Jiri Vanourek

Jiri Vanourek (JV), 84, of Othello, Wash. departed this mortal life while at his home, to be with his Lord amongst heaven’s mountains Sept. 18, 2015. He was born in Horky, Czechoslovakia on Jan. 30, 1931 to parents Vratislav and Ruzena (Zahradnikova) Vanourek. He and his two sisters grew up on the farm and he attended high school in the nearby town of Caslav.

In 1948 the family farm was expropriated by the Soviet communists and Jiri then attended and graduated with a Master of Science degree in Agronomy from Mendel University in Brno. Dodging bullets, Jiri was able to escape the repression of communism by daringly running across the border into West Germany in 1953. He then immigrated to the United States and eventually found his way to the Pacific Northwest. He was so proud to be an American and he dearly loved his adopted country.

He attended Washington State College in Pullman, Wash. and earned an additional Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics in 1957. He married Ingeborg Stattek in Ephrata, Washington in August, 1959.

Jiri always found employment in the agricultural field. Along the way he worked as a parts man at a Case implement dealership, worked as a land manager for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, sold concrete ditches for D & R in Ephrata, Wash. and for three years worked as a sales representative for the Chevron Chemical Corporation out of Moses Lake, Wash.

In 1963, Jiri decided to go into business for himself. He started the company Soil & Crop Services, Inc. in Othello and was a true leader and pioneer in the fertilizer/chemical industry in the Columbia Basin. After setbacks in the mid-1980s, Jiri started Multistar Industries, Inc. in the same location and steadily grew that organization to where it is today, a preeminent supplier of anhydrous ammonia to industry in the Pacific Northwest.

Jiri was a hard-working man. His work ethic was unsurpassed. He was never one to sit around and complain. He had that true “can-do” attitude. The little free time he had was spent in the mountains and hiking the trails of the Pacific Northwest. He dearly loved the mountains and the outdoors. He summited several Northwest peaks including Mount Ranier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Stuart, the Three Sisters in Oregon, Glacier Peak and many others. Jiri was a complex man. He certainly was unique. He will be dearly missed.

Jiri is survived by his children; Tom (Ann) Vanourek of North Bend, Wash., Pete (Cindy Castaneda) Vanourek of Othello, Wash., and Sylvia (Scott) Whitmer of Yakima, Wash.; and his sisters; Lidka (Vladimir) Sykora of Leavenworth, Wash., and Ziva Klausberger of the Czech Republic. Jiri also leaves behind eight grandchildren and three nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Oct. 3, 2015, at Stevens Funeral Home in Othello, Wash. To leave an online condolence to the family, and to learn more about Jiri’s interesting life, please visit our website at www.stevensfc.com.