Obituaries: Loretta Emgene King

ILWACO – Long Beach resident Loretta E. King, 73, died April 6, 2008, in Ilwaco. Born in Fisher, Ark., on Sept. 29, 1934, she was the oldest child born to Sanford and Neva (Sanders) Furrow. She was born at the height of the Depression years and times were difficult for her parents, necessitating her mother to work outside the home. By the age of five she was already taking care of her younger siblings and basically was a mother to them.

Before she was in her teens she was picking cotton to help support the family. It was hard, back-breaking work but she and her sister, Marie, could be heard singing in the fields.

While still a teenager she met and married G. C. Lowery and their first daughter, Regina, was born in Arkansas. The couple moved to Michigan where daughters Connie, Belinda and Scheree were born. From Michigan the family moved to Montana where they bought an old school bus that they converted into a motor home. With their old red and white Rambler station wagon hitched to the back of the bus they drove from Montana to Alaska where they homesteaded for several years.

G. C. and Loretta divorced in 1968. She married Clyde King in 1969 and they settled in Seattle where their son Rick was born in 1970. In 1974 they moved to Long Beach where they made their home for over 30 years. Both their daughter Belinda and son Rick are graduates of Ilwaco High School. The couple operated the Bel-Air Court and Trailer Park in Long Beach for a number of years and later operated the Long Beach Thrift Shop.

Surviving are children Regina Herrman of North Pole, Alaska, Connie Pearson of San Antonio, Texas, Belinda Jones of Vancouver, Scheree Bailey of Alamogordo, N.M. and Rick King of Toutle; brothers, Joe and Floyd; sisters, Marie, Joyce and Thelma; 16 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Thelma, her husband Clyde King and a son-in-law, Virgil.

A memorial service was held April 12, at Penttila’s Chapel by The Sea, Long Beach. Deacon Glenn Cliffton officiated.