December 15, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Allen C. Coddington
Allen C. Coddington, 84,
died Dec. 3 at his home in
Timber Lakes. He was a resi-
dent of Shelton for 40 years.
He was born Nov. 13,
1927, to Harry and Beatrice
Coddington in New England,
N.D.
He graduated the seventh
grade.
He served in the U.S.
Navy from 1946 to 1950 and
was discharged at the rank
of Seaman
~lst Class.
He mar-
ried Helen
Atkeson on
Nov. 12,
1954, in
Seattle. He
was previ-
ously mar-
Allen ried to Ann
Coddington Gensburg
in 1946.
The mar-
riage ended in divorce.
He grew up in Bismarck,
N.D. where he helped on
the family farm and worked
in an auto garage until he
joined the Navy.
He moved to Shelton in
1971 where he worked as a
millwright and drove a truck
for Talmo Trucking Com-
pany he also worked in the
shipyards.
He was a past governor
of the Shelton Moose Lodge
and a member of the Shelton
VFW.
He enjoyed dancing, bin-
go, trips to the casinos, road
trips and spending time with
his family and friends.
He is survived by his
daughters Sandra Johnson
(Les) of Shelton and Beatrice
Coddington of Bismarck,
N.D.; grandchildren Trisha
Browning, Debi Johnson,
Leon D. Just Jr., Stacy
Campbell and Jessica Erra-
ta; 15 great-grandchildren
and numerous nieces and
nephews.
He was preceded in death
by his parents Harry and
Beatrice Coddington; broth-
ers WeSIey, Bert and Don;
sisters Janice and Arlene
and his wife of 54 years,
Helen.
A memorial service will be
held from I to 3 p.m. on Sat-
urday, Dec. 17, at the Lake
Limerick Club House.
Memorial donations can
be sent to Kitten Rescue of
Mason County, 420 SE State
Route 3, Shelton, WA 98584.
Terry "Wolfman"
Dittmer
Terry "Wolfman" Dit-
tmer, 62, died Nov. 24. He
was a resident of Shelton.
He was born in Snohomish
and was the second of four
children born to Merlin and
Peggy Dittmer of Shelton.
He enlisted and served
three tours on the river in
Vietnam as a radioman and
"river rat" and he served as
a member of the U.S. Navy
~Riverine
Assault
Force (the
"brown
water
Navy") at
Dong Tam
during the
Vietnam
War. He
Terry was also a
Dittmer life mem-
ber of the
VFW.
His family said his pas-
sion and fire was kept on
the ball field. He had a life-
long career and dedication
to playing, coaching and
mentoring ball players from
all demographics. He won
several championships and
hosted skill clinics all across
the Northwest.
He is survived by his fa-
ther Merlin; brothers Dan
Dittmer (Bonnie), Mack Sr.;
sister Kathleen Dittmer;
daughters Terra and Katina
Dittmer and Jana New-
house; grandchildren Mi-
chael, Jakoby, Zoe and Jyce;
nieces Jessica Dittmer,
Kayla Dittmer (partner
Rob McKaskill), their chil-
dren Keyawna and Riley,
Lacy Anderson (Cody) and
Doni Duff (partner Ryan),
their children Nathan and
Delani; nephews Mack Jr.
(Kelly) Dittmer, their child
Eli; and David Coffee (Ann)
and their child Ohana.
Military services will be
held at 2 p.m. on Jan. 21 at
Tahoma Cemetery.
The family requests dona-
tions be made to the '%Volf-
man Fastpitch Scholarship
Fund" at Our Community
Credit Union www.ourcu.
com.
Edna Bernice Hedlund
Edna Bernice Hedlund,
91, died Nov. 18, at South
Bay Family Home in Olym-
pia.
She was born in Nebraska
Sept. 2, 1920.
She married Donald E.
Hedlund in 1940. They were
married for 64 years until
his death.
In her high school years,
she was a
~ star base-
ball player
and played
French
horn in
the band.
Her fam-
ily shared
that she
grew up
Edna hunting
Hedlund' pheasants:
and rab-
bits and
continued to hunt and fish
with her husband for many
years. She enjoyed digging
clams, oysters, shrimp, and
crab. She enjoyed farming,
gardening or working on her
sons' Christmas tree farm.
Her family said she was
known for her strong work
ethic.
Even in her later years,
at 89 years old she was a
bowler on the senior team
in Montesano. She enjoyed
playing pinochle at the
Grange and with friends and
neighbors.
