Gertrude Samantha Hinen

Gertrude Samantha Hinen, 91, of Soap Lake, went home to be with the Lord on March 19 at Columbia Basin Hospital. She was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, on April 29, 1914 to William and Laura Reiff. She grew up in Cornell and Lady Smith, Wis. before moving to Whitley County, Ind. when she was 19 years old. At that time, she met Andrew Hinen and they were married on November 27, 1934 at Nix Settlement, Ind.

Gertrude and Andrew farmed in Whitley County for several years. During that time, four children were born at home. In 1946, they moved to Longview, before settling in Winlock in 1947. There they had two more children and farmed and did custom butchering for several years. In 1960 they moved to the Columbia Basin and she continued farming until 1975.

Gertrude moved to Soap Lake in 1975, where she spent her retirement years doing needle craft and crafts for bazaars. Each one of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have enjoyed one of her beautiful afghans or baby blankets plus numerous Christmas ornaments over the years. She enjoyed scouring the countryside looking for wildflowers and unusual rocks. She also wrote a little story about a kitten that she published for each of her many grandchildren.

Gertrude is survived by one son, Paul and wife Jeri Hinen of Soap Lake, and three daughters; Jeanette and Norman Lininger of Chehalis, Ethel and Joe Barlow of Yelm and Ruth Hinen of Oak Harbor. She is survived by 17 grandchildren, 42 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by two sisters, Rose Cole of Lynwood and Isabelle Province of Okanogan and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sons, Norman and Roger, two grandsons, Jeremy and Jody, great-grandson Kenny, two sisters and one brother.

The memorial service will be at the Community Evangelical Free Church in Soap Lake at 1:30 p.m. on March 24. Services are provided by Benson Family Services of Moses Lake. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to your favorite charity or the Soap Lake Senior Center.