Edward Gefre

Edward A. Gefre Sr. slipped peacefully into the arms of his Savior on November 29, 2020 with family at his side. He is preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Elsie and his son Stephen, parents Edward W. and Lilian Gefre, and brother Fred. He leaves behind his brother Jerald and sister Kathleen Fredrick, a son Eddie (Rosi) Gefre, Jr. of Costa Rica, daughters Julie (Bob) Eggebeen and Linda (Gary) Fox of Zillah, and many grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Ed, fondly called Sonny by his close family, was born February 21, 1935 at the family homestead in Outlook. As soon as he was able, he started working on the family farm pulling weeds in the carrot and turnip fields and other chores, often before heading off to school. The family moved to Zillah during Ed’s high school years and he lived there for most of his life. He met Elsie while working at Snow & Sons in Outlook, and they married in January 1954. Ed especially loved the outdoors, camping, hunting, and riding horses and four-wheeling in the Little Naches area. He especially enjoyed taking the horses for a ride on the Pacific Crest trail, and jeeping the back trails. He farmed all of his life and worked at various other jobs. The family lived in The Dalles, Oregon for a short time where he worked at the aluminum plant and construction on The Dalles bridge. From there he made the move to Woodinville, WA for a try at logging, but after just a few months he fled the wet weather on the westside of the state and moved the family back to the dry and hot Yakima Valley that he preferred. It couldn’t get hot enough for him! After returning to the Valley, Ed worked at U&I Sugar in Toppenish for 18 years until the plant shut down – he always brought home a sugar beet or two as a treat for his horses. He then attended YVTech where he earned his certificate in diesel mechanics and opened his own repair shop in Zillah. After opening the shop (and realizing that unlike the diesel trucks he repairs, there were a lot of electronics on cars to fix!) he caught the bug to work summers in Ekuk, Alaska so he sold his shop and worked at the fish cannery as diesel mechanic for ten years. Elsie also worked in housekeeping at the cannery so they could be together in the summers. Ed was always a hard worker and looking for things to do to keep him busy in retirement. Along with his cherry orchard, he filled his spare time driving the mobile medical and dental units to remote sites for the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, and hauled pears and apples for Larry Carlise. His dedication to family, adventurous spirit, sense of humor and teasing “ya-ya’s” will be missed by all who knew him. Viewing will be held at Valley Hills Funeral Home in Zillah on Thursday, December 3, 2020 from 4-7pm. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Edward Gefre, please visit our flower store.