Darrel Ronholt passed away Dec. 19, 2019, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

Darrel was born Feb. 1, 1933, in Seattle, Washington. He grew up in Federal Way and graduated from Federal Way High School in 1951. Darrel entered the Coast Guard in 1952 and served on the Icebreaker Westwind and the Lightship Mallow. He used his GI Bill to attend the University of Washington , where he majored in forestry. He was Alpha Kappa Lambda, Xi Sigma Pi and Phi Beta Kappa.

He graduated from the UW in 1960 and started work for Oregon State Forestry, based in Astoria, Oregon. In 1961 he married Patricia Sheumaker.

In 1966, Darrel and family moved to Montesano, when he got a job at Weyerhaeuser Company. He worked at Weyerhaeuser in Cosmopolis for 30 years as a forester, retiring in 1995.

He was a member of Faith Lutheran Church, a past board member of the Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Board and a member of the WH Abel Friends of the Library.

Darrel is survived by his wife of 58 years, Patricia, his daughters, Linda and Diane, his brothers, Lael (Ellen) and Dennis (Kathy), his nieces and nephews, Cheryl (Paul), Jeff, Steve (Debi), Russell, Andrew, Tracy and Tony as well as longtime friends Vern Chalberg (Rochester) and Don Allen (Greenbank). He was preceded in death by his parents, Viola and Otto Ronholt.

Darrel enjoyed gardening, working on his orchard, woodworking, camping with family on the Olympic Peninsula and fishing for silvers at Seiku. He would talk to anyone about anything and loved visiting with people.

A memorial will be held on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020, at Faith Lutheran Church, Elma, Washington. A lunch will follow the service.