Obituaries

Death Notices

Ruby May Lewellen
September 15, 1918 – March 31, 2021

​By the light of a kerosene lamp, in a farm house outside the small town of Gresham, Oregon on September 15, 1918, Ruby May Holloway was born. The daughter was born to Ada Parker Holloway and Allen Holloway who also had two sons, Parker and Ross.
Ruby began her education on the farm by milking the cow, riding the old work horse and extracting cream from the milk with a hand generated cream separator. She attended a one room school house until she was transitioned, or should we say suddenly propelled, into a 2,000 student Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon.
It was there she was introduced to George Ellison Lewellen and subsequently married on June 11, 1939, at the Millard Avenue Presbyterian Church in Portland. During the young couples years together they traveled extensively for George’s career in the Army/Airforce. Ruby loved to speak of her endless memories and to tell stories of the exciting and most colorful life experiences they shared. It was always a joy to listen to the love of the journey that she projected for all to hear.
This journey that Ruby was gifted with was full and encompassed extremes from empowering love to earth shaking challenges. Through it all she tried to listen to everyone’s story and embrace them with love and support.
Ruby and George were blessed with four children: Katherine Ann (Wetsig), William Howard, Margaret Jane (Johnson) and Janet Sue. Ruby loved them all individually and equally and raised them to understand that she would be there unconditionally.
Ruby passed away at home surrounded by her family, on March 31, 2021 at 1:10 pm at the age of 102 ½. Ruby was preceded in death by: her husband George, daughter Katherine, son William and daughter Janet.
Ruby lives on forever in the hearts she touched including those that adopted her as “Mom” who will never forget her love she shared. Forever with us in our hearts: daughter Peg (Margaret), grandchildren Gretchen Maliska (Tom), Eric DeWitt (Janet), Erik Johnson, Barbie Lyman, Brian Wetsig and great grandchildren, Hayden, Ethan, Sulo, Andy, Sam, Bryce, Brianna and Kate’s spouse Dale Wetsig.
The stars in the evening sky glow bright with the love you have shown. Mother you are truly loved and overwhelmingly missed.

Billy Gene Graham

Billy Gene Graham, 81, passed away, Friday, March 26, 2021, at home in Shelton.
Bill was born July 24, 1939 in Jefferson City, Missouri to the late William and Dorothy (Forbis) Graham. He married Sally Jolien Hickam February 12, 1960, in Shelton. Bill was a millworker who retired from Simpson Door in 2001, following 42 years of service to the company. In retirement, Bill devoted his time to family and friends. He was always there to bring a laugh or smile to those around him, whether at home or on his frequent trips to stores around town, a routine that allowed him plenty of opportunities to visit and catch up with old friends, family members and acquaintances.
Bill was an outdoorsman and adventurer at heart, who spent many of his days hunting and fishing in and around Mason County and the Olympic Peninsula. He was also an accomplished gardener, whose yearly harvest kept his family busy home canning vegetables, fruits and sauces through the seasons.
Bill was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years Sally, and his daughter Deborah.
Survivors include daughter Tracy (Graham) Johnson of Shelton; son William Graham of Inchellium; granddaughter and grandson-in-law Miranda and David Elliott of Hoodsport; granddaughters Alicia Johnson and Alexandria Birdsong both of Shelton; grandson Dallas Graham of Spokane; granddaughter Mariah Graham of Inchellium; great-grandchildren Serena and Silas Elliott of Hoodsport, and Harmony Birdsong-Langer of Shelton; a sister Jackie (Graham) Wood of Lynnwood; brothers and sisters-in-law Rick and Jolean Graham of Union; Bob and Cleora Graham of Union; Andy and Rebecca Graham of Belfair; and uncle and aunt Donald and Kay Forbis of Jefferson City, Missouri, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Eugenia Francis (Ori) Belcher

Eugenia Francis (Ori) Belcher, 85 1/2, of Silverdale passed away on March 14, 2021 at St. Michael Hospital and was laid to rest at Miller-Woodlawn in Bremerton.
She was born in 1935 and raised in Belfair and later made her home of 53 years in Silverdale.
She began work at a very young age in her father’s grocery store and ended her career as the first woman in the area who was hired for grocery store management.
She had an unquenchable love for the outdoors along with a great compassion for animals. After her retirement she adopted several mistreated horses, abandoned dogs and several cats.
She led a simple life and when asked recently if she could do anything one more time, she replied “Go water skiing out at Seabeck and feel that salt water on my face and hear the sound of the waves as I cut back on forth across them.”
She would often captivate the attention of those around her with her stories of her youth and the adventures she had throughout her life. She would include lessons she had learned, imparting wisdom to those that listened.
Survivors include her daughter Debbi Egge, her grandchildren Clint Egge and his wife, Jessie, Christen Barron and her husband Andre, her son- in-law Paul Hintz Jr. and her seven great-grandchildren.
In her memory donations can be made to the Kitsap Humane Society, 9167 Dickey Road NW, Silverdale, WA 98383.


