Richard George Whitner, 85, a resident of Benton County for over 58 years, was the first born child of Lester David and Minnie Mae Clark Whitner, born September 2, 1927, in Yakima, Washington, the oldest of five children. He received his education in the Yakima Public Schools. Shortly after graduation from Yakima Davis Senior High School on January 24, 1947, he moved with his family to Sunnyside, WA. In the late 1940's, he attended Yakima Valley Junior College, intending to transfer to Central Washington College of Education in Ellensburg to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Education degree. Due to financial reasons his education was interrupted for a time and he worked as a clerk for the Grandview, WA Safeway store until becoming a victim of polio in September 1952. After almost complete recovery from polio, in January 1953, he and Norma Eileen Skelton were married in Grandview. Advised by doctors to seek sedentary employment, Richard and Norma moved to Yakima where he attended Yakima Business College, studying office management and accounting. In February 1954, Richard and Norma moved to the Tri-Cities, where he was the office manager for Auto Supply and Machine, Richland, WA, until December 1958, when he began work as an accountant for the CPA firm of Niemi Holland & Scott in the Richland office. During this time Norma, who had worked for Old National Bank, in Grandview, before their marriage, worked for the National Bank of Commerce, first in Yakima, and then in the Richland branch, for almost 18 years. Vocal music was a passion Richard enjoyed. In junior high, high school and junior college, he participated in choral activities. He was a member of the Yakima Valley Philharmonic Choral Society. After moving to the Tri-Cities he later sang with the Richland Meistersingers Men's Chorus and the Battelle Music Makers. Music was Richard's introduction to the West Highlands United Methodist Church. A close neighbor, Ray Cain, knowing of his music background, talked him into singing with the Phonerions, the adult choir. For almost 50 years Richard was a member. Very soon after becoming members of the church in October 1960, both he and Norma became the adult leaders of the Junior High Methodist Youth Fellowship. For six years they led this group every Sunday evening except during the summer. It was this ministry that reawakened a long dormant desire in Richard to be a teacher. In the fall of 1966, he enrolled in Central Washington State College, now Central Washington University, and earned a BA in Education degree. He began his teaching career in 1969 at Highlands Middle School in Kennewick and retired at the end of the 1992 school year after 23 years teaching eighth graders U.S. History and English. Richard and Norma Eileen shared a happy life together for almost 18 years. In February 1970, a melanoma mole, removed over five years earlier, flared up and on September 11, 1970, cancer took her life. At Highlands Middle School Richard met Norma Lee Jones, the library secretary. On April 2, 1972, he and Norma Lee Britain Jones were married in Kennewick. Richard's delight was the ready-made family of two adult children, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren he acquired as a result. Richard and Norma Lee shared life at school, at church, and enjoyed many good times with the grandchildren. They also traveled to national family reunions and took two ocean cruises, among other activities. Suffering from back, leg and lung problems, Norma Lee passed away on January 29, 2004. They were married almost 32 years. As a member of the West Highlands United Methodist Church, Richard served in many of its ministries. For over 12 years he served as Lay Leader of the local congregation and was Lay Member to the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church; was church treasurer and building fund treasurer. He also became a Certified Lay Speaker in the church. As the Conference Director of Lay Speaking Ministries for the Pacific Northwest Conference for many years his duties included training lay speakers, and coordinating and facilitating their services for United Methodist Churches in the District and Conference. At the church's 2002 Annual Conference session, Richard received the "Lay Person of Distinction" award for his years of Christian service in the United Methodist Church. Community service activities included serving as treasurer of the former Hanford Kiwanis Club, the Chinook Council of Camp Fire Girls, and the Kennewick Education Association. He also served on the KSD Staff Development Committee and was chairperson of the KSD Social Studies Curriculum Committee. After retiring from the Kennewick School District, Richard served as an election poll worker for several years. He served for 13 years on the Tri-Cities Chaplaincy Board of Directors and its clinical Pastoral Education Committee. He was a member of the Benton-Franklin School Retirees Association. In the years just prior to retirement, Richard wrote and published a history of his church titled, A Place to Pray, The Story of the Life and Ministry of the People of the West Highlands United Methodist Church, 1948-2003. It tells the story of how the church began with the Lampson Sunday School, an outpost of the First United Methodist Church of Kennewick, and grew into a full-fledged separate congregation. After Norma Lee's death in 2004, Richard published a second book, A Promise Fulfilled, How God Uses People, an account of how God uses people to help in grief recovery after the loss of loved ones. On August 9, 2005, a serious fall in the middle of the night changed Richard's life forever. After medical treatment and physical therapy, Richard moved to the assisted living facility in the Hawthorne Court Retirement Community. Now wheelchair dependent, Richard faced a new way of life. Another book, From the Darkness Into the Light: Moving From the Darkness of Grief Into the Light of Hope was published in 2007. Its objective was to help him "climb" out of the depths of despair and depression associated with the loss of loved ones and the devastation change of life style caused by an accident. In the retirement community he served as the president of the Resident Council, chaired the annual Hawthorne Court's Resident Council, chaired the annual Hawthorne Court's Residents' Scholarship Fund, and for a time led a Bible study group for residents. Dear to his heart, the scholarship fund awards a scholarship to a high school graduate each year who is planning on studying in an area that will benefit senior citizens. In a fourth book published in 2009, Links of Time: Life's Memories Chained Together, Richard shows how God can make something good follow troubled times in life. Proceeds from this book augmented the scholarship fund. In addition to two wives named Norma, Richard was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Paul and Jon Whitner both of Sunnyside, WA; and sister Betty Maas of Seatac, WA. He is survived by sister Marianne and husband Bill Cochran of Albany, OR; numerous nieces; nephews; several brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. Also surviving are Norma Lee's daughter and son-in-law Teresa M. and Terry Perkins, Spokane, WA; son Robert E. Jones, Issaquah, WA; grandson Tod and wife Brenda Perkins, Palmer, AK; granddaughters Tana and husband John Reneau, Blaine, WA: and Tressa Perkins, Kennewick; great-grandchildren, Elli and Ryan Perkins, Palmer, AK; and Cooper James Perkins, Kennewick; and Ryker Terrance and Porter Barrett Reneau, Blaine, WA. Viewing will be held Tuesday, September 18th, 5 to 8 p.m., and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at Mueller's Tri-Cities Funeral Home with interment to follow at 12:00 p.m. at Desert Lawn Memorial Park. Memorial Services will begin at 1:00 p.m. at West Highlands United Methodist Church, 17 S. Union Street, Kennewick. Memorial contributions may be made to the West Highlands UMC Memorial Fund, The Chaplaincy, the Hawthorne Court Residents' Scholarship Fund, or a charity of your choice.