Elwood "Smoke" R. Wylie

Elwood R. "Smoke" Wylie, 90, of La Grande, died July 20 in La Grande. A private graveside service will be held at Myrtle Trees Cemetery at Coquille later.

Smoke was born Nov. 9, 1919, to Raemy Robert and Mary Winona Robinson Wylie in Yakima, Wash.

Elwood was 6 years old when his mother died. He and his younger sister, Dorothy, were taken in by their grandmother Ritter in Pagosa Springs, Colo., for several years before he followed his father to Coquille. He was separated from his sister for many years before a reunion in Myrtle Point in 2007. Elwood was known as "Sonny" to his sister and close family. He was given the nickname "Smoke" during his late teens and has answered to that name ever since.

During the Depression of the 1930s, Smoke worked with his father picking ferns until he graduated grade school at the age of 14. His father and stepmother left him to fend for himself during his high school years in Coquille. He worked several jobs to pay his way through school and support himself.

After graduating from high school, he married Margaret Wersh. He worked for Smith Woods Products until he enlisted in the Army 1944 during World War II. He served in the Philippines where he received a Purple Heart for battle wounds, and then on to China as a radio operator. He was honorably discharged in May 1946 and called back into service for the Korean conflict in 1950. During his time in Korea, Smoke led his unit through a minefield and captured four North Korean soldiers. He received the Bronze Star and his second Purple Heart.

He was honorably discharged in September 1952 and returned to Coquille where he began his 30-year career with the Coos County Bridge crew. He divorced in 1962 and married Geraldine Vanlandingham in 1990. She died in 2008.

He spent the last 18 months of his life in La Grande near his daughter.

He enjoyed camping, fishing, golf and round dancing. Smoke was a member of the Coquille Valley Elks, the Coquille Eagles, Veterans of Foreign Wars and St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Myrtle Point.

Smoke is survived by his children, Jule' and her husband, Norman Paullus, of La Grande and Terry Shawn and his wife, Aileen Wylie, of Newport; stepchildren, John Vanlandingham of Roseburg and Debbie Bushnell and her husband, Richard, of Myrtle Point; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his daughter, Linda Rae Grove; brother, Robert Wylie; wife, Geraldine Vanlandingham; and sister, Dorothy Williams.

.