Pearl Tonnemaker

Lifelong Central Washington resident Pearl Tonnemaker passed away peacefully at home in the company of family and friends on December 23, 2004. She recently celebrated her 100th birthday with an open house at the Royal City Nazarene Church. Pearl lived from the days of strictly horse transportation to the space and computer age. She was born November 28, 1904 in Ritzville, Washington to Jess and Eglin (Morris) Pearce. She spent her childhood in several towns in the Yakima Valley including Mabton and Zillah. She graduated from Zillah High School in 1923 as part of a class of 8 students. After finishing school, she became well known as the fastest apple packer in the local apple sheds. She married Orland Tonnemaker on June 14, 1925 in Zillah and moved to a farm between Zillah and Granger. While there a daughter Nadine was born in 1927 followed by a son Gene in 1928. In 1934 the family moved to Oroville to a small farm near the shore of Lake Osoyoos. In 1943 the family moved back to the Yakima Valley settling on a farm near Prosser. After Orland accepted a job as an extension agent for WSU, the couple moved to Ephrata in 1951. While in Ephrata, Pearl thoroughly enjoyed working as the bookkeeper for Ping Electric. She also loved attending the Ephrata Christian Church where an active ladies group met for lunch each week. During this time, Pearl and Orland were very active members of the Pomona Grange in Quincy. Recently she received her 80 year member card. She and Orland also worked a farm outside Quincy north of the present day rest area on Trinidad Hill. Orland and Pearl committed themselves to establishing a farm to pass down to future generations. They found an undeveloped farm on the north slope of the Frenchman Hills that they felt would be ideal for an orchard. In 1962 they purchased the land on Dodson Road near Royal City where Pearl has resided ever since. Pearl and Orland started the farm from sagebrush, sand and rock. They planted the first orchard on the north slope of the Frenchman Hills. Pearl did all kinds of physically difficult jobs on the farm well into her eighties.

Pearl will be remembered for the fact that, although she lived very frugally, she gave generously of her money, time and produce. She took great pleasure in bestowing gifts on others that she would never allow herself to have. She helped hundreds of people who had some kind of trouble on Dodson Road crossing the Black Sands. Many people told Pearl that they just hoped to "make it to Tonnemakers" or "make it to Tonnemaker Hill".

In the summer, visitors to Pearls' house would always find huge bowls of sliced peaches and tomatoes as well as pies made from whatever kind of fruit was in season. She was also famous for her applesauce made from the lone McIntosh tree and seasoned with cinnamon and red hots. Pearl took great pleasure in her large rose gargen outside her kitchen window.

Pearl has always been very outspoken in her belief that God blessed her and the small farm that she and Orland started. Family members still marvel that, when the Lord took Orland home in 1981, He provided for Pearl by giving a record harvest for each of the crops grown on the farm. To this day, some of those production records have never been exceeded. God blessed Pearl with wonderful neighbors in Dale and Donna Smith and their children as well as a church family at the Royal City Nazarene Church. In 1998 Pearl broke her hip and required full time help to continue to live on the farm. Once again the Lord blessed Pearl with a wonderful live-in caregiver in Maxine Buckley.

Two years ago, Pearl became the matriarch of 5 generations when her great granddaughter Jennifer Dukovich gave birth to a son, Jacob. Pearl is survived by her daughter Nadine (Ray) Petrich of Burien,Washington; her son Gene (Joyce) Tonnemaker of SeaTac, Washington; 3 grandchildren: Sandy (Art) Boyman of Hayden Lake, Idaho; Kole (Sonia) Tonnemaker of Royal City; Kurt (Michele) Tonnemaker of Issaquah, Washington; 5 Great Grandchildren and a Great Great Grandson. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Ruby, a great granddaughter, Jennifer Dukovich and by Orland, her husband of 57 years.