Floyd E. Denham

Beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle and cousin Floyd Emmitt Denham, entered into rest Friday afternoon, March 26, 2010 at the age of 72 at his home in Spokane Valley surrounded by his wife Esther and many family members, following a valiant 2 month battle with Stage IV lung cancer which unfortunately had aggressively metastasized. Floyd jokingly referred to his diagnoses as SWAG. Floyd was born, August 14, 1937 in Ruston, Louisiana to John and Beatrice Denham. Floyd married 3 times; his first and third marriages were to his current wife Esther. Floyd was a very caring husband and father. He was immensely proud of his seven children: Denver Denham, Beau Denham (Ilona), Bret Denham (Donna), Justina Clingenpeel (Richard), Brooke Denham (Mary), Lance Denham (Jennifer) and Briana Gray (Rohan). Floyd graduated from Rogers High School, class of 1955. He faithfully served 23 years in the US Army, retiring in June 1979 with the rank of CW2. His primary specialty was Fire Control Technician in the Nike-Hercules Missile program. Floyd retired from the USPS with 19 years of service in, February 2000. Floyd was proud to have served the Government of the United States for 42 years. All five of Floyd’s sons and one daughter-in-law have also served their country as well. Floyd was an avid history and geography enthusiast, at times you would have thought he had actually been there. He had an endless reservoir of meaningless trivia he enjoyed sharing with family and friends. Floyd was convinced you could fix almost anything with a roll of duct tape, to his spouses chagrin. Floyd truly enjoyed every minute he spent with his family and friends. Floyd is survived by his wife Esther, Spokane Valley. Six of his 7 children. His brother Bob Denham (Fran), his sisters Jan Theed (Henry) and Betty Belnap. Grandchildren Christopher, Derek, Yvonne, Denver Jr, Tammy, Desiree, Stephanie, Brandon, Ryan, Josh, Randy, Marty, Danny, Timothy, Jordon, Madison, Samantha, Saige and Merrick. Numerous nieces, nephews, great-grandchildren and brothers & sister in-laws. His cats Lucy and Sparkle who will miss him greatly. Floyd was predeceased by his father John Denham 1986, mother Beatrice Denham 1947. Son Beau Denham 2009. Paternal grandfather George Denham 1938, paternal grandmother Georgia Denham 1931. Maternal grandfather Robert Leachman 1942, maternal grandmother Isabelle Leachman 1957. Sister Mary Jo Denham 1936. Father in-law Alexander Tonis, 1991, mother-in-law Pauline Tonis, 1950. A visitation will be held on Thursday, April 1, 2010 from 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Thornhill Valley Chapel, 1400 S. Pines Rd., Spokane Valley. Funeral services will be held on Friday, April 2, 2010 at 2:00PM at Thornhill Valley Chapel with a graveside service to follow at Pines Cemetery on 16th Ave, Spokane Valley. There will be a reception at the funeral home following the graveside service. Pastor Brian Dedera, of Foothills Community Church, Spokane WA will officiate at all services. In the event you wish to make a donation in Floyd’s behalf, please consider Family Home Care, Liberty Lake, WA. The family would like to extend a special “Thank You” to Danko Martincic MD, Cancer Care Northwest: Rita Snow MD, Physicians Clinic; Valley Hospital 2nd & 3rd floor nursing staff and ICU; Family Home Care, especially Melody Ramsey who treated Floyd and his family with genuine kindness.