Howard Neal "Jorgie" Jorgenson

July 26, 1939 - May 02, 2016

Howard Neal "Jorgie" Jorgenson Obituary Howard Neal ?Jorgie? Jorgenson passed away on May 2nd, 2016 at the Cheney Care Center in Cheney, WA, surrounded by his family. Howard was born on July 26th, 1939 in Valley City, ND to Lillian and Nels Jorgenson. He lived his life in North Dakota, Everett, WA, Cheney, WA, and Medical Lake, WA. Jorgie graduated from Everett High School in 1957 and went on to attend Washington State University for a year in 1959, studying Civil Engineering. He also served four years of active duty and two years of reserve duty in the US Air Force in Texas and Eastern Washington. He then worked for 35 years at Eastern State Hospital as a hospital attendant and a heavy equipment operator/supervisor. Howard and Marye were married on June 30th, 1989 and enjoyed over 25 years of marriage together. Jorgie served as the Washington Federation of State Employees President for 25 years and during his time as President, Jorgie was a strong advocate for not only Washington State workers? rights, but for workers across the country. He also served as an International Vice President for AFSCME, as a member for the AFSCME Judicial Panel, and a board member and President of the Retired Public Employees Council of Washington. Shortly after leaving work at Eastern State Hospital, Jorgie was appointed by Governor Gary Locke to the Washington State Personnel Appeals Board. He also held a councilmember position on Medical Lake City Council on two different occasions. All wages he earned as a councilmember never went into his pocket; instead, they went to Medical Lake Dollars for Scholars to support scholarships for MLHS students. Volunteer work that Jorgie participated in included: Medical Lake Friends for Children, Medical Lake Dollars for Scholars and Medical Lake High School Booster Club. Jorgie helped organize events and raise a lot of money for the non-profit organizations he was involved in. There were countless student athletes that benefited from his volunteer work. Jorgie was also a Volunteer Firefighter and Fire Chief with the Medical Lake Fire Department. In 2007, the West Plains Chamber of Commerce honored Jorgie with the Medical Lake Community Award. He loved to travel to North Dakota from Medical Lake every summer to visit his family; he loved to make the trip by car and he had his regular stops along the way. Many of those trips to North Dakota were with his brother, Lyle. During Jorgie?s travels to Washington, DC in his AFSCME role, he would read western novels; he read hundreds and hundreds of westerns during his travels. Jorgie was a collector of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars; he had so many, he turned a room in his home into his collection room where he could display his cars. Jorgie loved to spend his time playing cards with his family and out at the casino. He also enjoyed watching western movies, the Mariners and C-SPAN. When he wasn?t doing any of those things, you could find him putting a puzzle together. Jorgie was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Clayton Jorgenson. He is survived by his wife, Marye Jorgenson of Medical Lake, WA; his son, David (Becky) Jorgenson of Medical Lake, WA; his daughter, Judy Calvert of Cheney, WA; step-daughter Meaghan (Aaron) Rasmussen of Spokane, WA; step-son, Donovan Cathey of Olympia, WA; grandchildren, Josh Calvert of Olympia, WA, Anthony (Jamie) Jorgenson of Spokane, WA, Michael Calvert of Cheney, WA, Henry Rasmussen of Spokane, WA; sister, Lila (Duane) Mattern of Monroe, WA; and brother, Lyle Jorgenson of Thousand Palms, CA. Howard Jorgenson?s family would like to send a special thanks to the staff at Sacred Heart Medical Center, Cheney Care Center and the hospice staff at Gentiva. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, June 11th, 2016 at 1pm at Medical Lake High School in the gymnasium. MLHS is located at 200 E. Barker St. in Medical Lake. A reception will be held at Medical Lake Middle School, 1010 Lake St. Medical Lake, WA, immediately following the service. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to: Medical Lake Dollars for Scholars, Medical Lake Friends for Children or Medical Lake High School Booster Club. Donations can be sent to: Marye Jorgenson PO Box 1024 Medical Lake, WA 99022.