OBITUARY: Joyce Pauline (Howard) Ammons

Published 5:34 am Wednesday, March 25, 2009

WALLA WALLA – Joyce Pauline Ammons, 79, of Walla Walla and formerly of Milton-Freewater died Tuesday, March 24, 2009, at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Walla Walla. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, March 27 at the Towslee Pavilion on the Milton-Freewater Junior Show Grounds.

Mrs. Ammons and a twin sister were born Sept. 18, 1929, in Burns to John W. (Jack) Howard and Bessie Rose Kribs Howard. She was raised in Burns until the family moved to Bremerton, Wash., during WWII so her father could work in the ship yards. She completed the 10th grade.

She first married in 1946 to Richard E. Cutshall, and they had three children. They divorced in 1950. She later married Virgel E. Ammons in 1951 in Winnemucca, Nev., and they had a daughter. The family lived in many different locations in Oregon. She worked as a waitress and became a homemaker and helped her husband operate a land leveling business.

Mrs. Ammons is survived by her husband, Virgel E. Ammons of Walla Walla; sons John R. Cutshall and David L. Ammons, both of Pendleton; daughters Nancy K. Huffman of La Grande and Shanda J. Zessin of Milton-Freewater; stepdaughters Amber Franks of LaPine and Laverne Elmore of Albany; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers and two sisters.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Pioneer Posse (Building Fund) in care of Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home, 902 S. Main, Milton-Freewater, OR 97862.