Aloha M. Wyckoff

Aloha died on Jan. 9, 2008. She was bom in Wilder, Idaho on Jan. 22, 1926. Her parents were Harlan and Marie Maw. She is survived by her husband, Burl, two daughters, Christine Cordes (John Adams) and Cynthia J. Wyckoff (Paul Meisenheimer), a grandson, Wyle Cordes, a step-grandson, Gregory Adams, two sisters, Idaleen and Judith, and three brothers, Vernon, Lester and Carl. Her elder sister Madeline had passed away on Feb. 29, 2004.

She graduated from high school at Nyssa, Ore. She was baptized at the Nyssa United Methodist Church in 1942. She attended college for a time at Willamette University in Salem, Ore. On April 16, 1945, she married Burl B. Wyckoff at the United Methodist Church in Nyssa, Ore. They celebrated their 62nd anniversary last year.

Throughout her life, Aloha was an excellent homemaker and a hard worker. She liked having a large fruit and vegetable garden and grew beautiful flowers. She enjoyed singing at church and with her husband and children. She would not sing in the choir as she considered that she did not have a singing voice.

Aloha was a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church and was active in the church all her life. For about 30 years she volunteered in the UMC's Pacific Northwest Conference, eventually holding offices at the conference and national levels: 12 years as vice-chairperson of the Conference Council, eight years as Conference President of the United Methodist Women, and four years as Conference Lay Leader. She was a member of the church's National Board of Higher Education and held many other offices during her lifetime.

Aloha and Burl lived in Moses Lake from 1954-1968. They were among the early members of the Moses Lake Methodist Church, which met in the movie theater at first. Both Aloha and Burl helped build the church that is now on Ironwood Drive. While there, they worked with the Job Corps, and befriended a number of the airmen who served at Larson Air Force Base.

In 1981 she and Burl went to Zambia, Africa, as missionaries for the United Church of Christ. At the Kafue Secondary School (a boys' high school, part of the United Church of Zambia), they spent four years as the school's farm manager, clearing land, putting in an irrigation system, and starting the first crops. While there, Aloha taught sewing, reading and writing to women in local villages. For some of the older women this meant they learned to write their names, so they no longer had to use a thumb print for signing.

Upon returning in the spring of 1985, Aloha and Burl moved to Arizona, building a home together in the Prescott Country Club at Dewey, Ariz. They have resided in the country club since that time, moving to a second home there in 1996.

Aloha attended the Prescott Valley United Methodist Church. She held offices in United Methodist Women, serving wherever needed. She was active in the Walk to Emmaus. After she had her walk, she sponsored several people from our church and served on several of the leadership teams for the walks. She started the Lovely Ladies Luncheon group for women in the church who are over 80.

Both Aloha and Burl loved to travel; they have been to all the continents except Antarctica. In Mexico and Chile they took part in building projects for local churches.

Aloha was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease when in her late 70s and, by the summer of 2007, had almost totally lost the use of her legs. Despite this, she retained the ability to read and converse, and continued to startle and amuse her family with her pungent comments on daily occurrences.

Her family and friends remember her for her wonderful smile, her courage, her active sense of humor and her willingness to tackle any work that needed to be done for her family or the church.

If you wish to make a contribution in her memory, please consider a gift to the Y.R.M.C. Hospice, or the stained glass windows that are being installed at the Prescott Valley United Methodist Church.