Retha Gangle

Retha Gangle 87, of Yakima passed away on February 28, 2017 at Emerald Care in Wapato. Retha will be missed by many as a wife, companion, mother, friend and grandmother. She was born on December 4, 1929 in North Miami, Oklahoma to Albert Roy Hedworth and Edith Marie (Woodall) Hedworth. Retha graduated from Wapato High School in 1948, and on September 4, 1948 she married her high school sweetheart Robert (Bob) Gangle at Wapato Presbyterian Church. During their nearly 52 years of marriage Bob and Retha led a very active and diverse life together. In the early 1960s they developed their first orchard in the Parker Heights area. Then in 1981 they made their final move to the Mattawa area to continue developing orchards and established Cherokee West Trucking Company. After Bob’s death, Retha sold the orchard and retired to Yakima to be closer to her children. Retha took great pride in her lifetime association with Eastern Star, serving as Worthy Matron twice in the Wapato Chapter. Retha was also very proud of her recent achievement of the Degree of Ceres at the 146th Annual Session of the National Grange held in Boise, Idaho. Retha is survived by her loving companion Carl Gangl. Her two children, son Robin Gangle and his companion Sandy Joyal of Yakima, and daughter Linda (Bob) Mead also of Yakima, five grandchildren, eight Great Grandchildren, three Great-Great Grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Bob Gangle, her parents Albert and Edith Hedworth and her sister Freda Stevens. Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 11, 2017 in the Broadway Grange, on the corner of 10th Avenue and Washington Avenue in Yakima. Memorials may be made in Retha’s name to the Shriner’s Hospital in Spokane in care of Valley Hills Funeral Home & Crematory, 2600 Business Lane, Yakima, WA 98901. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Retha Gangle, please visit our flower store.