HERMISTON Pete Wheelhouse died at the Hermiston Gun Club on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007. A memorial service was held on Friday, Jan. 4 at Burns Mortuary. There will be a private family burial.

Roy Peter Wheelhouse was born Sept. 16, 1929, in Sunnyside, Wash. to Roy H. and Mildred V. Cannon Wheelhouse. At the time, Roy was herding sheep in Horse Heaven, and in December, when Pete was 3 months old, the family crossed the frozen Columbia River from the Washington shore to Blalock Island where they lived in an old hotel that had been closed.

The family lived in several towns while Pete was growing up, and he attended schools in Arlington, Rock Creek, Fossil, The Dalles, Battleground, Wash., and back to Arlington as a sophomore, where he was active in sports, was student body president and graduated in 1948.

After graduation Pete did ranch work and attended Eastern Oregon College winter term 1949. That spring he and his friend Bill Wickland went to work for Christianson Brothers, stock contractors. They took care of stock and rode saddle broncs and bulls in rodeos all over California, Oregon and Washington. The following year and a half, he worked for various ranchers and for his dad in the Ford garage in Arlington. In 1951, Pete was drafted into the U.S. Army and served at two stateside locations. In 1952 he won first place in the 53D AAA Brigade Pistol Championship.

After recovering from a near-fatal car accident in 1954, Pete was introduced to trap shooting in 1955, a sport he enjoyed the rest of his life. He shot all over the West and was a top shooter for many years. In 1957 he won the Oregon State ATA singles championship. He won the Sam Moore Memorial Shoot three times (an annual event sponsored by the Hermiston Elks for a number of years). In November of 1955 Pete married Karen Farley in Condon. The couple had three children and later divorced. On April 14, 1967, he married Patricia Gray Hammett in Lewiston, Idaho, and subsequently adopted her three children. During his working years, he operated a service station and drive-in in Arlington, a tavern in Wallowa and, with his folks, Hale’s Tavern in Hermiston. He also tended bar at various locations and dealt cards, worked construction and fished in Alaska and spent time at the Umatilla Army Depot.

Pete was a life member of the American Trapshooting Association, the Hermiston Gun Club, Eagles Lodge, 53-year member of the Elks Lodge and charter member of the Desert Arts Council. He loved the outdoors and hunted and fished from the time he was a small child. He had an uncanny eye for spotting wildlife. He was an avid reader and enjoyed tending his fireplace and valued his friends and family.

He is survived by his wife, Pat; daughters, Cindy Thompson and her husband Dan of Hermiston, and Narita Hoyt of Richland, Wash.; sons, Bill Wheelhouse of Hermiston, Russ Wheelhouse and his companion Joyce Wescott of Lincoln City, Mike Wheelhouse and his wife Jackie of Hermiston, and Richard Wheelhouse of Port Orford; brother, Dick of Goldendale, Wash.; five grandchildren; two great-granddaughters; and assorted nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents and a niece. A private family burial will be at the Hermiston Cemetery. Memorial Contributions may be made to the Hermiston Library Endowment Fund, 235 E. Gladys Avenue, Hermiston. Burns Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements.