Eunice Ulesta Petross

Eunice Ulesta Petross, a loving wife and mother of four boys, passed away on December 10th from complications of a broken leg at the age of 92. She was born in Emzy, New Mexico, a small farming community that no long exists on the New Mexico/ Texas border on April 25th, 1931. She was the third of five children for John Ward Couch and Ona Irene (Pruitt) Couch.

The family moved to Claunch, New Mexico where cheap farm land was available. She helped with the family farm all through her school years and often spent her summers driving her dad's Case tractor. She took great pride in her abilities with the tractor. She also often told stories of her childhood at Claunch. One of her favorites was as a young girl she was playing a game of "Jacks" at the front door. She noticed something was swaying near her as she was tossing the ball and picking up the jacks. She looked up and three feet from her on the other side of the screen door was a rattlesnake silently coping her movements. She quickly got up and told her mother they had an unwelcome visitor at the front door. Over the years of growing up she said she had stepped on a least three rattlesnakes without ever being bitten. It was also at Claunch she met her future husband, Eddie Petross. They dated a number of years before marrying on January 24th, 1950.

The family moved a number of times due to Eddie being in the Air Force during the Korean War. In 1954 they finally returned to New Mexico where Eunice assumed the task of being a housewife and raising four boys. In 1967 the family moved to Kennewick, Washington where Eddie assumed a teaching position with the Kennewick School District.

Both Eddie and Eunice were lifelong members of the Church of Christ and upon arrival in Kennewick were united with the Kennewick Church of Christ. They developed their closest friends at the Kennewick congregation that they retained until their passing.

Eunice was preceded in death by her husband Eddie after 72 years of marriage. Also preceding her were both of her parents, her older brother Johhny and her younger sister Jackie. She is survived by her sons Donnie (Sharon), Larry (Sue), Carl and Bobby (Nancy), five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. She is also survived by two sisters, Dorothy Collins and Lajuan Barrett.

A memorial will be held at 1 PM on January 13th, 2024 at the Kennewick Church of Christ, 3926 Kennewick Ave, Kennewick, WA. Eunice will be laid to rest beside her husband Eddie at Desert Lawn Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Mountain States Children's Home located in Longmont, CO.