Arley Heyer

Arley Heyer was called home by his much beloved Lord and Savior early Wednesday morning, Jan. 6, 2010, at the age of 91.

Born Oct. 3, 1918 on a ranch near Tyler, Wash., his life was rich and full of living, love, family and friends. He was a dedicated husband and father, always ready to help out a neighbor or friend.

He is survived by his wife, three daughters, eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

The world will be a much emptier place for those who know him.

The family requested the Cheney Free Press reprint an article on Arley that was published Dec. 1, 1994.

“Of Cabbages and Kings”

By LUELLA DOW

Contributor

What's a boy to do when he's born with a mischievous grin and sees humor where others can't?

Arley Heyer says, “I only got one licking in school. I was in the sixth grade at Tyler. I played basketball. A bunch of us boys were kicking a basketball around. The principal made us stand up in front of the whole school to show what bad boys we were. I was the only one who got it because I laughed. He couldn't find his ruler so he bent me over his knee. He spanked me in front of the whole school.

“There were three grades to a room. The high school was in the same building. There was a horse barn for the kids to stable their horses in and a shelter for cars to park.

“Dad took us to school. The kids from a Mexican family drove a one-horse buggy to school. Sometimes, in the winter, my dad would drive alongside of them and take the littlest one into the car with us. They were so cold. I felt sorry for them. The school burned in 1960. Only the gymnasium was left. It became the Tyler Grange Hall.

“Before Dad moved a nice house onto the farm we got by with a cabin one year. I slept between two feather ticks. Sometimes snow came in through the cracks in the wall.

“When I was in high school Dad got sick with cancer. I dropped out of school to help on the farm. I thought I might not finish, but I went back later and graduated. I met Thelma and we were married in 1940.

“My brother, Bob, had a friend who was a pilot. He rented a three-seat bi-plane at Felts Field and took my brother and his girlfriend for a ride. They hit an air pocket. The plane flipped over and the safety belt for my brother and his girlfriend broke. They fell out and died.

“My brother had a Model A Ford. I inherited the car from him and traded it even up for a house in Medical Lake.

“I worked as a shipwright at the shipyards in Tacoma during the war. I worked on the flight decks of aircraft carriers. After the war I bought a farm by Tyler. Thelma was a surgical nurse. We raised our three daughters on the ranch.”

Thelma says, “We built the ranch from scratch, removed the timber, build a house and barn. We had wheat and dairy cattle.”

Arley continues, “After we sold the farm I worked at the Cheney Grange Supply, now called Cheney Farm and Home. I retired but still work there two days a week.”

Wood carving is one of Arley's talents. He starts with a single clock of wood and fashions a buffalo, a cowboy on a horse, an eagle or whatever he may see in his mind's eye. And Thelma adds, “Arley can build anything he wants to. He remodeled our kitchen and built our cabinets.”

Thelma tells us, “We had a family reunion in September. Our three daughters, their husbands and one grandson were here. Judy lives on the coast and is married to a judge. Eileen is a dispatcher in a sheriff's office in Wyoming. Chris is married to a minister and lives in Washington, D.C. We have seven grandsons and one granddaughter.”

Arley says, “We've done some traveling. The minister Chris married lived in New Zealand. We visited them when they lived there. We've been to Hawaii, Calgary, California and Tennessee. We've been married 54 years, just good old fashioned living.”

Arley, that long-ago principal at Tyler didn't know he was spanking a boy who would go through life giving happiness to others with a friendly smile and an encouraging laugh. He missed something special the rest of us enjoy.