Eldon Ray Henthorn

Eldon R. Henthorn

Memorial services for Eldon R. Henthorn were held at 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22, 1989 at the Everett (Washington) Free Methodist Church with Rev. Charles Martindale officiating.

Cremation has taken place and his ashes will be scattered over the Hat Creek Breaks at a later date. Mr. Henthorn died in a Lynnwood, Wash. Nursing home on Dec. 19, 1989 of heart failure.

He was born Aug. 12, 1926 at Mapleton, Kan., the son of Fount T. and Carrie (Simmons) Henthorn. He grew up and attended schools in the Mapleton area. He was orphaned at the age of 15 and lived with and worked for various farmers until age 17, he joined the U.S. Navy serving in the European area during World War II. After his discharge in 1946, he worked on farms around Mapleton for several months, then with two friends and a cousin left Kansas for Washington state. At Craig, Colo., they ran out of money and found work there. Eldon started working for a seismograph crew as a helper and this work was to be his occupation until he became disabled in 1984. He worked his way up through the ranks from helper to Party manager (crew chief), a position he held for many years. He was known throughout the industry as a hard-working man, never asking more of the people on the crew than he was willing to do himself.

He married Marie Kilmer on Oct. 12, 1947 at Lusk. Due to his occupation, his family lived in many different towns and states, most of them in the western half of the United States as well as Alaska, but he always considered the Lusk area as "home"." In 1986 Eldon and his wife "settled down" in Sheridan, Wyo., then moved to Everett, Wash. in February 1988 to be near several of their children.

He is survived by his wife, Marie of Everett, Wash.; two sons, Dennis of Everett and Kenneth of Arlington, Wash.; four daughters, Catherine (Mrs. Russell) Conley of Everett; Arlene Wegner of Marysville, Wash.; Sharlene Randall of Elkhart, Ind. and Cherrie (Mrs. Paul) Cayton of Junction City, Kan.; two sisters, Etta Roberts of Mathis, Texas and Violet Williams of Springfield, Ill., and 16 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his mother and father and one grandson, Shane Conley.

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