Walter D Jaspers

Walter D Jaspers, 78, of Puget Island, died June 8, 2012 in PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview.

The youngest son of Floyd F. Jaspers and Dorothy L. Shelton Jaspers, he was born November 27, 1934 on Puget Island. In the early 1940s the Jaspers family moved to NE Portland where Walter grew up and graduated from Grant High School. He later graduated from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore.

Walter and DeAnn McClaughry were married in Salem, Ore. May 25, 1957. They were the parents of four children before they divorced.

Walter worked for many years for the US Department of Environmental Quality where he oversaw toxic spills and accidents involving toxic materials. During this time, he lived in Seattle. Upon retirement, he started his own woodworking business in Seattle where he made beautiful wooden objects and invented an electric wooden plying machine for spinning wool into yarn.

Walter loved the Columbia River. In 1989 he purchased the original home built by his grandfather, Peter F. Jaspers, on Puget Island and began remodeling it on weekends. Eventually, he moved from Bothell to live permanently on Puget Island.

He enjoyed creating things in wood and metal. Sailing, traveling to foreign places and skiing were his favorite pleasures. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Wahkiakum County Historical Museum and helped create the Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars scholarship program. He also built what is now the Scarborough Building in Cathlamet.

Survivors include sons Christopher (Kim) Jaspers of Santa Cruz, Calif. and Brett (Joanna) Jaspers of Corvallis, Ore .; grandsons Tyler and Ryan, granddaughter Payton; brothers Larry Jaspers of Lake Oswego, Ore. and Dean Jaspers of West Linn, Ore. and several nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by a son who died at birth and by his daughter Tara Jaspers Smith who died in 1983.

Cremation has taken place. At his request, no services by the family are planned. Donations in his memory may be made to Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars.