Ray Steinhoff passed away peacefully Friday, Dec. 23, 2016, at Guardian Angels Homes in Lewiston after many years battling with vascular dementia.
He was born Nov. 15, 1934, in Wilton, Wis., to Henry and Gertrude (McCann). He attended grade school and high school in Wilton, and then studied a few semesters at Marquette University in Milwaukee prior to serving in Korea with the Army Corps of Engineers. After his discharge, he moved to Moscow to study forestry at the University of Idaho, where he received a B.S. in 1959. He then pursued graduate work in forestry, first at North Carolina State University (M.S. 1961) and then at Michigan State University (Ph.D. 1964).
It was at Lansing where Ray met and fell in love with Jeanne Joubert, a fellow graduate student at MSU. They were married at Fort Benton, Mont., on June 14, 1962. One year later the union was blessed with the first of the couple's six children. After graduation, Ray moved the family to Placerville, Calif., where a job awaited with the U.S. Forest Service. He would spend his entire career with the Forest Service, leaving Placerville for Moscow in 1965, where he stayed for 20 years, and then to Cottage Grove, Prineville and Bend, Ore. He retired from the Forest Service in 1994 and then returned with Jeanne to Moscow. A research forester with particular interest in white pine blister rust, Ray was especially happy when he could be out in the forest, climbing trees and measuring plantings, or, in the fall, hunting for deer and elk.
An avid musician, Ray sang in several community choruses and church music groups. For many years he was a project leader for Moscow's Mountain View 4-H Club. He also actively volunteered at his local parish church, notably at both St. Augustine's and St. Mary's in Moscow. He liked to spend time in his woodshop, but also looked forward to spending time in his boat fishing.
Family was also important to Ray; family trips were often organized so that relatives and close family friends could be visited en route. In later years, Ray and Jeanne traveled across the U.S. and even across the Atlantic so that they could see their children and grandchildren or engage in genealogical research, which became one of Ray's passions.
Ray's survivors include his wife, Jeanne; his six children: Sheila (Frank) Dorrance (of Plattsburg, N.Y.), Margaret (Martin) Grassl (of Sandy, Ore.), Anthony (Tony) Steinhoff (of Montreal, Quebec), Andrew (Debra) Steinhoff (of Redmond, Ore.), Peter Steinhoff (of Seattle, Wash.) and Valerie (Scott) Rector (of The Dalles, Ore.); nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; and his sisters Ellen (Joe) Pellegrin and Caroline (Donald) Buenz.
In addition to his parents, Ray was preceded in death by his brother, the Rev. Henry Steinhoff, and sisters Theresa Creviston and Ruth Karis.
A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 3, at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 618 E. First Street, Moscow. There will be a rosary preceding the mass at 10:30 a.m. and a reception following mass at the parish center. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be given either to the St. Mary's Catholic Church Stained Glass Windows Fund or to the NARFE-Alzheimer's Research Fund (NARFE Chapter 992), c/o Alzheimer's Foundation, 225 N. Michigan Avenue, 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601-7633.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Short's Funeral Chapel of Moscow, and condolences may be left at www.shortsfuneralchapel.com.
