Obituary of Ernest Lee Rice

Ernest Lee Rice ~ 84 Vancouver, Washington December 15, 1930 ~ December 4, 2015 Ernest "Ernie" L. Rice went to be with his Lord and Savior on Dec. 4, 2015. He was born in Centralia, WA on Dec. 15, 1930 to Charles A. and Lula (Benedict) Rice. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Charles, Loren and Earl Rice; and sister, Helen Stolper. Ernie is survived by his beloved wife and best friend, Teri, at home; daughters, Lisa Hagelganz (Ron), Julie Royston, Lori Hardy (Richard), and Chris Ochoa (Jim), all of Vancouver; 10 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; a host of nieces and nephews; a brother, Carl "Bud" Rice; and his sister, Frances Beesley. His family took first place right behind his love for the Lord. Ernie loved to sing and thrilled audiences and congregations from Sacramento to Seattle with his rich baritone voice. He was a baritone soloist for the Portland Symphonic Choir in many performances, sang the bass solos for Handels Messiah with the Portland Symphony and was the baritone soloist for the Brahms Singers of Vancouver (now the Vancouver USA Singers) for 21 years. Ernie retired from solo work about 11 years ago but still continued to sing in the First Evangelical Church choir. He always said that he made a promise to the Lord from Psalm 146: "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live and I will promise my God while I have my being" - and he did. He loved his church and the Lord and loved to serve. Ernie also loved fishing and kept the cupboards well supplied with canned salmon. He also enjoyed canning all their fruits and homemade jams, jellies and jamalees (his own word for jelly with just a little pulp). He often talked of the trip he and Teri took to Alaska and South Dakota pulling their trailer. They literally had to stop and rest their arms while fishing on the Kenai River in Alaska from catching so many salmon in one day! They traveled several times to Great Britian and Europe and made lifelong friends from their travels. Ernie also loved working out in the yard and for several years kept a small garden. He loved the fresh tomatoes, corn, and cucumbers. Ernie moved from Seattle in 1959 while working as a manufacturing representative. He left that employment in 1964 when he went to work for Wolf Radio and Electric which evolved into Wolf's Home Center in 1977. He left Wolf's and went to work at Vancouver Furniture and retired from there in 1994. After 2 years of retirement, he went to work part time at the Mattress Factory Outlet Store from which he retired from in 2004. He made many lifelong friends from his lengthy list of valued customers. Ernie will be missed in the community of friends and acquaintances, but mostly by his beloved family. We have lost a wonderful husband, father, grampa, great-grampa, uncle, and a dear friend. God Bless You All. I want to thank Kaiser Hospice for the excellent care we received and also a heartfelt thank you to the care givers with whom we couldn't have done without. You are all a Blessing. There will be a celebration of Ernie's life at First Evangelical Church, 4120 NE St. Johns Rd., Vancouver, WA 98661, Sat., Dec. 12, 2015 at 11a.m.