Obituaries

Aleesha (Ally) Dawn Torgerson Vickrey

Aleesha (Ally) Dawn Torgerson Vickrey, 25, peacefully passed away surrounded by loved ones on Sept. 11, 2005, at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., as a result of a brain aneurysm.

Aleesha married Dustin Vickrey on Sept. 28, 2002. She was a loving mother of two sons, Lukas and Anton. Aleesha loved to garden and cook, and enjoyed life. She was a talented seamstress and was working hard toward her bachelor's degree in psychology.

Aleesha was employed by Gateway Family Services in Grand Junction.

Aleesha is the daughter of Jeff and Nina Torgerson and Elaine Simonson. She is the daughter-in-law of Alan and Donna Vickrey; the sister of Karessa Torgerson, Marcia Richard and Larissa Larsen; the sister-in-law of Kevin and Kimberly Brewster, Chris Richard and Brian Evans; granddaughter of Nolan Torgerson and Gloria Abraham; and aunt of Amanda Blevins.

She is survived by a host of aunts, uncles and cousins.

She was preceded in death by brothers Brian and Adam and grand parentsDenny Torgerson and Rue Abraham.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, Sept. 16, at 1p.m. in the Evanston Stake Center, located at 1225 Morse Lee in Evanston. No viewing will be held.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Aleesha Vickrey Memorial Scholarship fund at US Bank in Evanston. The scholarship will be awarded to a single mother pursuing a degree in psychology.

Haskell L. Walker

Haskell (Hack) L. Walker passed away suddenly on Sept. 8,2005, at home in Daniel.

Hack was born in Justin, Texas, on Aug. 28, 1920,. He entered the U.S. Army Air Force on Sept. 30, 1939, and served as an enlisted radio technician until January 1942. He then entered cadet training and graduated with a commission on Oct 9,1942. He instructed cadets in flight training at Randolph Field, Texas, and Independence, Kan., until 1943. He completed instrument flight school in Bryan, Texas, and returned to Independence to help set up an instrument instruction school for instructors and later an instrument training squadron.

In 1944 he completed P-40 fighter training and shipped outto the China-Burma-India Theater in early 1945. In that theater, he was transitioned to a C-46 airlift unit and participated in several flight operations between Assam, India and Kunming, China, along the route known asthe "Burma Hump."

At one point he was approached to fly P-40s for Chang Kai Chek's air force but given the poor prospects for survival, he declined. He separated from active duty in 1946 and moved with his first wife and son to Green River. He chose this town as a result of a rest stop on a troop train when he walked around town and liked what he saw.

In Green River, he operated three service stations and later hired on with El Paso Natural Gas Company, where he became a line repair supervisor until he and his new wife Pat Faklam bought the Green River Bar in Daniel. They remodeled the GRB and turned it into a local institution complete with a paperback lending library.

At the same time, he also worked as a real estate salesman, during which his most notable sale was the town of Farson in 1978.

Additionally, Hack was an avid big game hunter and journeyed to British Colombia to pursue the highly regarded dall sheep ...successfully.

In his later years, he took up saw sharpening and established a high reputation for turning out sharpened blades second to none.When he was not sharpening saws he spent his time absorbing every kind of sports event that television had to offer.

Hack is survived by his widow, Patsy (Pat) of Daniel, son, Perry, and daughter-in-law, Barbara, of Daniel, grandson, Ethan, of Glendale, Ariz., and several nieces and nephews. We have all lost another member of what former NBC news personality Tom Brokaw has described as our "greatest generation."