Edward Almarion Minnick

Edward Minnick passed away peacefully on Oct. 21, 2014. He was surrounded and held by family members. He had a long, wonderful life and at 93, his heart just became too tired to keep going. Edward was born in a small farmhouse on the South Dakota prairie on Dec. 11, 1920. He was the second of eight children born to Lealon and Alice Minnick. Life on the farm consisted of milking cows, harvesting wheat, trapping prairie dogs for bounty (two cents a tail), hunting pheasants and struggling to get through the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Edward used to say that they were poor but they didn’t know it because everyone else was in the same situation. He and his siblings attended a one-room schoolhouse through the eighth grade.

He graduated from Redfield High School in 1939 and then served in the Army Air Corps in England during World War II. After the war, he enrolled at the University of Idaho where (on the golf course) he met and four months later, married our mother, Jackie Minnick. They were married for 56 wonderful years until her death in 2003. They had three children, Margo, Scott (Betsy) and Lyn; and six grandchildren, Geoff, Evan, Marla, Kevin, Casey and Logan. Recently, Dad met his first great-grandchild, little baby Isa.

Dad worked with the Soil Conservation Service for several years after graduating from University of Idaho. The family lived in Moscow, Chelan, Manson and Pullman before moving to Chehalis in 1953. He worked 23 years as the Lewis County Extension Agent, including the last six years as County Chairman for the Extension team. Edward was an agronomist and helped farmers understand and implement research information from Washington State University regarding crop production and weed control. In 1967 he was selected to join a team of wheat specialists who traveled to Turkey for four months to help introduce a new strain of wheat to farmers there.

Edward bought and developed a 30 acre Christmas tree farm in 1966. He worked this as a second job until he retired from the Extension Service in 1976. He kept the Christmas tree farm until he retired for good in 1990. Edward also served as past president of the Northwest Christmas Tree Growers Association.

He had a great voice and loved to sing around the house and on trips. Edward also loved to tell jokes and go back and forth with people teasing and joking with them. He had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh with others.

Dad belonged for many years to the Chehalis Rotary Club and also served as President. He was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church since 1953. Edward served on many boards and work committees with the church and was an Elder. Edward also sang in their choir for over 50 years. For a long time, he volunteered at the Lewis County Food Bank and also delivered Meals on Wheels to homebound seniors. In 2007, at the age of 87, during the severe flooding in Lewis County, he was asked why he was still out on meal deliveries when the county roads were flooding. He commented that the people needed their meals and besides, driving through the rising waters was a good way to keep his tires clean.

He and Mom traveled extensively, seeing Athens, Rome and London, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, Ireland, Russia and many parts of the United States and Canada. They took several cruises, stayed at Elder Hostels over the years and were active members in Friendship Force.

Edward enjoyed playing cribbage and hosting poker parties with his buddies. He was on several bowling teams over the years and dearly loved to golf. Mom and Dad enjoyed potlucks and dinner get-togethers and also dance parties. They were longtime members of Clipper Club and Fiesta Club back in the 50s and 60s. They also enjoyed family reunions on the Oregon Coast, gatherings that went on for more than 50 years.

Dad’s older brother, Robert moved here from Texas to be with him in their later years. In the fall of 2011, when they were 90 and 92 years of age, with Robert at the wheel of his Lincoln Towncar, they said “Road Trip!” and drove back to South Dakota to visit the place of their birth and the site of so many childhood memories. Later, when Dad was living at the Retirement Chalet, an adult family home in Rochester, Robert took him to lunch twice every week. They loved to go to Judy’s Country Kitchen in Centralia. While it became increasingly more difficult to transport Dad out to the community, Robert made sure that it got done. When they were growing up on the prairie, the two of them worked and played together every day. Robert was just making sure that the two brothers continued to have good times together.

So how to sum him up after all these years? Basically, Dad worked very hard, saved and invested well, saw the goodness in things, kept a sense of humor about him, was loyal to and loved his friends and family and always was kind to everyone. He was a man who, if you knew him, would have made your life better.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Retirement Chalet in Rochester for the wonderful care, love and respect that they gave Dad for these past three years. Another member of the Greatest Generation has now passed on. We will miss him so very much.

A memorial service will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Chehalis on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.