Orville C. Berkey

Orville C. Berkey, 82, passed away in Spokane, WA on Saturday, August 25, 2007. Funeral services will be conducted at 11:00 am, Friday, August 31, 2007 in Coffelt’s Funeral Chapel, 109 N. Division Ave., in Sandpoint, Idaho. Pastor Mark Wendle, Clark Fork United Methodist Church, will officiate. Fraternal rites and Veteran’s honors will be conferred. Orville was born on Dec. 24, 1924 in Hope, Idaho and was valedictorian form the Hope High School graduating class of 1942. During WW II he served with the US Army Infantry in the South Pacific, seeing action in New Guinea and helping with the liberation of the Philippines. Following the war he logged in North Idaho and married Geraldine Austin on Dec. 3, 1949 in Thompson Falls, MT. He lived in Hope, Idaho from 1960 until moving to Clark Fork, Idaho in 1973. He built powerlines in the area and then followed heavy construction throughout the Northwest. His last job was working on the Alaskan Pipeline on the Northslope of Alaska. He retired from Prudoe Bay, Alaska in 1983 as a heavy equipment operator. He was a member of the Clark Fork United Methodist Church and the International Operating Engineers #302 out of Seattle. He was a member of Lakeside Masonic Lodge #42 AF and AM, the Scottish Rite, the Lewiston Calam Shrine, and the Panhandle Shrine Club. He was a member of the Order of Eastern Star Martha Chapter #34 in Sandpoint and Mt Silcox Chapter #111 in Thompson Falls, MT. He belonged to the Grange #448 in Clark Fork and the IOOF Lodge out of Plummer, ID. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, tinkering, gardening, Wednesday night poker, and traveling with Gerry. He is survived by his wife of 57 years Gerry Berkey of Clark Fork, ID; 2 daughters Carolyn L. (and Thomas) Roche of San Diego, CA; Yvette D. (and Rob) White of Spokane, WA; 4 grandchildren Jennifer Berkey Fritz of Hope, ID; Shawn T. Berkey of Everett, WA; Yvonne D. Cluever of Spokane, WA; and Ashley Roche of Elmsford, NY; 2 great grand children Samantha M. Berkey of Hope, ID; and Micah D. Cluever of Spokane, WA. He was preceded in death by Yvonne Berkey in 1954 and Douglas C. Berkey in 2001, and a brother Bobby Berkey. Memorials may be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, PO Box 2472, Spokane, WA 99210 – 2472.