Rex Lee Kelly peacefully passed away on June 5, 2010.
He was born in Henryetta, Okla., to Carrie D Moore and Earl B. Kelly on Jan. 28, 1931. He eventually left Henryetta to attend the University of Oklahoma in Norman where he received his bachelor of arts and law degrees.
Brad Fincher, adult probation officer for San Juan County, has announced his candidacy for San Juan County sheriff. Fincher’s announcement, on the final day of the candidate filing period for the Aug. 17 primary and Nov. 2 general election, brings the field of candidates for sheriff to four. The others are Lead Detective Brent Johnson, Deputy Felix Menjivar, and Deputy Rob Nou.
Richard Gould, great-grandson of Friday Harbor’s first mayor, Gene Gould, visited Friday Harbor this week, doing family research, visiting sites connected to his family, and getting acquainted with relatives.
The Center for Whale Research has confirmed the birth of a new K pod calf. If it survives that critical first year, the Southern resident orca population is 90, its highest since 2006. The Center for Whale Research designated the calf K43. Center researcher Erin Heydenreich said the calf is the fifth born to K12. However, only three of those orcas are still alive, Heydenreich said.
Hospice of San Juan would like to thank the San Juan Island Community Foundation and the Women’s Fund for awarding us a grant for our Spring 2010 Training. Without this funding, we would find it very difficult to train our volunteers.
Katie Hover, senior warden of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Friday Harbor, announced Thursday that The Rev. Douglas Simonsen has been elected by the vestry of the church to be its third rector. The Right Rev. Gregory H. Rickel, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, will join the congregation of St. David’s at 7 p.m. on June 16, for a Celebration of New Ministry. The service is open to the public and will include local and regional clergy from the Episcopal Church as well as clergy and representatives of other local churches and faiths. A reception will follow the service.
A Friday Harbor woman’s son-in-law has been named Norway’s Coach of the Year. Frode Lillefjell, son-in-law of Rebecca Cook, received the honor from the Norwegian Ski Federation and Norwegian Coaches Association. The award was presented at the annual coaching seminar hosted by the coaches association at the end of May in Trondheim.
This story is about Bill and Bernice Mason. But it’s also a story for certain readers out there. It’s a story for anyone who needs a reason to believe in marriage again, for anyone who longs to know whether love truly endures all. Bill and Bernice have been married 75 years. That’s longer than the average lifespan, longer than 12 U.S. presidencies. The Great Depression and the Great Recession, bread lines and gas lines, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, the Iraq War … all have been relegated to, or are on their way to, past tense. The Masons’ marriage has outlived them all.
Both my husband and I were successful commercial fishermen in Alaska in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred on March 26. It devastated the herring fishery, which usually opened the first part of April. It wreaked havoc on the salmon fisheries as well and caused untold harm to the environment of Prince William Sound and the south central Alaskan Coast line.
The proposed Peace Island Medical Center takes another big step forward next month. A public hearing is scheduled July 15, 5:35 p.m., at Friday Harbor Town Hall on the annexation of 22 acres for the proposed medical center. The land was purchased from the Boe family by PeaceHealth in July 2009, four months after PeaceHealth and the island’s hospital district commission approved a 50-year contract authorizing PeaceHealth to build and operate a new medical center here.
A helicopter crashed off Bell Island, between Crane Island and Shaw Island’s Broken Point. Three boats, including the Sheriff’s Boat Guardian, were en route to the scene at 2:30 p.m.
The Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comments through June 25 on its revised Resource Management Plan for about 445,000 acres of BLM-administered public lands in Eastern Washington and in the San Juan Archipelago.
A memorial is scheduled June 9, 1 p.m., at San Juan County Park on San Juan Island for John W. Parish, who died May 31 in a single-car crash near Cattle Point Road and Madden Lane.