She is survived by her
brother Harry (Buzz) Novak;
daughter Donna Jean Mitch-
ell (George) of Chehalis; son
Ed Hedlund (Cindy) of Elma
and seven grandchildren.
She was preceded in
death by her husband Don-
ald, sister Mildred Spicer,
brother Ken Novak and son
John.
A memorial service will
be held at I p.m. on Wednes-
day, Dec. 28, at Whiteside
Family Mortuary in Elma.
Arrangements are en-
trusted to Whiteside Family
Mortuary in Elma.
Katherine Devereaux
Hoyt
Katherine (Kay) De-
vereaux Hoyt, 92, died Dec.
4, at her home in Port Or-
chard.
She was born in Seattle to
John Devereaux Johnstone
and Edith Miles Boddy on
Oct. 16, 1919. She graduated
from Edmonds High School
in 1939.
She attended business
college in Seattle after high
school and in the early 1940s
lived briefly in San Diego,
where she
~met and
married
Richard
Gruber.
She
worked
at the
Washing-
ton State
Veterans
Katherine Home in
Hoyt Retsil for
12 years before becoming an
Auditor for the Department
of Revenue in Olympia. She
retired in 1982.
She enjoyed 29 years of
retirement, building a home
at Lake Cushman near
Hoodsport where she enjoyed
the outdoors, nature pho-
tography, hiking, Mariners
baseball, knitting, quilting,
and involvement with St.
Germains Episcopal Church.
Her sister Betty Haaland
of Hoodsport; son Larry
Gruber of Port Orchard;
daughters, Louise Anderson
of Fort Fraser, BC and Joan
Sauer of Port Orchard; seven
grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren survive
her.
Her husband Thomas
(Tim) Hoyt preceded her in
death.
A celebration of her life
will be held at 2 p.m. on
Saturday, Dec. 17 at St. Ger-
mains Episcopal Church in
Hoodsport.
Mary Josephine Mitchell
Mary Josephine Mitchell,
69, died Saturday, Dec. 10,
at Capital Medical Center in
Olympia. She was a resident
of Shelton for 27 years.
She was born May 12,
1942 in California to Joseph
and Audrey Lucan.
She married Larry Mitch-
ell on Oct. 26, 1991, in Shel-
ton.
She was employed as
secretary for Shelton School
District, Shelton Middle
School and CHOICE Alter-
native School and a social
worker that worked with
foster children.
Her interest included
camping, reading, crafting
(sold items
~in Poulsbo)
and gar-
dening.
She is
survived
by her hus-
band Larry
Mitchell of
Shelton;
Mary brothers
James
Mitchell Lucan and
Joseph
Lucan of California; sisters
Linda Carter of Oklahoma
and Barbara Phalen of Cali-
fornia; children Curt Scafe,
Carrie Scafe-Reed, Corena
Scafe and Michael Scafe and
seven grandchildren.
McComb Funeral Home of
Shelton is handling the ar-
rangemenst.
A memorial service will
take place at 10:30 a.m. on
Saturday, Dec. 17, at Moun-
tain View Alliance Church,
314 E J St. in Shelton.
Ronald David Staley
Ronald David Staley, 73,
died on Nov. 30 in Belfair.
He was born on Aug.
17, 1938, in Bremerton to
Harold K. and Violet W. (Mc-
Coard) Staley.
He served in the U.S. Air
Force.
He worked as a truck
driver in the paving industry
and worked in auto body as a
fender man.
He enjoyed working on
Chevy cars and trucks, as
well as auto body and paint-
ing. He was a member of
Teamsters.
His parents preceded him
in death. His family shared
that shortly after his passing
his beloved canine compan-
ion Buddy also passed away
~forever be-
ing loyal to
his faithful
owner.
He is
survived
by his
children
Ronald
K. Staley,
Ronald Zachary
Staley D. Staley,
Rondi A.
Pulley;
brother Daniel K. Staley; sis-
ter Geraldine Ann (Staley);
10 grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
Memorial services will be
held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Sun-
day, Dec. 11, at Theler Com-
munity Center in Belfair.
Don Wiss
Don Wiss, 95, died Tues-
day, Dec. 6, at his home on
the shore of Hammersley
Inlet in Shelton. The fam-
ily shared that this was the
home built by hand on the
land his grandparents home-
steaded and where his father
was born in 1889.
He was born in 1916 to
Esther Huston and Lantz
Don
Wiss
Wiss in
Shelton.
He
rowed crew
foi, the
University
of Wash-
ington,
coached
by Al U1-
brickson,
famous for
his Olym-
pic Gold
crew of 1936.
He married Mace Law-
rence in 1942 in Corpus
Christi, Texas.
