James Caton

James Earl Caton, 88, of Yakima, passed away peacefully on August 18, 2015 in Yakima. Jim was born on November 18, 1926 in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, to Henry and Ruth Caton. His family moved to Yakima in the early 1930’s. He served in the United States Navy during World War II, as a Signalman, on the USS Appalachian. After a brief trip to Alaska with a fishing fleet, he returned to Yakima, working for Herb Nyberg in Naches Heights, then for a very short time at Bemis Refrigeration. In 1951, he was employed by the General Electric Company as a pipefitter weldor trainee, and advanced to a journeyman pipefitter weldor in 3 years. When the Hanford complex was contracted out to multiple companies, he continued to work at the same job for the new companies, which included Douglas United Nuclear, Inc. and United Nuclear Industries. In 1975, he started working at the Hanford Generating Plant until the Energy Northwest Reactor became operational, where he worked until his retirement in June 1988. He married Mary Cantrell in 1951. They made their first home in Richland, then moved to Grandview, Sunnyside, and then in 1997, they moved to Yakima, Washington. Jim became a member of the Church of Christ on March 4, 2013. Jim is survived by his wife, Mary, a brother-in-law, Donald Cantrell of Renton, a brother-in-law, Leo Differding of Sunnyside, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents. Graveside services will be held at 1:00 pm on Monday, August 24, 2015 at Terrace Heights Memorial Park. In Lieu of flowers, donations can be made to your favorite charity. Arrangements for a graveside service are being made at Valley Hills Funeral Home. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of James Caton, please visit our flower store.