Arvilla Rae Corey, age 91, of Deming, passed away peacefully on Nov. 25, 2024.
Arvilla was born to Ted and Erma (Taylor) Heard on April 8,1933 in Haines which is a small farming community in Northeastern Oregon.
As a child during the depression, Arvilla learned to be frugal and self-sufficient. She learned to cook many dishes from scratch and sew her own clothes. She learned to save the little things because they will probably be needed for something in the future.
Growing up in a farming community where neighbor helped neighbor harvest and put up crops, she helped prepare the mid-day meals that fed the working men in the days when most the work was done with a team of horses or thrashing crew. She later took pride passing these skills to her daughter.
Arvilla graduated from Powder Valley High School in 1951 in a class of 13 students. She attended Eastern Oregon College for a year where she played the clarinet in the band.
While there, the band traveled to Vancouver B.C. and played for then-Princess Elizabeth II who later became the Queen of England. She then enrolled in the Good Samaritan Hospital Nursing School located in Portland and graduated in 1955 as a registered nurse. She worked as a nurse there for a year before moving to Sedro-Wooley where she worked at the Memorial Hospital for three years.
Arvilla then met the love of her life, Wayne Corey, who worked for the Washington State Patrol. Arvilla and Wayne had been introduced by a couple who were their coworkers and were then on known as their cupids. They were married on Sept. 2,1959 at the Methodist church in Haines. They made their home in Edison, WA for eight years where they added three children to their family.
They then moved to Olympia due to Wayne’s promotion. Olympia was their home for the next 20 years while they finished raising their children. Also, while in Olympia, Arvilla was a member of a Nite Outers Homemakers club, Helping Hands, was a 4-H leader, county fair judge and many other volunteer activities including leading a Bible study group at a local nursing home. Arvilla and Wayne performed well as a team with Wayne growing all sorts of vegetables which Arvilla preserved by canning and dehydrating, or they gave the produce away to family, friends and neighbors.
A few years after Wayne retired, they moved to a small farm in Deming where they raised vegetables, steers and chickens which provided great entertainment for their six grandchildren, three kids and many others who lived nearby.
Arvilla was always involved with her community from the grade school PTA to the Whatcom County Republican Women’s group. She had an insatiable interest in national political issues and politicians. She was never one to hold back on her opinions and freely spoke her mind.
As a gift to her children, Arvilla spent thousands of hours over 30-plus years researching her and Wayne’s family history.
She tracked Wayne’s family to William Bradford of the Mayflower and to one of the founders of the Washington Territory and her family to soldiers in the Civil War. She obtained certificates, photographs and documents through the (snail) mail and later over the internet to prove her findings.
Whenever any of the kids took a trip, she would list out the names of the cousins who lived near the areas and instructed us to stop by and say, “Hi.”
Wayne preceded Arvilla in death in 2004. Born to Arvilla and Wayne’s union, are their children: Lonna Hocker (Frank) and their children Joe and Michelle; Frank Corey (Tami) and their children Willow and Teva; and Bryce Corey (Jennifer) and their children Ted (Naomi) and Saylee and Lennon, and Joanna (Mike) and Delaney and Bailey.
Survivors include Arvilla’s sister Cheryl Craig, her husband Lowell; Arvilla’s niece Julie Kerns and her husband Tim, and the hundreds of cousins throughout the USA who she located in genealogy research.
Arvilla wishes that memorial donations be made to her place of worship in care of Pastor Jim Williams of The Maple Falls Baptist Church, PO Box 127, Maple Falls. WA 98266
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Gillies Funeral Home and Cremation Services.
