Omer Harvey

6/20/1915 — 2/11/2014

• Service Date: 3/28/2014
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Our loving dad passed away surrounded by family Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014, at Royal Plaza in Lewiston. He was 98.

Omer Jesse Harvey was born June 20, 1915, in Harrisburg, near Kamiah, to Ora and Lillie (Martin) Harvey. He was one of eight children. As a child, Omer and his brother Harry made their own horse-drawn sleigh so they could ride it to school in the snow. He played basketball as a teenager for Kamiah High School, where he was the class president of the 1933 graduating class. Dad often talked about working alongside of his father in a pole yard while going to high school. On occasion, the Forest Service would pull the workers out of the pole yard to go fight fires in the forest. Dad fought two forest fires as a teen.

Dad attended college for a semester at the University of Idaho for Forestry. He decided to leave college and go to work in a logging camp instead.

Dad met his first wife, Ruby Rose Johnson, at a dance. They were married in February 1939. He whisked his bride off to their new home: a grand 12-by-12 tent with wooden sides located in a logging camp. Dad and Ruby had two sons, Gary and Trent. Gary died in 1952, at the age of 12, of pneumonia.

Summers were full of Dad's favorite activities, family camp-outs, fishing and baseball. Dad and Ruby attended all of Trent's Little League baseball games, later becoming avid fans of the Lewis-Clark Twins American Legion baseball teams. One of Trent's fond childhood memories is helping his dad build a tent trailer from scratch. The Harveys graduated to camping luxury that summer!

Dad worked in the motor freight business and as a truck driver for Richfield Oil Co., and finished his working career in the Lewiston School District working as a custodian. He often worked in the same school that Trent attended. Trent jokes that "Dad knew when I was in trouble before I did!" That was quite an advantage for any parent of a young teen. He retired after 12 years in 1980.

After Ruby's sad passing in 1977, Dad met Eileen Peer English, also at a dance, at the Lewiston Eagles, and life began again! He married her in 1978. Along with a wife, Dad gained two grown stepsons, Mick and Jack O'Shaughnessy, and a teenage stepdaughter who quickly became the daughter he never had, Sharon (English) Benscoter.

Dad and Eileen shared 23 years together. We have many fond memories of them together around a campfire, a Hamms beer in hand, playing pinochle, enjoying family, friends and grandkids with the 8-track blaring country music from their camper! Eileen passed away in 2001 after six years of Dad faithfully nursing her through Alzheimer's.

Dad was known by the family as the "King of Conduit." It is amazing the things he created from conduit! He fashioned his own backpack out of conduit when he and Trent started backpacking so he wouldn't have to spend money on a store-bought one. When it came to camping especially, Dad was ready for anything! He never lived down when the Benscoter campground's rustically homemade outhouse toilet seat broke. Dad quietly walked to his camper and pulled out a spare toilet seat. "You never know when you might need one!"

In 2005, Dad once again took up dancing with his new partner, Rose Davidson, until an injury took her off of the dance floor. She died in 2012.

Dad was a hard-core Mariner's fan. For his 96th birthday he got to attend two games at Safeco Field and saw his name on the Jumbo-Tron Scoreboard. That year he threw out the first pitch at the Lewis-Clark Twins opening game and was awarded the team autographed baseball. He was also a faithful follower of Gonzaga basketball.

We were so fortunate to have Dad be as alert and active as he was until his passing. He decided it was time to stop driving at the age of 97 and moved into Royal Plaza, where he resided until his death.

Dad was also preceded in death by his parents, Ora and Lillie; wives Ruby and Eileen; son Gary; brothers Harry, George and Finas; sisters Aretha Chilton and Lorene; infant sister Bessie; and stepson Mick O'Shaughnessy.

Dad is survived by his sister, Ernestine Ball of La Grande, Ore.; son Trent (Robin) Harvey of Asotin; daughter Sharon (Bill) Benscoter of Lewiston; four grandchildren, Jesse Harvey of Vancouver, Wash., Stephanie (Elliott) MacManus of Fort Lewis, Wash., Katherine (Jackson) Rose of Lewiston and Alex Benscoter (Randi Olson) of Clarkston; six great-grandchildren, Madeleine and Maxwell Harvey, Gabriel and Anna MacManus, Izabela Rose and Emri Benscoter; and stepson Jack O'Shaughnessy.

Dad was a wonderful, loving, faithful son, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, friend and companion. He was a man of few words and great wisdom. One person said it well, "He was truly a good person and you were better for knowing him." He will be deeply missed.

Please join the family in celebrating his life at 11 a.m. Friday, March 28, 2014, at Abundant Life Church in Clarkston.

Service Information

Date & Time

Friday, March 28, 11:00 AM

Location

Abundant Life Church
1483 16th Avenue
Clarkston, WA 99403

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