PHILIP GORDON WECKERLY passed away at his home in Mount Vernon Monday February 9, 2004 at the age of 98 years.
He was born on January 2, 1906 in Hurdsfield, ND, the son of Edgar & Jennie Hildebrant Weckerly. He was raised in North Dakota. For a while he worked as a farmer in North Dakota and Montana.
In 1942 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving with the 38th Battalion Sea Bees. While stationed on the island of Tinian, the Sea Bees built the runway for the Enola Gay, the infamous B-52 Bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. After his discharge he made his home in Seattle, where on March 26, 1949 he was united in marriage to Katherine Dahlen, and inherited her six children.
Gordon worked for Seattle City Light in Seattle, moving to Newhalem in 1951 where he lived for 17 years and worked as a lineman and repairman, retiring in 1968 after 30 years of service. He moved to Marblemount in 1968 where he built his "dream home" and where he and his wife resided until moving to the Alpine Ridge Apartments in Mount Vernon in 1998.
He was a 55 year member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, he was a 30 year member of the Shepherd of The Hills Lutheran Church in Concrete and a current a member of the Salem Lutheran Church in Mount Vernon. He was involved with R. S. V. P., a senior volunteer organization in Concrete.
Gordon loved classical music, playing poker, bingo and pinochle, building and fixing things and just tinkering.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Katherine, at the family home in Mount Vernon. 2 sons, Joseph Weckerly & wife Sharon in the Peace Corps in Kyrgtzstan, and Tom Weckerly & wife Judy of California. 4 daughters, Barbara Kane of Pennsylvania, Carol Schockly of Michgan, Joan Schmidt & companion Daniel Becker of Everett, and Leslie Bates and husband Lawrence of Birdsview. 20 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren, 4 great-great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, 2 brothers, 1 sister, 2 grandsons and 1 great-grandson.
Memorials are suggested to the Stained Glass Fund or the Chapel Fund at Salem Lutheran Church in Mount Vernon or Skagit Hospice.
A Life Celebration will be held on Monday February 16, 2004 at 1:00 PM at the Salem Lutheran Church in Mount Vernon. Pastor Kevin Forquer officiating. Cremation arrangements under direction of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley. Share memories of Gordon and sign the online guest register at ww.lemleychapel.com