Herbert Herb Ganz died December 26, 2006 at Hospice House after a courageous battle with multiple cancers.

Born May 7, 1930 in Freewater Oregon to the late Karl & Vera Ganz, he attended grade school through the 9th grade. Herb entered the Navy December 30, 1947 where he served as an aviation machinist and earned his GED. After his discharge from the Navy in 1950 he worked in the logging industry for a short while. In the early 50’s Herb started work at Hanford as a pipe fitter, and in 1955 he moved to West Richland where he started Ganz Welding & Machine in a small garage next to his home. In 1968 the business was incorporated as Metalfab Inc. Later - in 1977 - with the help of two partners he developed Desert View Mobile Home Park. Herb retired for the first time in 1981, but everyone knew he couldn’t be idle for long being a builder at heart.

On April 10th 1984 he married his wife Dorothy who lovingly cared for him through their twenty two years.

After building the mobile park, his dream was to build RV Village Resort at the west end of West Richland. That became a reality in 2003

Herb was an innovator who enjoyed looking at a situation to find a way to simplify and make things more efficient to meet the need. Many of his creations can be seen in Metalfab today. His quality craftsmanship can also be seen throughout the community and surrounding area.

Throughout his life Herb served in many leadership roles, beginning with the first West Richland Chamber of Commerce. He then built the first little league field in the Brotherhood and later the Elks Little League field. Herb also started Riverside Rotary Club in the Tri Cities and organized Desert Harvest, a food collection for the needy. These are only a few of his many achievements.

Herb’s passion in life was flying and he owned several small aircraft. As his health declined and he was unable to fly any longer he started playing golf. On almost any day you could find him chasing his yellow balls on the course. Throughout his life he enjoyed swing dancing. Herb danced the entire night only twelve days before his death. He loved life and chose to live it to the fullest up to the end.

Surviving are his wife Dorothy Goebel Ganz; brothers Ed Vi and Harold Judy; sisters Martha Burton Ed, Marge Patterson Bob and Sylvia Beach Duane; children Terry, Daniel Deon, Michael Linda and Kathy Billow Bob; stepchildren Lisa Stocker Paul and Randy Goebel Chris; eighteen grandchildren and thirty two great grandchildren.

The memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 30th at Bethel Church, 600 Shockley Road.

Memorials may be made to Hospice House Tri-City Chaplaincy or Tri-City Cancer Center.