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VANCE WILLIAM WITT
November 3, 1925 ~ July 8, 2018
Vance William Witt, 92, passed away peacefully July 8, 2018. He was born November 3, 1925 in Mill City, Oregon to Wilma and Wilhelm Witt. In 1927, Wilma remarried to Ernest Johr. Vance spent his childhood on Sauvie Island on dairy farms that his parents operated.
Grades first through fourth, Vance rowed a boat across the Multnomah River channel to go to school in Scappoose. Fifth through eighth grade Vance attended the two room school house on Sauvie Island. Vance and 4 other students graduated from the eighth grade in 1939.
In 1939, they moved to Milwaukee where Vance went to high school for a few years. Not happy with city life, they started looking for another dairy. This is when they moved to Woodland in December 1941. The dairy farm was 104 acres on Hayes Rd.
Vance at 16, decided not to attend Woodland High School because it didn't offer classes like engineering that he had been taking in Milwaukee High School. He continued his education by correspondence courses, and got his GED. He kept very busy working on the dairy and farming.
Ernest, Wilma and Vance operated the dairy until 1947 when Vance married Lillian Banholzer, March 22, 1947. Vance purchased the dairy from his parents and the Johrs retired to Portland.
In the 1940's, the dairy had the typical two story wooden barn with the hay loft on top and the milking area below. In 1949-50 Vance built a concrete milk house and milking barn. The barn housed 32 cows and still stands today.
In 1962, Vance and Lillian bought an 80 acre farm 2 miles from Woodland. It used to be the Zybach dairy. Having the extra barn and pasture allowed Vance to increase the herd size and raise more replacement heifers.
In 1967, Vance sold the herd and the dairy farm. For a year he tested milk for DHIA (Dairy Herd Improvement Association), a federal government program for dairymen to help improve production. Vance went to their dairy farms and collected the milk samples for each cow. The results were recorded and analyzed taking into consideration the feed the herd was being fed and recommendations were made to the dairymen for better production.
During this year with the DHIA he met many of the dairymen in southwest Washington. He saw a need for a steady, reliable supply of quality alfalfa. He bought a truck and trailer, and became a bonded dealer so he could buy and sell alfalfa. At one time he had 4 trucks operating. He commercially bought and sold eastern alfalfa for 25 years, retiring in 1994. The secret to his success was "knowing" quality alfalfa hay, the growers, the dairymen, milking cows, and always being honest. He put over a million miles on the road in those 25 years.
From 1994 until 2014 Vance, with the help of family in the later years, still operated the beef operation on the 80 acre farm.
He was preceded in death by his father, Wilhelm Witt; stepfather, Ernest Johr; mother, Wilma Johr; and his loving wife, Lillian in 2009.
Vance is survived by his sister, Elinor Benjamin and numerous nieces and nephews and his cousin, Ursula Bassett. He is also survived by his five children: Lucy Witt (Don Tingley) of Yacolt, Eileen (George) Soli of Shelton, Vince (Vivian) Witt of LaCenter, Roy (Mary) Witt of Woodland and Kathy (Will) Wisbeck of Mukilteo; 14 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren,
Vance was a wonderful husband, father,
grandfather and great-grandfather.
We all have memories of him spending time with us, batting a baseball to practice catching the ball, swimming after a long day haying, playing card games, especially pinochle, and Mexican Train, a domino game. He loved to travel on long RV trips exploring the US west of the Mississippi River. We can remember making hay and getting it in the barn or filling the wood shed with fire wood. We worked but it was fun. He was a disciplinarian and we all knew our boundaries. Chores were assigned. We grew up in a loving, supportive family, where there was lots of laughter.
In 2013, he moved to live with Lucy for three years, then two years in an adult care home. Many thanks to Cherene and Michael Beatty and staff of The Elders Nest for the wonderful, loving care they gave Vance these past few years.
He will be laid to rest at the IOOF Cemetery (Kerns- Bozorth) in Woodland at a private family service. Friends and family are invited to a Celebration of Life, Saturday, July 28, 4 p.m. at Peterson's Red Barn, 1605 Caples Rd., Woodland, WA.
Please sign the guest book at www.columbian.com/obits.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
2 Entries
We didn't have a chance to get to know Vance all that well, but from our few encounters we could tell he was darn proud of his kids and proud to be a dairy farmer. Vance was the kind of man that makes up the fabric of our country. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.
~ Josh & Crystal Tingley
July 27, 2018
Thinking of his family as you say goodbye.
I grew up with Vance in the neighborhood. Prayers for the family. ~ Don
Don & Jo Zumstein
July 26, 2018
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