Beuna Josephine Wicks

Beuna J. Wicks passed away peacefully on July 11, 2009, at the age of 89. She was born February 10, 1920, to Carl F. and Ethel Mae Fels in Manson, WA, one of 12 children. As a child of the Depression era, she learned to work hard at a young age; a trait that stayed with her all her life. She married John "Scoop" Gordon soon after graduating high school. Their son, Richard, was born in Wenatchee in 1939. Soon after, they moved to Tacoma, where their daughter, Ruby, was born during the War in 1942. They moved back to Wenatchee in 1948. Beuna began supporting her children by herself in 1950, by working at Stan's Merry Mart in the daytime and the Cottage Inn Restaurant in the evening. In 1953, she married Jim Paul. They moved around quite a bit and had three daughters together, Evelyn, while living in Coulee City, and Josie and Teresa while living in Soap Lake. The family moved to California and then she and her daughters moved back to Washington in 1961. Beuna continued to support her family working at various restaurants over the years, including the Chelan Falls Cafe. While living in the Chelan area, she also worked at the Chelan Cleaners. She was an excellent seamstress and sewed dresses for all her daughters, as well as for herself. During her earlier years in Wenatchee, one of her many jobs included doing alterations for Nancekivell's Cleaners. Her kids didn't know that times were hard, because she always made them feel they had everything they needed. In 1968, Beuna married the love of her life, Belmyn "Bud" Wicks. They lived in the Wenatchee area all of their 17 years together. He made her laugh and they had a wonderful life together, until he passed away in 1985. Another of Beuna's skills was growing things. She definitely had a "green thumb." Whenever she lived where she could have a garden, people would marvel at the amount of vegetables she could grow in a very small space. The green beans, beets, zucchini, cucumbers, peas and tomatoes were thick and plentiful. She could grow tomato plants that towered over her head. She canned her own fruit and vegetables every year and even made strawberry jam a couple of weeks before she left us. A favorite of her grandchildren was her canned peaches. Beuna was preceded in death by her parents, Carl and Ethel Fels; husband, Bud; three brothers, Leo Fels, Ted Fels and Wes Fels; three sisters, Delma Harn, Eathel (Clark) Beckman and Sylva Blanchard. She is survived by her siblings, Stella White of Manson, Eugene (Evie) Fels, Wilbert (Nora) Fels and Connie Thomas, all of Spokane and Pat (Don) Werlech of Seattle; her surviving children, Richard (Diane) Gordon, Ruby (Jack) Proffitt, Evelyn (Rusty) Gray, Josie (Scott) Calhoun and Teresa Knott, all of the Wenatchee area; surviving stepchildren, Ron (Diane) Wicks of Idaho, Linda (Ron) Reed of Idaho and Cara Lou Wicks of California; her grandchildren, Celia Moushegian of Tacoma, Mary Jane McCrea of Port Orchard, Cory Calhoun of Seattle, Joel Calhoun of Everett, Amy Gray of Anchorage, AK, Bethy Gray of Bellingham and Sally Ulrich, Jackie Browning, Kristie Taylor, Delcie Mott and Seth Henneigh, all in the Wenatchee area; her great grandchildren, Kayla Taylor, Colleen Taylor, Josh Ulrich, Jake Ulrich, Rylan Browning, Rayne Browning, Sophia Moushegian, Alena McCrea, Jaeden Gray-Owen and Tristen Henneigh. A Celebration of her Life will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, 2009, on the 4th floor of the North Central Educational Service District Building, 430 Olds Station Road, Wenatchee. (About a half a block east of the entrance to Confluence Park.) Telford's Chapel of the Valley will be handling the online guest book.

Beuna Josephine Wicks

February 10, 1920 - July 11, 2009