on April 15, 2012. She grew up in Seattle, spent over 20 years in Montana owning and operating a bar and farm with her husband, Dale.
They “semi-retired“ to Las Vegas in 1996. A few years after Dale’s passing in 2003, she moved to Sequim, WA. Never one to be idle, she took up her new passion, golf; and ever the card player, she quickly learned bridge. Virginia was a giving and compassionate mother, sister and friend. She will be missed by all who knew her.
She is survived by her daughters Lisa (Bob) Brudvik and Dana (Joe) Wehrli;son Darik (Suzi) Dvorshak; and brothers Victor (Michelle) Traverso and David (Nikki) Traverso.
At her request, there will be no services. Donations in her memory can be made to Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, 540 East 8th St, Port Angeles, WA 98326.

 

Albert Joel Barnett

Sequim resident Albert Joel Barnett died March 24, 2012 at the age of 82.  He was born June 5, 1930 in Baton Rouge, La. A memorial service was held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Sequim on April 20, 2012. He was loved by all.

 

Barbara Jean Anderson
July 25, 1937-April 20, 2012
Barbara Jean Anderson of Sequim died of a stroke at the age of 74. She was born in Burlington, Wash. to Charles and Virdie Groves and graduated from Burlington High School in 1955.
She married Larry E. Anderson on November 22, 1957, they lived in Skagit Valley where she was a homemaker raising their 3 daughters until their move to Sequim in 1976 where they owned and operated Anderson Trucking until their retirement in 1991.
Barbara was a member of the Washington State Truckers Association, Washington State Horsemen, a 4-H Leader and served as a President of Olympic Peninsula Zone.
Her hobbies included raising horses and Basset Hounds, gardening, watching NASCAR, doing crafts, going on family vacations and time spent with her grandkids. She continued to attend horse shows to watch her grandson’s and daughters compete. A second mom to many kids around the neighborhood, her door was always open.
Barbara was preceded in death by her husband; parents; 2 sisters and a brother.
She is survived by her daughters and son-in-laws Terri and Greg Winters, Tina and Tim Johnson and Lisa and Lee Hopper; brother Steve Thein; grandsons Jeremy Johnstad and Cody Chase.
A celebration of life will be held at Carrie Blake Park, Sequim on April 28 at 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers we request that memorials be directed to organizations to help animals.

 

Robert Parker Gowing
June 21, 1930 – February 5, 2012
R. Parker Gowing, 81, died February 5, 2012, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle from head injuries sustained in a traffic accident three days earlier in Bellevue, WA.  He was born in Louisville, KY to the late Avis (Dubia) and Earl P. Gowing; his parents had grown up in the Chicago area, where there were strong family connections, and he was baptized at the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago when he was just a few weeks old.

Mr. Gowing attended schools in Louisville, first at St. James parochial school, then the Rugby University School.  In 1952 he graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in Economics.  He earned a Masters in Business Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH, and a Masters in Public Health from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA.  His professional life included several years as a caseworker in Cincinnati and California. While studying for a doctorate in Business Administration, for which he completed all but the dissertation at Arizona State University and Texas Tech University, he taught business statistics, finance and computer programming at Eastern Kentucky University, San Diego State University and the University of Notre Dame.

During this time he had an evaluation to determine the cause of severe headaches that occurred whenever he read for even a short time.  A significant defect in eye muscle movement led to solutions that permitted him to study the science courses he had not been able to take while in college.  With success in that area, Mr. Gowing enrolled in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane, earning his M.P.H. in Epidemiology, thus applying his strong comprehension of statistics to a discipline that, for him, was more interesting than business and finance.

After a long friendship he and Clover Brodhead of Cincinnati were married in 1967.  Remaining childfree, they worked as educators in Ohio, Kentucky, Arizona, California, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee and Illinois before moving to Washington State in 1985.  After retirement the Gowings spent time in New Hampshire and north central Arizona, but nowhere else could equal the favorable attributes of the North Olympic Peninsula, and they settled in Sequim, WA in 2000.  Mr. Gowing was a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation of Madison, WN (www.FFRF.org), of Juan de Fuca Freethinkers of Clallam County, a Life Member of the Friends of the Sequim Library, and a supporter of Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest (www.plannedparenthood.org/ppgnw/), as well as local animal welfare and rescue programs.

