Leon "Lee" Gritten passed away Monday, Nov. 22, 2010, at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Prineville. He was 85 of age.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010 at 11 am at Prineville Funeral Home.
He was born in Amherst, S.D. on February 17, 1925 to Elmer and Madge (Lowell) Gritten. The family moved to Yelm, Wash. in the late 30's, where he attended Yelm High School. Her served in the U.S. Army during WWII from 1943-1945 as a radar technician stationed on Tinian, a small island in the Mariana Island Chain north of Guam.
After his military service, he went to work for Pacific Northwest Bell (currently known as Qwest Communications) as a lineman, eventually working his way into a management position.
He married Louise Lorenz in 1950, and they adopted two children, Steven, in 1955 and Janna, in 1957, and shortly moved the family to Spokane, Wash. and then Yakima, Wash. Later he and Louise divorced, and on Nov. 28, 1969, he married Sharon (Tincher) Sparks, who had two children, Teresa and Richard. He retired in 1974 from PNB, after 20 years of service.
Retirement for Lee really meant another career, because shortly afterwards he moved to Oregon, where he and Sharon settled in Prineville to establish a mining and milling business with his son Steve and stepson Richard. They also lived for a short time in Redmond, Ore. Lee's hobby was selling his own brand of cat litter around the community and nothing gave him more pleasure than to convince a new customer that he had the best cat litter. He spent hours in research and collaboration to continually improve his product. He was fondly known as the "cat litter man" around town. In addition to cat litter sales, the business also sold bentonite used for the manufacturer of hay cubes. In earlier times, he enjoyed hunting and fishing, and camping with his family.
He is survived by a son, Steve (Loree) Gritten of Post, Ore.; a daughter, Janna Davis, of Bremerton, Wash.; step-daughter, Teresa Saban of Milwaukie, Ore.; a brother, Loran (Roxanne) Gritten of Bothell, Wash.; three grandchildren, Christopher, Shilo and Tyler, and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Sharon (Tincher) of Prineville, on Aug. 12, 2000, stepson Richard on July 19, 2010, as well as his parents, and sister, Carol Kristjansen.
Arrangements are in the care of the Prineville Funeral Home.
Central Oregonian, November 26, 2010, page 6, Obituaries, www.centraloregonian.com
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010 at 11 am at Prineville Funeral Home.
He was born in Amherst, S.D. on February 17, 1925 to Elmer and Madge (Lowell) Gritten. The family moved to Yelm, Wash. in the late 30's, where he attended Yelm High School. Her served in the U.S. Army during WWII from 1943-1945 as a radar technician stationed on Tinian, a small island in the Mariana Island Chain north of Guam.
After his military service, he went to work for Pacific Northwest Bell (currently known as Qwest Communications) as a lineman, eventually working his way into a management position.
He married Louise Lorenz in 1950, and they adopted two children, Steven, in 1955 and Janna, in 1957, and shortly moved the family to Spokane, Wash. and then Yakima, Wash. Later he and Louise divorced, and on Nov. 28, 1969, he married Sharon (Tincher) Sparks, who had two children, Teresa and Richard. He retired in 1974 from PNB, after 20 years of service.
Retirement for Lee really meant another career, because shortly afterwards he moved to Oregon, where he and Sharon settled in Prineville to establish a mining and milling business with his son Steve and stepson Richard. They also lived for a short time in Redmond, Ore. Lee's hobby was selling his own brand of cat litter around the community and nothing gave him more pleasure than to convince a new customer that he had the best cat litter. He spent hours in research and collaboration to continually improve his product. He was fondly known as the "cat litter man" around town. In addition to cat litter sales, the business also sold bentonite used for the manufacturer of hay cubes. In earlier times, he enjoyed hunting and fishing, and camping with his family.
He is survived by a son, Steve (Loree) Gritten of Post, Ore.; a daughter, Janna Davis, of Bremerton, Wash.; step-daughter, Teresa Saban of Milwaukie, Ore.; a brother, Loran (Roxanne) Gritten of Bothell, Wash.; three grandchildren, Christopher, Shilo and Tyler, and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Sharon (Tincher) of Prineville, on Aug. 12, 2000, stepson Richard on July 19, 2010, as well as his parents, and sister, Carol Kristjansen.
Arrangements are in the care of the Prineville Funeral Home.
