Cary Lyle Ordway

Cary, a.k.a. Charles Lyle Sumner Ordway III, left this earth to be with the Lord, on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Cary loved music, being taught to play the piano at a young age by his mother, Sarah, who was a concert pianist. He also played the drums, trumpet, and guitar. Cary was born Charles Lyle Sumner Ordway III in Wenatchee, WA, but always went by the name of Cary, so after he got married, he had his name legally shortened to Cary Lyle. When he was two, he moved with his family to Waterville, WA, where his father, Howard, and mom, Sarah, had purchased the Waterville Empire Press. Cary got his "newshound" blood from his dad, who was editor of the Wenatchee Daily World, before buying the paper in Waterville, and his grandfather, who ran a newspaper in Claremont, NH. He graduated from Waterville High School in 1968, before going off to college. Although he graduated from Central Washington College with degrees in English and History, he never actually held a job teaching those courses. He also had a minor in music and music theory, which is where his real love was. He played in many rock bands throughout his life, the first one being at the age of 13. When he was 16, he played in a band called the Aztecs. The Aztecs played in the "Battle of the Bands", competing against some fierce rivals. They were bested by the Chargers for 1st with the Aztecs coming in 3rd. The three top bands then got the chance to record two songs on a 45 record. When he moved back to the Wenatchee area, he wanted to play with another band. So the Chargers having recently gotten back together, needed a keyboard player, and Cary had a new band home. After the Chargers retired again, Cary played keys with Waterdog. Cary also played in Bean Soup while in college and different groups around Seattle, WA: Birddog and The Middle Ages, and The Decades, and City Limits, while in the San Diego, CA, area. After Cary graduated from college and was unable to find a teaching job in his field, he decided to start his own publication and the East Valley News was born. Cary ran the newspaper for three years, before getting married and moving with his new family to Honolulu, HI, selling the newspaper in the process. He worked for a Waikiki visitor's magazine when he first arrived in Hawaii, before moving on to become the editor of the Kaneohe /Kailua Newspaper. After living in Hawaii for two years and running out of road to travel on, Cary moved with his family back to Washington State. Cary worked as a reporter for Community Newspapers in Kent, before becoming Editor at their sister paper in Auburn. He won many awards for his investigative reporting, even winning a 1st place national award. Cary eventually became night editor for the three community newspapers, and with his days free, started teaching journalism, first at Green River Community College, and then at Highline Community College. Still not satisfied, he decided to start another travel publication, and Adventure Northwest magazine was born. Cary enjoyed water skiing, boating, tennis, hiking our great northwest mountains, snow skiing, and especially travel, which fit right in with the creation of Adventure Northwest Magazine. After a couple of years, the publication was off the ground and he was able to put his editor job and teaching aside, to spend all of his energy on the magazine. Cary traveled all around the northwest with his family, writing about the places they had been and the things they had done. A few years later, a travel radio show and TV show with Tony Miner were added, which ran until the magazine was sold in the 1990's. Cary had always loved the warmer climates and having had enough of the Seattle "sunshine", he decided to take a job in sunny Southern California. He worked for several publications in the San Diego area, before once again getting the travel bug and decided to start a new online publication, which birthed CaliforniaWeekend.com and eventually NorthwestTravelAdvisor.com. Cary ran these publications, which offer stories about places and things to see and do in California and the Pacific Northwest, until his death. He also has a syndicated radio show with Tony Miner, which is heard on 14 different radio stations throughout the northwest. After moving to San Diego, Cary and Sandi welcomed a new addition into their home. Melanie came to live with them as a welcome addition to the family. Cary enjoyed having the children and grandchildren come and visit in California to go to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios, and visit the many beaches, but with his daughters family growing rapidly, he realized that we wouldn't be seeing much of them if he didn't move closer. In 2012, with Sandi's parents getting older and the grandchildren multiplying the family, they once again moved back to the Pacific Northwest. Cary was able to spend several quality years with his children and grandchildren in the Seattle area, and the mountains, and boating on the lake and river in the Wenatchee and Chelan areas. All of his children and grandchildren found their love of music through their grandfather, and enjoyed playing, singing, and joining in at his events, whenever the band played. Cary also started a publication business called Eight Grandkids Publishing to launch his book, "Countryfied Chickens", under the pseudonym of Chas Elliott, about the trials and tribulations of returning to the northwest. Cary is survived by his wife of 46 years, Sandra (Cheney) Ordway; two daughters: Tara Wilkins (John) of SeaTac, WA, and Melanie Nebel Ordway of Wenatchee, WA; nine grandchildren: Ashlea (Braden) Bergren, Jessica, Troy, Aaron, Caleb, Christian, Rebekah, Isabella, and Russell; and two great-grandchildren: Ember and Willow. He travels no more, for he has found his eternal home. Rock your keyboards with the Heavenly Hosts Cary, finally home. There will be a joint Memorial Service and Mass for Cary, and for Sandi's mom, Lenit Cheney, who passed away in April. The service will be held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 625 S. Elliott Ave., Wenatchee, WA, on Thursday, August 6, 2020, at 10:00 a.m., for anyone who would like to attend. Arrangements are by Chapel of the Valley, Wenatchee, WA.

Cary Lyle Ordway

May 30, 1950 - July 21, 2020