Ernest B. Weber

Ernie passed from this life in the early morning hours of June 13, 2009, to be with Bertie Mae, his sons, parents and brothers.

He was born on the Weber family farm near Ritzville, Wash., August 2, 1918, to John and Lucy (Schorzman) Weber. He graduated from Ritzville High School, briefly attended WSU before joining the U.S. Army in May of 1941. He was stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, before being shipped to the Aleutian Islands where he spent most of WWII operating heavy equipment building airstrips and working on the Alcan Highway.

He returned home briefly to marry Bertie Mae O’dell March 17, 1942, before shipping to Alaska with the 18th Engineers. When he returned to the states Bertie joined him in Virginia until he was discharged in September 1945.

They settled on Crab Creek near Odessa, Wash., and Ernie managed his Uncle Dave Weber’s cattle operation until he purchased a farm unit south of Quincy and moved his family to the area in 1954.

He cleared sagebrush and kicked out the jackrabbits. He raised hay, beans and had a small apple orchard in later years, and ran trap lines in the winter. He worked on the construction of Wanapum and Priest Rapids Dams, painted the Vantage Bridge before going to work for the Bureau of Reclamation, retiring from the QCBID in 1984. He was well known for his skills as an equipment operator and taught many district employees.   

He resided at his home until 1997, when he moved near George to live with his oldest daughter Kathie and her husband Buzz.

Ernie was well known in the area and enjoyed socializing at Martha Inn Café before it closed.   

He and Bertie Mae spent many weekends at 4-H gymkhanas in the early 60s, and he worked with the WSU Extension Service research program in the 50s and 60s developing wine grape varieties and apple varieties suitable for the Columbia Basin area.

He was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, served as Post Commander in the late 1940s at VFW Post 7395 in Odessa. He remained active in the VFW and American Legion until the last few years.

He was preceeded in death by his wife, Bertie Mae, three infant sons, parents, and five brothers and a sister.

He is survived by his daughters, Kathie King (Buzz), and Connie Flippins (Arlie)at George, one son, Jon Weber (Diane), at Soap Lake; 3 brothers, Pete at Quincy, Tom at Tukwila, and Mike at Ritzville; 7 grandchildren, Buck Milbrandt (Shari) at Moses Lake, Kerri Adler (Steve) at Ephrata, Sean Girard (Lynn), and Erica Girard at Quincy, Marla Alsopp (Jeff) at Soap Lake, Sara Raugust (Jason) at Davenport and Joe Weber at Spokane; 10 great grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

There will be a celebration of Ernie’s life on August 2, 2009, at 12 p.m. at the George Community Hall.

Please sign the guest book or leave a note to the family at www.scharbachs.com.

Arrangements are under the care of Scharbach’s Columbia Funeral Chapel in Quincy.