Posted: Thursday, April 30, 2009 12:00 am
March 19, 1935 - April 28, 2009
Jack Little, 74, died Tuesday at his home in Albany surrounded by his family. His death followed quickly after the diagnosis of cancer. His wife and children were able to maintain a constant vigil his last week with one or another holding his hand and talking to him.
He was born on St. Joseph's Day in Walla Walla, Wash., to Roy and Edith (Champoux) Little. When he was baptized at St. Patrick's Church in Walla Walla, he was given the name "John Joseph," but he would forever be "Jack." He often quipped that only insurance men called him John.
Jack's parents owned and operated Little's Drugs, and Jack was very proud of the fact that he went to work at the store for his parents at the age of 12. By the time he was 13 he had graduated to making home deliveries on his bicycle. Since the pharmacy was located in the lower end of Walla Walla, Jack loved to tell that his first job was delivering medicines and perfumes to the ladies who lived in the rooms upstairs.
Jack attended St. Patrick's Grade School and High School and graduated in 1953. The following fall he sold his car for $7 and his bicycle for $10 and left for Washington State College. He joined the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and made life-long friends during his time there. He played on the WSC golf team and lettered three years.
Following graduation from Washington State in 1957 and realizing that the Army would soon be looking for him, Jack searched out a short-term job. He found the perfect one when a large clinic in Honolulu, Hawaii, needed a pharmacist for six months. To hear him tell it, for six months he worked with a wonderful group of people, escorted all the single young lady tourists, and got sun-burned every day. During his enlistment in the Army, he was a medic giving shots and filling medications for the men stationed in the ring of missile defenses which surrounded Los Angeles. He loved to point out that he successfully protected beautiful downtown L.A. - during peace time.
When he and the Army gratefully went their separate ways, Jack returned to eastern Washington. He was not ready to settle down, and knowing the plight of small town druggists, Jack worked the next couple of years as a relief man. Having been raised in a small pharmacy, he was able to walk in and take over for vacation-starved owners - many of whom were old friends of his father.
While working at a small drug store in Prosser, Wash., he made the mistake of selling a camera to a particular lady customer. He and Mary Ann Bonifas were married in Prosser on May 19, 1962. They made their first home in Vancouver, Wash., and remained there for 16 years. Jack worked for Hi-School Pharmacy as well as a small independent pharmacy, the hospital and a nursing home.
Jack and Mary Ann were members of St. Joseph's Church, where their growing family attended school and Jack was the president of the Parish Council.
In 1978, Jack bought Ervin's Drugs in Albany and his children delighted in telling everyone that their father pedaled drugs on the corner of Santiam and Pacific. Later he would buy a second store, Ervin's Drugs West. After selling the original store, he operated Ervin's Drugs West as a small professional pharmacy until his retirement in 2000. Jack put his whole heart into creating a small-town, friendly pharmacy and established close ties with many, many of his customers. While he had no regrets when the time came for him to retire, many of his friends and customers were bereft at losing their source of good and not-so-good stories. To celebrate the end of 53 years in the business, Jack rented a top hat and tails and wore the costume to work the last two days on the job.
Almost before the ink was dry on the sale of his store, he and Mary Ann bought an R.V. and headed out. Accompanied by one cat or another, they traveled to 50 states (only 48 in the R.V.) and nine provinces. They made nine trips across country from coast to coast and visited air museums from Seattle to Pensacola. Jack was particularly eager to visit the villages of Quebec where his family had settled in the early 1600s.
Jack enjoyed his golf but had to give it up because of arthritis. As a child he had learned the basic skills of woodworking, and he concentrated on what he called "making piles of sawdust." He created rocking chairs, up-right chairs, tables, chests, beds, highboys, desks and many rolling pins. His chief aim was to create one unique item for each of his children. He accomplished that last fall.
Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Edith Little; sister Mary Jane Aylward; and infant son John.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann; seven children, Kathryn Soldano of Yakima, Wash., Patrice and husband Jordan Cowman of Eugene, Joseph and wife Ann of Salem, Stephen and wife Jody of Portland, Alaine Little of Portland, Anthony and wife Monique of Wilsonville, and Regan and husband Brad Fields of Salem; 16 grandchildren, Christopher, Michaela and Alex Soldano, Jameson, Taylor, Benjamin and Alea Cowman, Allison and Ryan Little, Mathew and Cameron Little, and Maxwell and Olivia Fields; one great-grandson, Nikkos Soldano; brother-in-law James Aylward and wife Joyce; nephews and nieces Patrick Aylward and wife Peggy, John Aylward and wife Jennifer, Colleen Aylward, and Janie and husband Jon Anderson; three aunts, Rags Little of Longview, Wash., Bev Champoux of Yakima, and Rita Champoux of Las Vegas; numerous cousins scattered throughout Washington and beyond; and his cat, Oscar.
A recitation of the rosary will be at 7 p.m. Monday at Fisher Funeral Home in Albany. A funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Albany. Burial will be at 11 a.m. May 8 at East Prosser Cemetery in Prosser.
Memorial contributions may be made to Samaritan Evergreen Hospice, and sent in care of Fisher Funeral Home, 306 Washington St. S.W., Albany, OR 97321 (www.fisherfuneralhome.com).