Obituary of Edward Daniel Ochs

Edward D. Ochs A long time and memorable resident of Washougal, Edward Daniel Ochs died Thursday, October 7 at his home at the age of 95. Edward Daniel Ochs was born May 27,1909 in Endicott, Washington. Ed graduated from Jenkins High School in Chewelah, Washington. Ed married Edna Day in 1928 in Spokane, Washington. His wife of 64 years died in 1993. Ed moved to Camas, Washington in 1930 and worked for Simons, Crown Willamette Construction installing new machinery during an expansion phase of the local paper mill. The Converting Plant was just getting started in the new building South of the railroad tracks when Ed transferred to the Converting Plant. Mr. Ochs retired from the Crown Zellerbach Mill in 1971 as Operating Superintendent after 41 years of service. The Converting Plant went from mostly hand work to nearly complete automation. Ed was Superintendent when the first two fully automatic roll toilet rewinders were developed in the Camas Converting Plant. The first fully automatic rewinders were named ''Andy & Becky''. When Ed became Superintendent he replaced the machine numbers with a name for each piece of Converting Machinery. The names started with the first letters of the alphabet thus ''Andy-male-right hand delivery and Becky-female-left hand delivery. Ed Ochs participated in many community activities in the past. Cub Scouts - then later Babe Ruth Baseball. You could find Ed at basketball, football & wrestling events throughout the area where he adopted all the community kids besides his own family. Ed was active in Camas-Washougal Safety Unlimited. Camas Fire Chief Chairman ''Beauchamp'' headed this group that worked on correcting unsafe hazards in the Camas Washougal area. Ed was a member of the Washougal ''Dads'' Club that was organized to raise money for school playground equipment. Ed was an advanced graduate of Toastmasters #678 that met at 6:45 A.M. in the Crown Zellerbach Inn, and he taught classes in Speechcraft for his toastmasters advanced project. Ed also was President of the Camas-Washougal Wildlife Club when the Wildlife Building was constructed by LaCamas Lake. Previous to this the meetings were held in the Legion Hall basement. Ed taught firearm safety classes for many years. The first classes were held in the Oak Park school basement, which was then used by the small bore rifle club. After the Wildlife Building was completed the classes were held in this building. Ed loved hunting and fishing and camping. Ed and his wife Edna traveled in their camper and trailer throughout all of the U.S.A., parts of Canada and Alaska. He also enjoyed bowling. Ed leaves behind; son, Dan Ochs of Portland, Ore.; daughter, Norma Rhodes of Washougal; 4 grandchildren; Ken Huddleston of Camas, Marilyn Rauch of LaCenter, Melody Gooch of Camas, and Mark Huddleston of Washougal; 13 great-grandchildren; 12 great-great grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews; a community he loved and a thought to all: ''Time has a sneaky way of slipping away. We have become so involved in getting from one day to the next that before we know it, the tomorrows are yesterdays.'' Visitation will be Monday from 9am to 5pm at Straub?s Funeral Home in Camas. Burial will be private at the Washougal Memorial Cemetery. Straub?s Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. To sing the online guest book or send condolences visit www.straubsfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be given to Hospice Southwest @ P.O. Box 1600, Vancouver, WA 98668.