Cole Wyatt

Cole Wyatt passed on May 10, 2014. His passing was relatively quick and peaceful with much of his loving family at his side. Cole was preceded in death by his wife of 37 years, Betty Jane McKuin. Cole was born April 5th, 1929 in Orofino California. He was the youngest and the male of the family. Times were tough on the olive farm back then and Cole learned quickly to run after he teased his sisters as a matter of survival. He also became quite creative in methods of catching fish. Sport fishing wasn’t the objective, food on the table was. Back then walking to school was an adventure, 7 miles up hill both ways and crossing electrified railways. His school was just like you would imagine from watching “Little House on the Prairie”, a small red building, students of all ages and the teacher that carried a “knuckle buster” to keep them all in line. After graduating high school he yearned to enter the Coast Guard, but they denied his entry due to the fact that he was missing a tooth, one that had never grown. He was quite frustrated and then chose to settle for the Navy, they accepted him for who he was, missing tooth and all. The bulk of his duration in the Navy was spent in Hawaii and his favorite task was maintaining the bowling alley. He became fascinated with bowling and has accomplished major milestones including numerous tournaments, trophies, plaques and badges. He did bowl multiple 300 games in no-tap, bowled in state tournaments and made numerous friends. He thoroughly enjoyed the game, not just the bowling, but the friends he made along the way. Cole also had such a fascination with growing tomatoes and cucumbers, he spent much of his time growing them and talking about them with his friends. His competitive nature had him comparing his tomatoes to his friends that grew them. He enjoyed giving the tomatoes away; he was truly a very thoughtful, kind and generous man. Cole was the kind of man that would drive a hundred miles out of his way to help a friend, even if it was a 10 minute task, he was always there. Cole learned many different trades throughout his life, he worked on the railroad after his Naval career ended, then tried his hand at extermination which required a college degree and a study of over 2000 insects, or bugs as he liked to call them. He worked at Bunker Hill then tried his hand at flipping houses, then went to work at a saw mill maintaining and operating the boiler rooms. Cole met Laura in 1995, at the Sunset bowling alley and was shortly after married. They spent the last 19 years together, seldom apart and loved each other greatly... Cole was Laura’s best friend. When Cole decided to enter retirement, he worked as a courier until he was really ready to retire and stick to bowling, Louis L’ Amour books, being a Mariners fan, growing tomatoes, helping others... and an occasional trip to the casino. Cole was admired and respected by many, so much so that his granddaughters have named their children after him, Mandy chose the name of Kasen Wyatt Swanson for her son and Cayla chose Skylee Cole Bowers for her daughter. Cole is survived by his loving wife Laura, his loving daughter Becky and a large, extended family that admires and loves him dearly. A military service will be held at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery, June 13 11:15 am Godspeed Cole, you will always be in our hearts, missed, but never forgotten.