Moses Lake business founder dies at 89

MOSES LAKE - Roy "Hugh" Warnick II wrote he wanted his autobiography to be a legacy to his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The book was only a part of the legacy the longtime Moses Lake resident left to his descendants. The founder of the Credit Bureau of Central Washington, now Central Bonded Collectors, a pilot and farm owner, the 89-year-old man died earlier this month after a bout of pneumonia and complications with his hip.

"He was a very honest man," his son, Roy said. "His faith was important to him and doing what was right in life. He was always concerned about doing what was right in his dealings with people, and that's the example he passed on to us kids."

Hugh grew up in Yakima and when he was 14 his parents purchased a 2,080-acre ranch in the Wenas Valley, according to his autobiography. He wrote he took to the ranch life after a childhood of playing cowboys and Indians.

He tells one story about raising hogs as part of an FFA project for high school. He described keeping them down by a creek. When the sow was about to give birth, he spent the night waiting with his sleeping bag.

"I don't think I slept at all. I wanted to help her out if she ever needed help having these pigs," he wrote. "I didn't know if I would ever be a farmer or a rancher, but I loved those hogs."

Hugh graduated high school in 1941, and after being turned down for the draft, returned to Yakima where he studied aircraft mechanics, and started taking flying lessons. It was at the flying lessons where he met his wife, Betty. Hugh wrote it wasn't too long after meeting her, he found her waiting for him at his car.

"He liked to tease me," Betty said. "What happened was during the war, I came out to Hanford to work as a secretary. I had always been interested in flying, so I came to Yakima to take flying lessons. He was taking flying lessons too, but I beat him to my license."

His family operated a dude ranch with an airstrip before Hugh moved to Ephrata, starting the credit service in 1954. He purchased 160 acres of farmland near Moses Lake. Roy said he leased the land most of the time, but he enjoyed working on the farm.

Roy described one experience when he and his brother were working on the farm and the swather broke down.

"He'd come out with his suit and tie on and fix the swather for us. He tried not to get his suit dirty, but I image that didn't always work," he said. "He liked to get the sprinkler heads ready on the wheel lines ... He always had little projects around the farm."

Hugh tried to replicate his family's ranch in the Wenas Valley, by planting a grove of evergreens and building a swimming hole on the farm.

"There was a swimming hole they had built and it was a favorite spot of his," Betty said. "When we got the farm and we were setting up the irrigation, we needed a reservoir to hold water, so he turned it to a swimming hole. We have a diving board. We even had a raft ... Someone was always king of the raft."

He also enjoyed working in his shop, Roy said. One of Hugh's restoration projects was a single horse carriage, which is on display in the history barn at the Grant County Fairgrounds.

"He was very methodical," Betty said. "He was very neat in the way he took care of his shop."

Hugh's meticulous nature carried over into his work at the credit bureau, Roy said. He joined the company after graduating from Gonzaga University, and worked with his father until he retired in 1984.

"He'd have Post-it notes all in lines," Roy said. "I can't live without Post-it notes either. He was so detailed and I kind of inherited that. There are advantages to being a detailed person."

Along with starting a company which has lasted more than 50 years, Hugh was also an active member in the Rotary Club and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. and promoted giving to the United Way.

Along with their own children, Hugh and Betty also had foster children. Two of the most memorable were a brother and sister fleeing Cuba around the same time as the Bay of Pigs. The 10-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl were supposed to come at the same time, but authorities wouldn't let the older sibling come for a year. The girl ended up escaping the country by posing as the daughter-in-law of her family's doctor.

"We still keep in close touch with them," Betty said. "Their parents came to the country eventually ... It was really a very rewarding chapter in our lives."

After retiring, Hugh spent time biking with his dog and volunteering to play music at area nursing homes.

"He loved to play the piano and the harmonica and the accordion," Betty said. "I think he took music lessons (for the piano) when he was growing up ... The accordion and the harmonica he taught himself."

Hugh had a dry sense of humor, Roy said. His father would harass the grandchildren by singing to them when they didn't want to wake up in the morning.

"He is someone we really miss," Betty said. "He led a really active life. He was involved in community and his family. The last couple of years were difficult for him and for us ... We miss him and that's the main thing."