His wife Clover survives Mr. Gowing.  Also surviving are the children of his late sister, Patricia Gowing Plumb, Kate Plumb and Bob Plumb of Long Island, NY, Annie Plumb and Amy Plumb of Manhattan, NY, Mary Plumb of Ashland, OR; and close relatives Heather Brodhead of Santa Barbara, CA and Kristen Hagen of Sacramento, CA.  He will be greatly missed by the Western branch of the Gowing Family whose members were unknown to him before moving to Kirkland; they share an ancestor who emigrated from the British Isles to Massachusetts in 1638.

The People’s Memorial™ Funeral Cooperative of Seattle made final arrangements. www.funerals.coop   There will be no services.  Memorials may be made to Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, or to local animal welfare and rescue agencies of choice.

An open house will be held in honor of Parker Gowing on Sunday, June 3, 2012, from 1 PM to 4 PM, at a private home in Sequim.  For information and to RSVP, please call 360.683.5648, or contact gowing@olympus.net.

 

Douglass Webendorfer
Douglass Webendorfer passed away on April 18th, 2012 in Sequim, Washington. Doug was born in1924 in Beaver City, Nebraska to Helen Blackman Webendorfer, who was widowed three months previously when her husband, Henry Columbus Webendorfer embarked on a return trip to the states from Bolivia, where the family had been involved with missionary work for the previous five years. His youth was spent in Beaver City, Nebraska and Mount Vernon, New York.
Doug enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942, became a bombardier and completed his combat tours in 1944. After the war Doug enrolled as a student at the University of Nebraska and married Glennis Wagoner. He was recalled during the Korean War, and completed his degree in engineering in 1954.
Doug went to work for Boeing immediately after graduation, moving his growing family to Seattle, Washington. His 33 years with Boeing included stints in California and Texas before his final return to the Northwest and retirement to Sequim in 1987.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Glennis Webendorfer, his children Cyndy Salisbury, Kevin Webendorfer, Sandra Webendorfer-Seigler, and Kurt Webendorfer, as well as grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
According to Doug’s wishes, his life will be memorialized by a private family gathering.

 

Charles Robert Necco

Charles R. Necco succumbed to pneumonia on March 4th 2012.  A Memorial will be held May 11th at 2PM at the Pioneer Clubhouse, Pioneer Park Sequim.  Friends are invited to attend to remember and pay tribute to this wonderful man.
Charles was born May 20, 1933 to Charles and Robert Emerson Necco, in Gary, Ind. He was the eldest of two sons.
Charles excelled academically throughout his school years. He was a graduate of Lew Wallace high school and both the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois, where he received his Doctorate.
His employment history included a management position for General Motors, and a position as systems analyst and consultant for Price-Waterhouse. He also managed a large data processing center for Miehle-Gross Dexter. His last employment was as a faculty member of the Business School at California State University, Sacramento for 19 years. He retired as a Professor Emeritus in 1992.
Charlie was very proud of his service to his country.  He was a First Lieutenant in the Marine Corp and the Marine Corp reserve.
Charlie married twice. His first marriage to Carol Earlene Mullins ended with her death. Three children were born of this marriage.  In 1970, he married Sandra G. Startup Curry.  Together they enjoyed 41 years of married life.
He was an avid sports fan especially of University of Michigan teams and his much loved Chicago Cubs.  In 2011, he returned to Michigan, after 55 years, to attend a homecoming game.
Charlie enjoyed collecting baseball cards, coins, stamps and rocks.  He stayed fit by running and working out at the gym.  He began hiking in the Superstitions Mountains in AZ and continued hiking the Olympic Mountains after moving to Sequim in 1988.  He hiked with 3 hiking clubs.  When no longer able to  hike, he spent many hours walking the Olympic Discovery trail.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Robert, his sister Barbara Steele and his first wife, Carol Necco.
Charlie will be remembered as a loyal friend, loving husband, father, brother, grandfather and great grandfather.  His survivors include his loving wife, Sandra; sons, Scott and Kevin; daughters, Teresa, Kyle and Kathlyn; 11 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren and his brother, Edward Necco. Gone but never forgotten, our loved one will live on in our hearts and memories forever.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Olympic Peninsula Discovery Trails.