Martha (Meilke) Colley (August 5, 1916 - December 23, 2011)
Martha (Meilke) Colley, age 95, died Dec. 23, 2011, at Kym’s Cottage in Graham, Wash., with loving family around her.  She was a longtime resident of Connell.
 

She was born Aug. 5, 1916, at the family home near Roxborough, Wash., the eighth of nine children of Emmanuel and Mary (Sackmann) Meilke.  She attended Lind schools, graduating from Lind High School. 

She married Marion Colley on Dec. 26, 1937, in her family’s home in Lind.  They farmed in the Connell area until 1959, when health issues forced her husband to retire.   After his retirement, they traveled across the United States including the Ozarks, the White Sands of New Mexico, and Bryce and Zion Canyon National Parks.
 

Their marriage was blessed with five children:  Marilyn (Charles) Actor, Douglas (Linda) Colley, Patricia (David) Jones, Timothy (Faye) Colley and David Colley.
 

The family says she loved her husband and children and was fiercely protective of them.  She resided in Connell until 1991, when she moved to Kent to live near her daughter, Patricia. 

The family knows of her skills in the kitchen and remembers those delicious holiday meals when the tables would stretch throughout the house as she fed more than 20 people at a time. 

She was hard working, cooking for large harvest crews in the days of coal and wood stoves.  She always said the coming of electricity greatly reduced her workload.  Her cakes and pies were prized by all who shared them.

The family notes she loved to tell stories, and her keen wit and sparkling eyes made the stories come alive for those around her who laughed until they cried. She loved to do embroidery, and her creations are treasured mementoes to her descendants.
 

She is survived by four of her children, seven grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren, numerous nieces, nephews and close friends. 

She was preceded in death by her husband in 1967; son, David; her parents and all her siblings.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or to the Hospice organization in your area.

Private interment will be at Desert Lawn Memorial Park in Kennewick.

Mountain View Mortuary of Tacoma is in charge of arrangements. 

Richard Lee "Dick" Wigen (7/26/1945 - 12/23/2011)

Dick Wigen, age 66,  of Ritzville, WA died early Friday morning on December 23rd due to complications from cancer.

He was born in Spokane, WA on July 26th, 1945 to Leonard Wigen and Gladys (Steel) Wigen. After attending high school in both Sandpoint, ID and Spokane, he joined the United States Navy in 1963. Shortly after serving his country, he married Jessie Mitchell of Sandpoint and they had four children. During these years they relocated to Lind, WA where Richard started his career as a signal maintainer for the railroad.

He later married his wife Guyla Wigen in 1980, and they set up their permanent residence in Ritzville. With this marriage, he gained two more children. After a successful 40 years with the railroad and many summers driving truck for wheat harvest, he retired in 2006. Richard and Guyla spent more than 30 happy years together loving, living, and traveling frequently.

He has often been described as a man of few words and an animal lover. At the very least, he was strong, generous, and caring.

He is survived by his children Anthony (Michelle) Wigen, Angela Roll, Lynnette (Douglas) Munk, Cheryl (Jim) Haase, Skip (Tiffany) Kurkowski; ten grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; his brother Clifford (Cecilia) Wigen; and his dogs Brittany and Jacks. He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Guyla Wigen, and son Robert Wigen.

A funeral service will be held at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Ritzville on December 28th, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. Following the service there will be a potluck dinner in the church hall. Condolences may be left at http://www.danekasfuneralhome.org/ DANEKAS FUNERAL HOME, Ritzville, WA.