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David Leonard Wight, 79, dies
David Leonard Wight, 79, of Ashland, died Thursday (March 25, 1999) from leukemia at Rogue Valley Medical Center. A musical memorial service in Ashland is planned for a later date.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Shriner's Hospital for Children, 3101 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97201 or Ashland Elks Lodge 944, Harrison Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 569, Ashland, OR 97520.
He was born April 10, 1919, in Brigham City, Utah.
Mr. Wight enlisted in the army in 1940. Trained in both field artillery and as a reconnaissance pilot, he performed in various army bands, and was discharged as a second lieutenant in 1945.
On March 24, 1948, in Menlo Park, Calif., he married Barbara Jeanette Oltmann, who survives.
He received a bachelor's degree in music and a teaching certificate from San Jose State in 1949. He received a master's in music education from the University of Oregon in 1950, and completed two years of doctoral studies in music at Stanford University.
Mr. Wight was a professional musician and music teacher. He taught music in the San Jose public school system from 1951 to 1961 and was assistant conductor of the San Jose Youth Orchestra.
The couple moved to Ashland in 1961, where Mr. Wight taught band, orchestra and chorus in the Ashland public schools from 1962 to 1979. He also founded the Ashland High School jazz band, which has become one of the most successful bands in the state. He also established a humanities course at Ashland High School. He retired as a teacher in 1980. He gave music lessons throughout his life.
Mr. Wight also pursued a career as a professional jazz musician in Utah, California and Oregon. He was a prominent tenor saxophonist in Southern Oregon. He played clarinet, alto sax and string bass professionally, and was in numerous local ensembles. He was a permanent member of Ashland's Own Firehouse Five from 1962, and also performed in the Swing Kings, the Newtones, the Robin Lawson Quintet, and more recently, the Herb Vallee Orchestra and the Easy Valley Eight. He was a charter member of the Southern Oregon Traditional Jazz Society in 1980.
Mr. Wight also performed in several local bands. He played in the Ashland City Band for over 30 years, and served as the conductor from 1968 to 1976. He was musical director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1965, and performed on clarinet and saxophone for its production of "Cabaret Verboten" in 1996.
He also worked on a number of Oregon Cabaret Theater productions, including "Sweet and Hot," "Five Guys Named Moe," and "Song of Singapore."
He was a member of the Elks Lodge, the Masonic Order, Hillah Temple in Ashland, and Scottish Rite in Medford.
He enjoyed metaphysical and religious literature, walking, gardening and reading.
Survivors, in addition to his wife, include a son, Ed Wight, Ashland; two sisters, Letitia Palmer, Park Valley, Utah, and Ruth Larsen, Tremonton, Utah.
Arrangements: Litwiller-Simonsen Funeral Home, Ashland.
Henry Mangravite
Enrico Bartlo "Henry" Mangravite, formerly of Ashland, died Friday (March 26, 1999) in a Los Angeles Hospital. A private service in Los Angeles is planned. His ashes will be scattered in the ocean outside Golden Gate, Calif., where his wife's ashes were distributed.
Family and friends will toast his memory at 7 p.m. PST Tuesday, March 30. Parties will be held in Los Angeles, New York and Colombia, and his Oregon friends are invited. For more information, contact Michael O'Rourke at (541) 535-1990.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to support the arts and arts education programs.
He was born on Aug. 12, 1911 on the island of Lipari, off the coast of Italy. He moved to the United States with his family while an infant, and grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y.
In New York, he graduated from Erasmus Hall High School and studied art at Cooper Union and the Art Students League.
During the Depression, he worked as a commercial artist, designing movie posters for MGM. He also handled publicity for movie exhibitors in the New York and New England markets.
After he served in the U.S. Army during World War II, he married Florence Casazza in 1946. They moved to California, where he worked for the Los Angeles Times and the Walt Disney Company. He then began a new career in retail mall development on both coasts.
After his wife's death in 1971, he returned to his original avocation as a painter and ran an art supply business in the San Francisco area. In 1980, he moved to Ashland, where he reopened his art supply store and added a gallery. He was well-known for dressing up like Uncle Sam and giving away replicas of the Bill of Rights during Ashland's Fourth of July celebrations.
In 1997, he moved to Los Angeles to live with his son.
Mr. Mangravite enjoyed parties, conversation, wine and Vivaldi.
Survivors include his son, Ron Mangravite, Los Angeles; and a brother George, New York.
Kathleen 'Katie' Ryder
The memorial service for Kathleen "Katie" Ryder will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the Rogue Valley Christian Church in Medford.
Mrs. Ryder, 75, of Medford, died Friday (March 26, 1999) in Medford.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, Oregon Affiliate, 1425 N.E. Irving St., Suite 100, Portland, OR 97232-4201.
She was born Kathleen Cotton on March 30, 1923, in Wingate, Texas.
On Oct. 21, 1938, in Yuma, Ariz., she married Richard Eugene Ryder, who died in 1977. They moved to the Rogue Valley in 1965 from Brawley, Calif.