He had a Naval career in
aviation and was discharged
at the rank of Commander
USN, retired.
He was licensed to fly at
16 and enjoyed flying. He re-
tired at age 55; he spent the
next 30 years traveling with
in his own airplane visiting
friends and family, helping
to start OysterFest during
his years with Skookum
Rotary, hosting exchange
students and visitors from
Colombia, Thailand and Lat-
via. He was a member of the
Shelton Flying Club, Shelton
Yacht Club, one time chair-
man of the Republican Party
for Mason County; he also
flew for the Forest Service
spotting fires in the Olym-
pics. He was on the board of
the Peninsula Credit Union
and steward of a beautiful
stand of cedar and Douglas
fir on Wiss Country Timber
Farm. He wintered over in
the fishing village of Bahia
de Los Angeles on the Sea of
Cortez, Baja, Mexico in late
winters and early fall.
He is survived by his
daughter Teri Wiss (part-
ner Betsy Bacon) of Park
City, Utah; granddaughter,
Temple Smith of Park City,
Utah; brother David Wiss
(Betty) of Eugene, Ore.;
sister Phoebe Welton of Mt.
Vernon; niece, Donna Kaehn
of Eugene, Ore.; niece Ginny
Sloan of Sedro Wooley; great-
grandniece Mara Kaehn
of Sunnyvale, Calif. and
numerous nieces, nephews,
grandnieces and grand-
nephews.
A celebration of life will be
held at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan.
14 at Wiss Country. Call
426-4210 for directions.
David Clark McMillin
July 1 7, 1925-December 6, 2011
Dave McMillin was born in Seattle to Dr. Harvey and
Inez (Clark) McMillin. Although his family moved often
as Harvey researched the razor clam on the west coast,
Dave graduated from Queen Anne High School in Seattle,
joined the Navy during the war years (WWII), and trained
as a fighter pilot.
Upon release from military service, Dave returned to
Seattle. He wooed and wed the lovely Joyce Rose Smith,
who remained his loving wife Ibr 65 years until his death.
He graduated with a Bacteriology degree from Seattle Pacific
College and then worked for the State Shellfish Laboratory
in Purdy, Washington. In 1950 Dave accepted a position as the
General Manager of the Olympia Oyster Company on Totten Inlet in
Mason County, a position he held until 1998, when he retired at age 73.
Dave was a well-respected and extremely opinionated member of numerous shellfish,
shoreline, and environmental steering committees throughout his 50-year career in the shellfish
industry.
Dave advocated tirelessly for environmental controls and regulations against industrial
water pollutants. His work was instrumental in the battle against the dumping of waste sulfite
liquor into Puget Sound by pulp mills, a battle that other oystermen had initiated in the 1920s.
Industrial pollution had nearly eradicated the only oyster native to Puget Sound, the Olympia
oyster, and Dave fought hard to save the oyster and its environment. In August 1989, the
western edition of the Wall Street Journal published an article about him and his efforts to save
the native oyster.
In addition, Dave was pivotal in helping to develop the technique of growing oyster larvae
in tanks until the larvae entered the "spat" stage and could settle on a hard substrate. This
technology replaced the practice of importing oyster seed from Japan. In the early 1960s he
invented and patented an oyster harvesting machine that, at high tide, uses compressed air and
high volume water to lift oysters from the tidelands, a proven design that is still in use today. In
his later years, Dave developed an interest in alternative energy sources and designed and built a
prototype for a wind turbine.
He loved his home on Little Skookum Bay, and he loved taking his wife on road trips to the
Oregon and Washington coasts. He enjoyed razor clam digging, dipping smelt, growing sweet
and early tomatoes and corn, grafting apple trees, and fishing in Little Skookum Bay.
Dave McMillin is survived by his wife, Joyce McMillin, of Olympia; his children, Christine
McMillin-Helsel (Don), of Seattle; Peter McMillin (Linda), of McCleary; Camella McMillin
(Randy) of Tacoma; and Timothy McMillin (Michele), of Shelton; and his brother, John
McMillin, of Anacortes. At his death, Dave was blessed to have six grandchildren and six great-
grandchildren.
In accordance with Dave's wishes, there will be no services. Arrangements are by McComb
Funeral Home in Shelton. Feel free to visit the McComb website, www.mccombfh.com, to
post condolences. The family asks that in lieu of flowers or donations in remembrance of David
McMillin, please tell your family that you love them.
Paid Obituar~ Notice --
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Shelton-.Mason County Journal
- Thursday,
December
15, 201
1 - Page B,7