Raleigh B Usher Obituary (1953

Raleigh Bishop Usher, beloved husband, father and papa, passed away March 21, 2016 surrounded by his loved ones. Raleigh was born November 2, 1953, in Yakima, Washington, to Anna (Couchman) and Fred Usher. He was raised and educated in Yakima, graduating from Davis High School in 1970. In 1971, Raleigh began his lifelong commitment to his community and country by joining the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and proudly served on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise from 1971 until 1975. He attained the rank of Aviation Machinist 2nd class #082-1009, serving with the A-6 Attack Squadron 196. He was decorated with the Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal and a Navy Unit Commendation. After being Honorably Discharged from the U.S. Navy, Raleigh traveled around the country and learned to be a jack-of-all trades, which proved very useful in later years when his granddaughters came along with their numerous needs for projects in 4-H, F.F.A., school, clubs and so on. In 1983, Raleigh met his wife, Joyce, and it was love at first sight, and the beginning of a 33 year love affair, the kind that rarely comes around. They were married June 15, 1986 in Carson City, NV, followed by a wedding dinner of pizza and beer, and a wedding night spent in a tent in Yosemite National Park. They had a wonderful marriage full of love, respect and mutual admiration for each other. The backbone of their life together was that they were truly each other's best friend for life. All during their marriage, one of their greatest passions was traveling. They took several trips to Mexico, Disneyland, several motorcycle trips and countless weekend getaways to go boating, camping, jeeping and fishing. In continuance of his service to others and his community, Raleigh began working as a Yakima County Corrections Officer at the Yakima County jail from 1984 until 1989, at which time he proudly joined the "line" and became a Yakima County Sheriff's Deputy from 1989 until 1999. During the time he served as a deputy, Raleigh made many good friends both in the community and within the law enforcement community. His favorite and last patrol area was White Pass. He became a semi-permanent fixture on the pass and Rimrock Lake and Trout Lodge, especially in the summer months when Raleigh and Joyce would pack up the 5th wheel and spend their summer in the mountains. They had the best of all worlds there. They could go fishing and boating on Raleigh's off time and spend time with dear friends they made there. After Raleigh's retirement from the Yakima County Sheriff's Department, he found a job with the Southern Cross Corp.; he would laugh and say they paid him to do what he loved, traveling. So, Raleigh and Joyce packed up the 5th wheel and hit the road seeing the country and continued to work and travel for the next four years, seeing, doing and going places together and thoroughly enjoying each other's company, all the while Raleigh was always searching for the perfect fishing hole. In 2004, health issues caused them to move back to Yakima, but there was plenty to keep Raleigh busy. He was "Papa" to Katie and Beth and did they keep him busy. He helped build pig waterers, wire the Harrah royalty float, build rock displays, change flat tires, jump dead batteries, and replace dead fish. Papa always came to the rescue. Raleigh was preceded in death by his parents and two infant siblings. He is survived by his wife: Joyce Usher of Union Gap; daughter: Shelley (Dustin) Stump of Yakima; son: James Underwood of Casper, Wyoming; granddaughters: Kathryn Newman of Tacoma, a graduating senior at Pacific Lutheran University, Elizabeth (Samuel) MacCalla of Chula Vista, CA, a student at Pima Medical Institute; grandson: Hunter Underwood of Hood River, OR; brother: Larry (Yvonne) Usher of Las Vegas, NV; and Aunt Nora Rhoton of Seattle. Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at Shaw and Sons Funeral Directors, cremation following. In lieu of flowers , the family requests donation be made to the Yakima County 4-H extension office, 2403 S. 18th St., Suite 100, Union Gap, WA 98903.