Peter Thomas “Tom” Dodge
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Peter Thomas “Tom” Dodge passed away quietly, February 14, 2021, at Orchard Park Health and Rehab Center in Tacoma, WA. He was born September 23, 1947, the oldest of five children born to Dennis “Pete” and Marjory Dodge of Shelton.
He enjoyed the adventure of growing up in the Spence Lake area of Mason County during the fifties and sixties with a large extended family of cousins, aunts, uncles, friends and grandparents.
Tom attended Oakland Bay grade school on Highway 3, when a fire destroyed the school, by necessity; the students of Oakland Bay became the first class of the almost complete Pioneer grade school. He later attended and graduated from Shelton High.
A childhood injury accident required Tom to spend many months using crutches; he endured the disability with a cheerful heart and was still able to tease all his siblings.
He married his high school sweetheart Patricia Lane (Smith) who became the mother to his children, they eventually separated. He later married Cynthia (Punkin) Wilbur, they also went separate ways, and Tom’s partner for the last twenty plus years has been Nuyen Thi Xe (Snow).
Working in the woods was hard work and he retired early from Simpson, which allowed him time to pursue his love of “road trips” taking his Harley on a variety of adventures.
He is survived by his daughter Dodie Lund and son-in-law Mark Lund, his son Darin Dodge, grandchildren Katie Sturges and Tristen Lund, brothers Robert “Bob” Dodge, Joel Dodge and sister Melody Peterson. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Suzanne Brehmeyer.
Tom loved life, his Birthday and all family gatherings, he will be missed.