Central Oregonian, November 26, 2010, page 6, Obituaries, www.centraloregonian.com
Leon "Lee" Gritten passed away Monday, Nov. 22, 2010, at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Prineville. He was 85 of age.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010 at 11 am at Prineville Funeral Home.
He was born in Amherst, S.D. on February 17, 1925 to Elmer and Madge (Lowell) Gritten. The family moved to Yelm, Wash. in the late 30's, where he attended Yelm High School. Her served in the U.S. Army during WWII from 1943-1945 as a radar technician stationed on Tinian, a small island in the Mariana Island Chain north of Guam.
After his military service, he went to work for Pacific Northwest Bell (currently known as Qwest Communications) as a lineman, eventually working his way into a management position.
He married Louise Lorenz in 1950, and they adopted two children, Steven, in 1955 and Janna, in 1957, and shortly moved the family to Spokane, Wash. and then Yakima, Wash. Later he and Louise divorced, and on Nov. 28, 1969, he married Sharon (Tincher) Sparks, who had two children, Teresa and Richard. He retired in 1974 from PNB, after 20 years of service.
Retirement for Lee really meant another career, because shortly afterwards he moved to Oregon, where he and Sharon settled in Prineville to establish a mining and milling business with his son Steve and stepson Richard. They also lived for a short time in Redmond, Ore. Lee's hobby was selling his own brand of cat litter around the community and nothing gave him more pleasure than to convince a new customer that he had the best cat litter. He spent hours in research and collaboration to continually improve his product. He was fondly known as the "cat litter man" around town. In addition to cat litter sales, the business also sold bentonite used for the manufacturer of hay cubes. In earlier times, he enjoyed hunting and fishing, and camping with his family.
He is survived by a son, Steve (Loree) Gritten of Post, Ore.; a daughter, Janna Davis, of Bremerton, Wash.; step-daughter, Teresa Saban of Milwaukie, Ore.; a brother, Loran (Roxanne) Gritten of Bothell, Wash.; three grandchildren, Christopher, Shilo and Tyler, and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Sharon (Tincher) of Prineville, on Aug. 12, 2000, stepson Richard on July 19, 2010, as well as his parents, and sister, Carol Kristjansen.
Arrangements are in the care of the Prineville Funeral Home.
Central Oregonian, November 26, 2010, page 6, Obituaries, www.centraloregonian.com
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010 at 11 am at Prineville Funeral Home.
He was born in Amherst, S.D. on February 17, 1925 to Elmer and Madge (Lowell) Gritten. The family moved to Yelm, Wash. in the late 30's, where he attended Yelm High School. Her served in the U.S. Army during WWII from 1943-1945 as a radar technician stationed on Tinian, a small island in the Mariana Island Chain north of Guam.
After his military service, he went to work for Pacific Northwest Bell (currently known as Qwest Communications) as a lineman, eventually working his way into a management position.
He married Louise Lorenz in 1950, and they adopted two children, Steven, in 1955 and Janna, in 1957, and shortly moved the family to Spokane, Wash. and then Yakima, Wash. Later he and Louise divorced, and on Nov. 28, 1969, he married Sharon (Tincher) Sparks, who had two children, Teresa and Richard. He retired in 1974 from PNB, after 20 years of service.
Retirement for Lee really meant another career, because shortly afterwards he moved to Oregon, where he and Sharon settled in Prineville to establish a mining and milling business with his son Steve and stepson Richard. They also lived for a short time in Redmond, Ore. Lee's hobby was selling his own brand of cat litter around the community and nothing gave him more pleasure than to convince a new customer that he had the best cat litter. He spent hours in research and collaboration to continually improve his product. He was fondly known as the "cat litter man" around town. In addition to cat litter sales, the business also sold bentonite used for the manufacturer of hay cubes. In earlier times, he enjoyed hunting and fishing, and camping with his family.
He is survived by a son, Steve (Loree) Gritten of Post, Ore.; a daughter, Janna Davis, of Bremerton, Wash.; step-daughter, Teresa Saban of Milwaukie, Ore.; a brother, Loran (Roxanne) Gritten of Bothell, Wash.; three grandchildren, Christopher, Shilo and Tyler, and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Sharon (Tincher) of Prineville, on Aug. 12, 2000, stepson Richard on July 19, 2010, as well as his parents, and sister, Carol Kristjansen.
Arrangements are in the care of the Prineville Funeral Home.
Central Oregonian, November 26, 2010, page 6, Obituaries, www.centraloregonian.com
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