Rachelle LaVon Cohoon
Rachelle LaVon Cohoon of Silverdale, Kitsap County, Washington
April 5, 1919, to Oct. 18, 2014
Rachelle LaVon Cohoon was born April 5, 1919, to William and
Maud Nelson in Absaraka, North Dakota. They later moved Amenia, like Absaraka
an small village in Cass County near Fargo.
The Amenia school band, in which Rachelle played clarinet, was
selected to march on North Dakota Day (Aug. 30, 1933) at the 1933 Century of
Progress World's Fair in Chicago.
In 1935, she moved with her family to Washington state and graduated
from high school at Yelm, Thurston, and was a member of the National Honor
Society of Yelm High School.
On Oct. 11, 1938, in Kitsap County, Washington, Rachelle married
Ellis Cohoon. Their marriage certificate says she was from Walla Walla, Washington,
and she was from Douglas County, Minnesota. Their first home was in Tacoma.
During World War II, she and Ellis, a soldier, moved to
California, Arizona, and New Jersey.
When Ellis was sent to England, Rachelle returned to Tacoma and
lived the war years with her parents. At war's end, Ellis returned and they
bought their first home in Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington, in suburban
Tacoma.
In Lakewood she was active in PTA, taught Sunday school at the
Little Church on the Prairie, assisted with Girl Scouts for her daughter
Carolyn, was a den mother for her son John, and involved in other activities
with her children.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the four Cohoons traveled across the
country several times when Ellis was sent to electronics schools in New Jersey;
Huntsville, Alabama; and Aberdeen, Maryland. During those trips, Rachelle made
sure the family visited national historical
sites including Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Gettysburg. They also toured the
East Coast cities of New York, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.
In 1963, Ellis was transferred from Mount Rainier Ordnance Depot
near Lakewood, Wash.to the Tooele Army Depot in Tooele, Utah. There Rachelle
was active in the Methodist Church, serving as WSCS/Women’s Society of
Christian Service president for two years.
She was an active band booster parent, raising money for her son
John and the band to travel to the Pasadena Rose Parade in 1965.
In 1967, Ellis was transferred to the Metrology Lab at Keyport,
Kitsap County, Wash. They have lived in the Silverdale area ever since.
In Silverdale, Rachelle was active in PTA. She completed a
five-year Bible Study Fellowship Course. She took so many classes for personal
enrichment at Olympic College in Bremerton that she earned an Associate Degree
in Arts and Sciences.
Following Ellis' retirement in 1973, the couple became
snowbirds, traveling to Arizona for many winters. Rachelle enjoyed listening to
music, reading, playing cards with friends, and bird watching, a hobby she
started as a Campfire Girl in North Dakota. Most of all she enjoyed celebrating
special occasions with her family. She and Ellis celebrated their 73rd wedding
anniversary shortly before he passed away in 2011.
She died Oct. 18, 2014, Kitsap County, Washington.
She was predeceased by her sisters, Esther Froemming and Dorothy
Erickson. She is survived by her daughter, Carolyn (Dave Peterson) and her son,
John (Cathy Cohoon); her sister, Eloyce Jenks of Wisconsin, and a number of
nieces and nephews.
At her request, memorial services will be private.
Original
source/ Oct. 22, 2014 Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, Washington:
https://archive.kitsapsun.com/obituaries/rachelle-lavon-cohoon-95-ep-692940768-355200231.html
Editing/additional info added 10/9/2024
See THE COHOON
FAMILY:
https://taxioffduty.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-cohoon-family.html
////////////
Ellis
Ray Cohoon
Ellis Ray Cohoon of Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington
Jan. 11, 1916, to Nov. 23, 2011
Ellis Ray Cohoon, age 95 passed away on Nov. 23, 2011. He was
born Jan. 11, 1916, to Walter and Grace Cohoon in Waitsburg, Walla Walla
County, Washington. He attended schools in Walla Walla, Walla Walla County, Wash.
and Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Wash.
In 1936, he enlisted in the 3rd Signal Company at Fort Lewis, Pierce
County, Washington, hoping to study radio communications. Before World War II
began, he was sent to Fort Ord, Marin County, California.
When World War II was declared with Germany and Japan, he was
sent to Poston Japanese-American Internment Camp, located in Yuma County in
southwestern Arizona. The company in which he served built a telephone line (about
215 miles) from that camp to Barstow, California. Later, he helped install
phone lines along the newly constructed Alcan (Alaska-Canada) Highway. After
that job, he transferred to the Eighth Air Force and spent the rest of the war
in England.
At war's end, he returned to the U.S. on the ocean liner Queen
Mary, converted then to a troopship. He received an honorable discharge from
the Army and went to work in government civil service at Mt. Rainier Ordinance
Depot near Lakewood (Pierce County)/Tacoma, Washington. (The depot served the U.S.
Army between 1942 and 1963 as a primary vehicle-, arms-, and missile-repair
facility. It provided ordnance equipment
to the Pacific area and Alaska in World War II.)
During the 1950s and 1960s, he attended electronics training
schools in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey; Huntsville, Alabama, and Aberdeen, Maryland.
He also studied at Hewlett-Packard in California.
In 1963 he was transferred to the Metrology Lab at Tooele
Ordinance Depot in Tooele, Tooele
County, Utah. In 1967 he moved to the Metrology Lab at Keyport, Kitsap, Washington,
and has lived in the Silverdale area ever since. He retired from government
service in 1973.