Kenneth Wilfred Henry
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Ken Henry loved the great outdoors, whether hiking trails in the Grand Tetons or watching the elk in his yard on the Duckabush River. He was a fisherman who once said, “Fishing is far more than catching the big ones.” He taught his children to row without making a splash.
He was a prankster, a philosopher, a poet, a craftsman whose intricate wooden boxes were given as gifts far and wide. He was a teacher, a National Park ranger, a freemason and a man of God whose goal in life was to “make the world a better place.” He loved cats.
Ken was a loving son and brother, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He counted his family among his greatest assets, next to his faith.
Kenneth Wilfred Henry was born May 6, 1923, on the family farm in Zanesfield, Ohio, second son of Frank M. Henry and Beulah Marie Baker Henry of Bellefontaine, Ohio. His brothers were Byron, the eldest, Harold and George. Ken recalled life on the farm, tapping sugar maple trees in early spring, breaking ice off the watering trough on cold mornings, wild “corn cob wars” with his brothers.
“We were all avid fishermen and hunters, deriving more pleasure from the simple things of life than the expensive,” Ken wrote.
Ken had many friends and was well-liked, according to schoolmate Alice Ann Pruett of Bellefontaine, Ohio. He received above average grades and was inducted into the National Honor Society.
Ken graduated from Bellefontaine High School in 1941 and worked various jobs including as an apprentice at the Ford Motor Company’s Willow Run aircraft bomber plant. He joined the Army Air Corps Jan. 25, 1943, at the start of World War II, with his sights set on becoming a pilot.
His training took him from Vermont to Alabama, where he courted Frances Jane Allen. They were married May 13, 1944, at Courtland Army Airfield post chapel.
Ken was unable to complete his flight training because the altitude affected his hearing, resulting in a 40% lifelong hearing loss. He became a radar and radio operator and was honorably discharged on Feb. 18, 1946.
Daughter Joyce was born Feb. 4, 1948, and Ken got a degree in forestry at the University of Michigan, graduating June 11, 1949. He worked for less than a year with the Soil Conservation Service in Kentucky where daughter Julie was born Jan. 10, 1950.
The family moved back to Ohio, where Ken worked for a lumber company. Julie died Feb. 23, 1951, from complications of accidental exposure to carbon monoxide while she was in the womb.
In the early 1950s, Ken worked various jobs as a press operator, a tree trimmer and a farmhand. But after son Michael was born Feb. 23, 1953, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a teacher. “This I hope is the beginning of a new era in my life,” he wrote.
Asked in a college essay to name his assets, Ken wrote, “… I believe my greatest assets are an undying faith in God with a will to help in His work of making the world a better place to live in.” This aspiration would continue throughout his life.
Ken and Fran welcomed daughter Barbara on May 7, 1958, and that August, Ken completed his master’s in education at the University of Michigan. Ken was a science teacher and later an audiovisual instructor, teaching in Ann Arbor and Grand Haven public schools.
In 1966, he found “the ideal summer employment” as a ranger-naturalist in Grand Teton National Park. “This provided my family with an incomparable vacation and I could earn an income doing what I enjoy most, helping people,” he wrote.
Mike recalls many “classic Henry adventures,” like the time they fished until past dark on Lewis Lake in Yellowstone National Park with no motor, no compass, no lights and no idea where home was. They finally bumped (literally) into a familiar shoreline. Ken had Mike get out, carrying the backpack of fish, and walk along the road, calling out to his Dad in the boat to direct the way. All Mike could think of was meeting a hungry bear.
Joyce learned from her Dad a sense of adventure and “no fear of taking a risk.” “You shared your love of nature with me and taught me to appreciate the beauty in this world... sunrises, sunsets, mountains and rivers,” Joyce wrote in a memorial to her Dad. “From you I learned to live by the Golden Rule and to have faith in something bigger than myself.”
The family moved in 1968 to Helena, Montana, where Ken taught adult education, which was his forte. He retired in 1985, and Ken and Fran moved to Washington State where Mike and Barb lived. Fran died Nov. 9, 1992, of cancer.
Ken was a member of the Masons from the time he was a young man. It was through the Masons that he met Sandra K. Naddeo. Widowed like Ken, she was interested in joining the Belfair Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Since both lived in the same mobile home park, the group’s worthy matron suggested Ken take her to a meeting.
“The next day I came home from work to find a bouquet of flowers on my porch with a note ‘When can we meet again?’ And that’s how it started,” Sandy said. He proposed to her as she was flying down to Arizona to join him on a road trip. As her plane was circling Phoenix, the pilot came on the intercom and relayed Ken’s proposal of marriage. Ken was waiting in the terminal with a ring.
They were married on Feb. 20, 1993, in Mason County in the Belfair Masonic Lodge. He always joked they married on her birthday so he wouldn’t forget either.
Their life was full of Eastern Star, Amaranth, church, more road trips and family. “Ken was fun to be with, enjoyed life, delighted in so much, loved people, loved seeing things, loved the travel and was a joy to be with,” Sandy said.
By the mid-1990s they ended up on the Duckabush River property they would call home for the remainder of their years together. Ken loved sitting on the porch watching the parade of elk through their yard, eagles, otters and other wildlife. He enjoyed working in his woodshop making “pretty little boxes” for everyone he knew.
In recent years, he spent ever more time in his recliner with a warm cat on his lap, looking out the window at the river. Sandy’s faithful and dedicated care allowed him to remain at home despite his failing health. They still found ways to make each other laugh.
Ken died at home on the Duckabush Sept. 30, 2020, at age 97. He is deeply missed.
Ken was preceded in death by his mother and father; wife Fran; brothers Byron and George, sister-in-law Helyn Henry; infant sister Julia, born after Byron, who died at birth; and daughter Julie.
His survivors include wife Sandra, brother Harold (Pinky), sister-in-law Lois Henry; children Joyce Meade, Mike (Chris) Henry, and Barbara Henry; Sandy’s children Andy (Heather) Pitts, Tedd (Amber) Pitts, and Sheri K. (James) Whitfield; grandchildren Beth, Paul, Laura, Alex, Rose, Daniel, Montana, Julie, Caitlynn, Kimberly and Brett; 13 great-grandchildren; nieces, nephews and other family members by blood and love.
Among his papers is a sealed envelope postmarked in 2006 and addressed to Kenneth Henry in Sandy’s handwriting. It’s labeled “game invented by Ken.” Anybody want to play?

James Clark Brooks, 71, a resident of Shelton, died March 21, 2021, at Evergreen Health & Hospice. Arrangements are by McComb & Wagner Family Funeral Home and Crematory.

Robert Gene Shanks, 94, a resident of Grapeview, died March 31, 2021, at Tacoma General Hospital. Arrangements are by Tuell-McKee Funeral Home in Tacoma

Michael Richard Elliot, Jr., 24, a resident of Shelton, died April 6, 2021, in Shelton. Arrangements are by Forest Funeral Home and Crematory.

Louis Edward Zoren, 63, a resident of Shelton, died April 8, 2021, at Mason General Hospital. Arrangements are by McComb & Wagner Family Funeral Home and Crematory.

Judith Maureen Wall, 75, a resident of Union, died April 8, 2021, at Capital Medical Center in Olympia. Arrangements are by Forest Funeral Home and Crematory.

Christine Loretta Danise-Haskell, 61, a resident of Grapeview, died April 11, 2021, at home. Arrangements are by Forest Funeral Home and Crematory.
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Elmer “Buddy” Patrick Smith, Jr., 86, a resident of Shelton, died April 12, 2021, at Shelton Health & Rehab. Arrangements are by Forest Funeral Home and Crematory.