Mrs. Ryder, a self-taught artist, musician and writer, wrote and recorded an album in Nashville, Tenn.
She enjoyed making music with her friends.
Survivors include four daughters, Linda Duggan, Leigh Leaming, and Cindy Conner, all of Medford, and Brenda Sturm, San Diego; two sons, David, Medford, and Ted, Tillamook; 18 grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by a brother, Douglas Cotton.
Arrangements: Perl Funeral Services-Siskiyou, Medford.
William P. Cuffney
Major William Paul Cuffney, 84, of Medford, died Wednesday (March 24, 1999) at Hearthstone. A private service was held.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, 10 Crater Lake Ave., Suite 10, Medford, OR 97504.
He was born June 10, 1914, in Bath, N.Y.
On Nov. 26, 1940, in Reno, Nev., he married Daisy Shell, who survives. He moved to the Rogue Valley in 1997.
Major Cuffney retired after 22 years of service in the U.S. Army Medical Hospital Administration.
Survivors, in addition to his wife, include two sons, Paul Kevin, Grants Pass, and William Michael, Salinas, Calif.; two daughters, Patricia Ann Maurer, California, and Deborah Murphy, Europe; and eight grandchildren.
Arrangements: Central Valley Cremation & Funeral Care, Central Point.
Gordon Victor Falk
The memorial service for Gordon Victor Falk will be at 2:30 p.m. Monday in St. John Lutheran Church in Eagle Point. Pastor Ronald Norris of St. John Lutheran Church will officiate. Inurnment will be in Riverview Abbey Mausoleum in Portland.
Mr. Falk, 78, of Central Point, died Wednesday (March 24, 1999) at his home.
He was born March 9, 1921, in North Platte, Neb.
On March 4, 1943, in Vancouver, Wash., he married Betty Mae Wheatley, who survives. They moved to the Rogue Valley from Portland in 1967.
Mr. Falk was a diesel mechanic for Fruehauf Trailer Company in the Portland area from 1943 to 1967, and for Witham Truck Stop in Medford from 1967 until his retirement in 1983.
He was an avid hunter and fisherman, and enjoyed gardening.
Survivors, in addition to his wife, include a daughter, Sandra Mae Arnold, Central Point; a son, Dennis Gene, Troutdale; a brother, Richard, Milwaukie; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two sisters, Gertrude Henning in 1998; and Mildred Maxson in 1997.
Helen Frazier Bacher
The memorial service for Helen Frazier Bacher will be at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 30, at First Christian Church in Medford. Pastor Tim Tiffany of First Christian Church will officiate. Inurnment will be at Siskiyou Memorial Park.
Mrs. Bacher, 78, of Medford, died Friday (March 26, 1999) at Providence Medford Medical Center.
Memorial contributions may be made to the First Christian Church Building Fund, 1900 Crater Lake Ave., Medford, OR 97504.
She was born July 3, 1920 in San Francisco. She grew up in the Piedmont area of Oakland, Calif.
She received her bachelor of science degree in dietetics from the University of California at Berkeley and did an internship at the U.C. Medical Center in San Francisco.
On March 14, 1943 in Oakland, she married James Eugene Bacher, who died Sept. 23, 1959.
Mrs. Bacher was a professional dietitian for 30 years. Most recently, she was chief dietitian at the V.A. Domiciliary in White City. She had lived in the Rogue Valley since 1974.
An avid knitter, Mrs. Bacher also did volunteer work for Tiny Steps Day Care at First Christian Church. She also was a volunteer for victim's assistance at the district attorney's office and a Hospice Care volunteer.
She was a member of Z.O.N.T.A.
Survivors include a son, Richard Bacher, Sunnyvale, Calif.; two sisters, Mary Lee Tickner, Rosmore, Calif., and Elizabeth Platt, Livermore, Calif.; one grandchild; and one great-grandchild.
Arrangements: Perl Funeral Services.
Terrence N. 'Turk' Clement, Sr.
The memorial service for Terrence N. "Turk" Clement, Sr., will be at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 30 at Rock Point Cemetery in Gold Hill. Roland Rosecrans will officiate.
Mr. Clement, 72, of Gold Hill, died Wednesday (March 24, 1999) at his home.
He was born on Jan. 12, 1928 in Crescent City, Calif., and lived in the Gold Hill area for 70 years.
Mr. Clement worked in heavy construction for many years. In Gold Hill, he worked at the Ideal Cement Plant. In 1959, he worked for Stevens Tree Surgery and for Trees, Inc., until his retirement.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy.
He was a member of IBEW Union Local 659 for 38 years, and the Elks, Moose and Eagles lodges.
He enjoyed hunting, fishing, woodcutting, shuffleboard and "whatever his family was doing."
Survivors include his four sons, Terry, White City, and Colin, Brian and Devon, all of Gold Hill; a brother, Dale Clement, Medford; a sister, Patricia Zimmer, Gold Hill; 18 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Lamont and Kelly; and two sisters, Melva and Rae.
Friends may pay their respects from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 30 at Rogue Valley Funeral Alternatives, 550 Business Park Drive, Medford.