Ellis enjoyed many hobbies, including woodworking, constructing
electronics equipment from Heathkits and vegetable gardening. He built a scenic
and computerized platform for his HO electric trains.
Ellis and his wife Rachelle recently celebrated their 73rd
wedding anniversary. He is also survived by his daughter Carolyn Peterson
(David) and son, John (Cathy). His sister, Lois Shelton (Kenny) of Walla Walla.
We will dearly miss our loving husband and father.
Original source/Nov. 26, 2011 Kitsap Sun, Bremerton,
Washington:
https://archive.kitsapsun.com/lifestyle/celebrations/ellis-ray-cohoon-95-ep-417979080-356992381.html
Also see:
https://postoninterneeobituaries.blogspot.com/2011/11/
Editing/additional info added 10/9/2024
See THE COHOON FAMILY:
https://taxioffduty.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-cohoon-family.html
Carolyn ‘Kibby’ LaVone Peterson
July 4, 1944 to
Feb. 8, 2023
Carolyn LaVone Peterson, age 78, of Bremerton, WA, passed away
peacefully Feb. 8, 2023, at St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale, Kitsap
County, Washington, due to liver cancer and pulmonary complications.
She is survived by her husband, David W. Peterson, brother John
Cohoon and his wife Cathy. Carolyn’s family, her many friends and acquaintances
will miss her kind heart, friendliness, generosity, graciousness, teaching
skills, and love of life.
Carolyn was born on the Fourth of July, 1944. Her father Ellis
Cohoon was still in wartime England. Carolyn’s loving mother, Rachelle, brought
Carolyn into the world at Tacoma General Hospital.
The family lived on 99th Street in Lakewood, Pierce
County, Washington, for many years, taking extended trips to live in New
Jersey, Alabama, and Maryland where her father attended electronics schools.
Carolyn was known to many of the extended family members as
Kibby. She and the family made frequent visits to Waitsburg, Washington, to see
Grandpa and Grandma Cohoon. Grandpa and Grandma Alhstrom lived in Lakewood and
were very close to Carolyn as she grew up.
Carolyn’s favorite pet as a child was a little black cocker
spaniel named “Blackie” Later in life, for eighteen years, her orange cat “Buttons,”
a British Shorthair, captured her heart forever.
Carolyn graduated from Clover Park High School (Lakewood, Pierce
County, Washington) in 1962. She spent her freshman year (1962-63) of college
at Pacific Lutheran University (Parkland, Pierce County, Wash.). In 1963, she
moved with her family to Tooele, Utah, where her father’s job in the Civil
Service had transferred him.
Carolyn enrolled at Utah State University in Logan, Utah and
earned a Bachelor of Science degree in June 1966. She taught elementary school
in Tooele for one year, but the family then moved back to Washington in 1967.
Carolyn married Mike Lilley on June 2, 1967, and went with him
to San Diego where he was stationed in the Navy. Eventually she and Mike moved to
Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington. They divorced January 18, 1979.
In Bremerton, Carolyne she lovingly taught second graders at
Jackson Park Elementary in Bremerton, Kitsap County, Wash., for 33 years.
After her divorce, she met teacher Dave Peterson of Central
Kitsap High School in Silverdale, Kitsap County, Wash. They married Aug. 15,
1992, built and moved into a wonderful Victorian home overlooking Hood Canal.
In August 2008, they downsized and moved into a condo in
downtown Bremerton, overlooking Sinclair Inlet where she enjoyed watching the
ferries, pleasure boats, Navy ships, eagles and ducks.
She liked going to watch the NFL Seahawks football team in the
old Kingdome and cruising to Mexico, the Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii, and in the
Mediterranean.
She enjoyed movies, book club, reading, political campaigns,
counted cross stitch, lasagna, mac and cheese, a hot cup of tea, visiting
friends, watching YouTube, and playing Words with Friends. Her favorite songs
were “Brown Eyed Girl, “Old Time Rock & Roll”, and everything by Freddie
Mercury and the band Queen.
Carolyn suffered a number of serious health issues throughout
her adult life, beginning in 1972, when she contracted Hodgkin Disease. From
that time going forward she suffered a number of other serious health
challenges. She had wonderful doctors. She was a fighter and tried so hard to
live. Carolyn was a loving wife and friendly to everyone she met.
She is remembered lovingly by her husband, brother,
sister-in-law, relatives, and her many friends from school, the condo, and
living a gracious life. And, by the many hundreds of school children in whose
lives Carolyn played a major and positive role. She was the world’s best
second-grade teacher.
Carolyn was a special, lovely lady who could find the best in
everyone she met. Family and friends can gather Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 3 pm
at the Hillcrest Columbarium in Forest Lawn Cemetery, located next to Lewis
Funeral Chapel, Bremerton, Washington, to visit and remember Carolyn’s life as
her ashes are placed near her parents on her mother’s birthday.
In lieu of flowers, remember her by acts of kindness to others
and loving your family, friends, and every orange cat you see. And every Fourth
of July think of Carolyn when you watch the beautiful fireworks.
“When he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love
with night And pay no worship to the garish sun.”
--William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Original source:
https://www.tuellmckee.com/obituaries?name=carolyn-lavone-peterson
Editing/additional info added
10/9/2024
See THE COHOON
FAMILY:
https://taxioffduty.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-cohoon-family.html
