Peggy (Crial-Morehouse) Wickwire
Peggy (Crial-Morehouse) Wickwire, 81, of Soap Lake, and longtime Ephrata resident, passed away Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007, at Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata.
She moved to Soap Lake in December 2001 to be by family so she could maintain her independent spirit.
She was born Peggy Arlene Crial Aug. 15, 1926, at St. Anthony Hospital, Wenatchee to James and Edna (Smith) Crial. She attended elementary and high school at Wenatchee.
Responsibilities were given to Peggy at a young age. She cared for her younger brother, Jimmy and began working as an usherette at theaters at the age of fourteen, worked as a color artist for Wenatchee photographers and as a clerk in the Cascadian Hotel.
She met the love of her life, Wallace Morehouse of Peshastin, Wash. They married Sept. 28, 1946, moving to Ephrata in 1952 to raise their family. Peggy was a "stay at home" mom. She enjoyed sewing, doing crafts, reading, and cooking for her family. They were blessed with four children, Richard (Karen) of East Wenatchee, David (Cesar) of Honolulu, Hawaii, Julie (Mark) Downing of Hamilton, Mont., Keith (Bonnie) of Soap Lake.
She lost her beloved husband in 1983, but life was still good to her and in 1988 she married James Wickwire.
She was stepmother to the wonderful Wickwire siblings. James (Mary Lou) of Seattle, Bob (Pattie) of Eagle, Idaho, Richard (Carol) of Ellensburg, John (Joy) of Seattle, Mary (Bob) Nelson of Ephrata, Mike of Kingwood, Texas, Danny (Gail) of Vancouver, Wash. She lost Jim to cancer in 1990.
She had many good friends that she loved and appreciated from childhood on to her last days. If you came to her house for coffee and conversation you were family.
Daily care and attention that kept her independent came from Jo and Paul Mead and the "Song Birds," Madison and Brooklyn, Pam and Gary Buckman, Mary Nelson, Keith and Bonnie Morehouse and the Lincare man Steven. The church ladies, led by Millie McDonald, gave her weekly communion. Annie, her companion dog, gave her smiles. Our thanks to Columbia Basin Hospital employees for making her last days comfortable.
She was preceded in death by her parents, both husbands, her brother Jimmy (James Crial), stepson John Wickwire and her dear friend Virginia Molitor.
She is survived by her sister Doris Gormley, nieces and nephews of Spokane. Her cousin Betty (Allen) Rogers of Leavenworth, Wash. Her dear friends Ev (Norm) Carveth of Wenatchee and Bob Loeffelbein of Clarkston, Wash. Also her four Morehouse children with six grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren, six Wickwire children, with 24 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
She kept in touch with all by birthday, anniversaries and Christmas cards. She was loved by all.
She was a member of Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Ephrata and Ladies of the Elks. Memorials may be sent in her name to the Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church school in Ephrata.
Rosary is Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. at St. Rose of Lima in Ephrata. Services are Saturday, Sept. 22 at 11 a.m. at St. Rose of Lima in Ephrata. Arrangements are handled by Nicoles Funeral Home in Ephrata.