Larry Glen Etchieson

Larry Glen Etchieson of Selah passed away just after midnight on January 2nd, 2023 of heart and kidney failure. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Etchieson, and son, Chad Etchieson, who were both at his bedside as he passed at home. He was 74.

Larry graduated from Selah High School in 1967, where he loved sports and lettered in track. He enlisted in the Marines and fought in Vietnam beginning in April 1968 during some of the most intense combat of the war. His tour ended in February 1969 when he was wounded from an enemy grenade and earned a Purple Heart. From September of 1969 to September of 1970, he worked at the Naval Correction Center at Pearl Harbor. He assigned some security personnel for the landing of Apollo 13, but did not go himself, thinking it was not important at the time. He regretted it later.

In 1971, Larry met Barbara (Dolly) Ann Uecker, and in March 1972, they were married in their tiny apartment before a small number of family and friends. They had almost nothing, and some said it wouldn’t last. They would have been married 51 years in March of 2023.

Shortly after, they moved into their first house at 1209 Ledwich in Yakima and transformed it, with a lot of hard work, into a home. In 1974, they had their first and only child, Chad Etchieson, who now teaches English at A.C. Davis High School. At this same time, Larry began working at Weyerhaeuser in Union Gap, where he was employed for ten years.

In 1979, the family moved to a house on Collins Road in Selah, and in 1985, they moved their final home off of Baker Road in Selah.

From 1984 to 1994, Larry worked at the Yakima Post Office as a carrier and a clerk. In the summer and fall of 1990, Larry and Barbara owned and operated the “Chew-Chew Train Cafe,” which was housed in a yellow caboose outside of Yesterday’s Village on Yakima Avenue. They made and sold hamburgers, hotdogs, baked potatoes with the works, and occasionally spaghetti, among other things.

After Larry retired from the post office, he struggled with PTSD from Vietnam, as he had for many years. He spent several months at American Lake with Vietnam Veterans with similar issues, and ultimately earned a 100% disability after his stay there due to the severity of his war trauma.

In 2006, Larry had a heart attack and quintuple bypass surgery. In 2010, his wife Barbara was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Larry’s son, Chad, moved back with them and both worked very hard to take care of Barbara over these twelve years. Barbara underwent Deep Brain Stimulation surgery for her Parkinson’s in 2021 and is now doing better.

In 2014, Larry had some heart failure issues that were treated and mostly controlled. But in May 2022, his heart failure returned with kidney issues. He was hospitalized on and off from spring to fall, and needed hospice at home for November and December as his heart was too weak for further treatments. His VA caregiver over those two months, Brandy, worked very hard to make his last days comfortable and positive.

Larry loved his wife and son dearly, and always worked tirelessly to provide for and protect them. Larry also enjoyed classic rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s, and collected guitars that he also played. Larry loved to work on his property, his many dogs over the years following him everywhere. He especially loved a yellow lab named Charlie, who was very energetic (actually, frenetic) for most of the dog’s 14 years. In Larry’s later years, he enjoyed watching football, often the Seahawks, and also watching many reruns of Gunsmoke and Wagon Train.

Larry is preceded in death by Leslie Etchieson (father), Emaline Parris (mother), Michael Etchieson (brother), Mary McCullough (grandmother), and Arlis McCullough (grandfather).