Susan Ann (Coombs) Els

Susan Ann (Coombs) Els, 79, passed away at Lincoln Hospital in Davenport on Fri. May 7, 2021. She was born in Spokane on Nov. 23, 1941, the daughter of Donald and Evelyn (Talkington) Coombs.

She graduated from Harrington High School in 1960, where she was active in band, the school newspaper, and tennis. She attended Washington State University, graduating in 1964.

On June 20, 1964, she married James H. “Jim” Els, also of Harrington, at the Harrington Community Church. They soon moved to Richland, where Jim worked as a pharmacist. In 1967, they moved to Spokane where they bought a house and started a family. In 1975, on the retirement of her father Donald, they and their two children returned to the Coombs family farm, which they successfully ran until Jim’s retirement in 2011.

Sue was an avid golfer and long-time member of the Harrington Golf and Country Club’s women’s’ league. Sue was a member of PEO for more than 50 years. Jim and Sue were both members of Zion Lutheran Church in Davenport.

Sue was an avid traveler: sightseeing, skiing, and cruising around the world with Jim over the years.

In 1965, Jim and Sue took up downhill skiing, and embraced the sport enthusiastically, hitting the slopes every winter. For over 50 years they favored Schweitzer Mountain; in fact, Sue was still on the slopes there in Feb. of this year, calling that month’s snow “some of the best of my life.”

She is survived by her husband Jim, son Brian, daughter Rebecca, grandsons Henry Els and Robert Bitcon, and granddaughter Anna Sophie Els.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Lincoln Hospital Foundation, the Harrington Opera House Foundation, or the Harrington Golf & Country Club.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 11:00 Am, Saturday, May 22, 2021 at Zion Lutheran Church, 1007 Washington Street, Davenport, Wash.

Private family interment will be held at Hillcrest Cemetery, Harrington, Wash.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at http://www.stratefuneralhoem.com for the Els family.