Owen "Ken" Earl
Owen "Ken" Earl, of Moses Lake, Wash., passed away Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at the age of 84. He was born December 15, 1919 in Bunkerville, Nev., the son of Kenneth and Vertie Leavitt Earl (deceased).
He left home in 1937 at the age of 17, upon graduation from Virgin Valley High School to attend LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ken served a mission for the LDS Church, first in Germany, and with the outbreak of World War II, he finished in the Northern States Mission.
He entered the military (Air Force) in October of 1941 as a private. He served until April of 1946, in such places as North Africa, Sardinia, Dijon, France, and finished helping in the liberation of two German concentration camps in Gusen and Mauthausen. He was decommissioned as a major.
Ken came home to marry LuDeen Roylance of Meridian, Idaho on November 16, 1945 in the Salt Lake City Temple. He had met LuDeen through letter writing while in the service. She was the daughter of his bishop. They were married 22 days after they met and have been married for over 58 years.
Ken graduated from Brigham Young University and went on to graduate from law school at George Washington University. He passed the Washington, D.C., Idaho and Washington bar exams and moved to Moses Lake in June of 1953.
He practiced law from 1953-1982. During that time, he was president of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, and served in many positions, and received the Silver Beaver award for service in scouting.
He had been retired for 22 years from the practice of law at the time of his death.
Ken was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served five years on the High Council, 14 years in the Stake Presidency and 25-plus years as a Patriarch. He served for three years (1982-1985) as president of the Oakland, California Mission and two years as the director of the Idaho Falls Temple Visitor's Center.
He is survived by: his loving wife, LuDeen Earl; seven children and their spouses, all of whom reside in Moses Lake, Douglas and Connie Earl, Tamara Bates Earl, Tom and Gail Earl, Jeffrey and Rebecca Earl, Johanna and Eddie Yeazle, David and Peggy Earl and Pat and Lori Earl; 36 living grandchildren (two deceased); 15 great-grandchildren; many teenagers and young adults who came to live in his household, all of whom consider him to be a father; all of his siblings, Wilma Earl Strasser and husband, Art of Meridian, Larry Fenton Earl (wife, Renee Earl deceased) of Moses Lake, Lewis Joseph Earl and wife, Carol of Tremonton, Utah, Alice Earl Packard and husband, Floyd of Carlsbad, Calif., Ann Marie Earl Danes and husband, Don of Kuna, Idaho and Dean Clark Earl and wife, Laura of Kooskia, Idaho; and by his wife's siblings, Clea Nelson of Boise, Idaho, Verla Flick of Boise, Bert and Zelma Roylance of Warden, Wash., Lola Cole of Warden, Norma Leavitt of Hyder, Ariz., Jay and Elaine Roylance of Othello, Wash., and Donna and Dennis Killian of Othello.
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, August 16, 2004 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Stake Center, 1515 S. Division in Moses Lake, with Bishop Reid Baker officiating. Burial will be at Pioneer Memorial Gardens.
There will be a viewing on Sunday at Kayser's Chapel of Memories from 5-7 p.m. and at the church on Monday from 9-10:45 a.m. prior to the funeral.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Moses Lake 6th Ward, in care of Bishop Reid Baker, 505 Rd. M SE, Moses Lake, WA 98837.
Arrangements are in care of Kayser's Chapel & Crematory, Moses Lake.