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Velma Mary Hargrove, age 98, passed away on Thursday, July 16, 2015. She was born March 25, 1917, in Arrowwood, Alberta, Canada, the fifth of Herb and Sadie Bennett's seven children. She attended school in Omak, Washington, after graduating from Omak High School in 1935. In that year she was selected to be Apple Blossom Princess, representing Omak in the 1935 Wenatchee Apple Blossom Festival.

Velma and George were married in 1937 and moved to Coulee Dam, Washington. During World War II they moved their family to Portland, Oregon, where they assisted in the war effort, working as welders in the Kaiser shipyards. In 1945 the family returned to Coulee Dam. In addition to raising three children and working as a teller for Seattle First National Bank, she still found time to enjoy bowling, golf and bridge. Upon retirement, she and George moved to Yakima and then to Spokane.

Velma was predeceased by her husband George in 2001. She is survived by her three sons: Jim Hargrove and Bob (Ada) Hargrove of Spokane and Tom (Anita Grover) Hargrove of Bridgewater, Connecticut; grandchildren Reed Hargrove, Jessica Peterson, Brady Hargrove, Hilary Hargrove, Eric Hargrove, Todd Hargrove and Melanie Grover-Schwartz; and great-grandchildren: Jillian, Jocelyn and Shane Peterson and Juniper and Abazash Hargrove. A dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and loyal friend to all who knew her, she will be fondly remembered and greatly missed.