Gene Wiederspohn

Gene Lee Wiederspohn of Sunnyside passed away suddenly Sunday December 8, at Kadlec Hospital in Richland. Gene was born to Dave and Virginia (Pendleton) Wiederspohn, September 16, 1950 in Bellingham, Washington and was raised on a dairy farm located in Sumas, Washington. After his father's death, when Gene was six years old, the family raised replacement heifers and grew raspberries on the family farm. Gene graduated as class Salutatorian in 1968 from Nooksack Valley High School. He married his sweetheart, Michele Diane Bouchard August 28, 1971 and they lived in Pullman until he graduated from WSU in 1972 with a B.S. degree in Animal Nutrition and a minor in Chemistry. After college we moved to the Yakima Valley. His love of learning led to a life full of accomplishments including: growing grain and hay on a farm easy of Sunnyside. Many years in the dairy industry starting as a herdsman, and in 1979 leasing a dairy where our family raised and milked Holstein cows, most of them registered. Im 1989 we purchased and operated a diversified fruit ranch and sold fruit from Seattle to Spokane. In 1991 he became Production Manager for Standard Nutrition in Sunnyside and retired after 27 years. In is retirement years he traveled the states as a crop adjuster for the fruit industry. Gene was full of life with a sense of humor we will all miss. He deeply loved his family and treasured the times he spent with them. He enjoyed gardening and sharing his produce which resulted in weekly visits to family and friends. He particularly enjoyed creating beauty in our front yard for the joy of all who passed by. he looked forward to hosting fishing camps with family an friends at our Lake Roosevelt property, resulting in many fishing stories. He was a member of Sunnyside Presbyterian Church where he currently was an Elder. Gene was preceded in death by his parents, Dave and Virginia Wiederspohn, Stepfather Deloy Smith and brother in law Leo Cornelsen. He is survived by his wife Michele of 54 years, sons Aaron (Misti) Wiederspohn, David (Melissa) Wiederspohn, Shawn (Elizabeth) Wiederspohn, four grandchildren: Gulianna, Michael, Ellie and Joshua, and five great grandchildren, brother Karl (Sheri) Wiederspohn, twin sister Janis Cornelsen, sister Karen (Robert) Wiederspohn-Johnson, brother in law Anthony "Tony" Bouchard, and numerous nieces and nephews. Memorial service is planned for Saturday, January 18th at 11:00AM at Sunnyside Presbyterian church with Reverend Jakob Schumacher officiating. You may make online condolences at www.valleyhillsfh.com. Memorials may be made to Sunnyside Presbyterian Church. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Gene Wiederspohn, please visit our flower store.