Amos was born May 3, 1924 on the family farm in Washburn Wisconsin, the fourteenth of fifteen children of Leona and Lambert Bourgo. After graduating from Washburn High School, Amos joined the U. S. Navy where he served on the destroyer escort, USS Eugene Elmore achieving the status of Shellback. Amos never forgot the men of the Elmore and frequently attended the reunions of the USS Block Island Association.
After leaving the Navy in 1946 Amos moved to Portland Oregon where began his collegiate studies at Oregon State University and on December 13, 1946 married Laura Marie Bram. After the great Columbia River Floods of 1948 the couple moved to Madison, Wisconsin where Amos completed his studies at the University of Wisconsin and where three of his children (Kathleen, Donald and Dianna) were born. The young family did not enjoy the Wisconsin weather and in 1952 moved west to Hood River, Oregon where Amos did whatever was required to feed, house, and clothe his family which had now grown to include another daughter (Joanne). In 1956 Amos was offered a position with the Ortho Division of Standard Oil of California and the family moved to the Yakima Valley where they first resided in Zillah and subsequently Toppenish. In 1978 he moved to Walla Walla. His job with Ortho kept him on the road much of the time meeting people and making friends throughout the inland empire. His memory of his friends and where they could be found never failed him. After retiring from Ortho in 1984 Amos sought a new career. In August of 1989 he joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to teach agricultural subjects in Tanzania. After his return from the Peace Corps he returned to Yakima and was offered the opportunity to provide practical agricultural advice to farmers in other developing countries.
Amos was always quick with a smile and had a unique way of making everyone around him feel at ease. He enjoyed any outdoor activity including in part, fishing, golf, hunting, hiking or just sitting on a stump watching the grass grow.
Amos is survived by his four children, Joanne Waller and husband Jim of Yakima, Dianna Melcher and husband Mark Higgs, (Sun Lakes, AZ), Kathy Taylor, (Arlington, WA.) and Donald (Sequim, WA). Amos is also survived by seven grandchildren, four grandchildren and his sister Dorothy Leona Hintz (New Hall, CA).
Amos Bernard Bourgo passed away at his Holiday Resorts home in Yakima during the night of Saturday, February 10, 2013 at the age of 88.
In lieu of flowers Amos would like memorial contributions to be made to the veterans of foreign wars: William Wharton Post # 379, 118 S. 5th Avenue, Yakima, Washington 98902.
Memorial Mass will be held on Thursday, February 14, 2013, at 10:00 am, at Holy Family Catholic Church. Keith & Keith Funeral Home is entrusted with the arrangements.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18