Loris B. Brinkman

Loris B. Brinkman passed away on August 1, 2017. He was born on a farm near Gilmanton, WI on September 13, 1911, the youngest of seven children. When he was in the third grade his parents sold the farm and moved to Chippewa Falls, WI where he attended grade school and high school, graduating on 1929. Loris played basketball for three years, becoming team captain his senior year. He then attended University of Wisconsin graduating in 1935 with a Bachelor of Science Degree.

Loris’ first job as an engineer was with the CCC Soil Conservation Service which lasted seven years until the government closed all CCC camps in 1942. He was camp superintendent that last three years at various locations around WI.

That same year Loris began working for E.I. Dupont Co., which took him to Rosemont, MN, Hanford, WA and Wilmington, DE. After five years with Dupont he resigned to take a job with General Electric which brought him back to Richland, WA in 1948. He resided there ever since. Loris spent 23 years at Hanford working on various projects until he retired in 1971.

In 1938 Loris married Aline Slyfield in Chilton, WI and they had three children, Sandra, George and Kippy Lou. In the mid-60s, Sandra became a stewardess with Pan American Airways which then enabled him and Aline to enjoy traveling throughout the world, making extensive trips to Japan, Africa, the Middle East, South America, the South Pacific, Europe, and a three month around the world trip.

Loris always enjoyed hunting and fishing and cherished the trips with his son George around the state of WA and traveling to AK, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and South America where they caught large sport fish such as Tarpin, Marlin, and Sailfish. They fished for ten consecutive years in Wellsley Lake, Northern Territories catching and releasing many lake trout up to 40 pounds.

In 1972 Loris, along with Aline, began volunteering at the Tri-Cities Food Bank. He served as president for 4 years from 1976-1980. He continued this work for a total of 30 years, putting in thousands of volunteer hours.

Loris has resided at Brookdale Retirement Home since 1999 where he was active in the residence board and continued to play bridge 5 to 6 times a week. He had been a member of the Richland Elks Club for 33 years and a member of the Richland Kiwanis Club for 36 years, usually attending three different club meetings a week. He was a member of the Southside Church.

Loris is preceded by his wife, Aline. He is survived by his daughter, Sandra and her husband Greg Fox; his son, George and his wife Betty and their daughters, Lori, Diane and Debbie; his daughter Kippy Lou and her husband Gary Scott. Loris is also survived by his six great-grandchildren.

The family invites you to the Viewing at Einan’s at Sunset Wednesday, August 16, 2017 from 3:00pm-6:00pm. A Memorial Service at Southside Church will be held in Richland on Thursday, August 17, 2017 at 2:00pm.