Person:Dennis Hassell (3)

Obituary - Dennis Ray Hassell A funeral service for Dennis Ray Hassell, 79, formerly of Ashland, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Medford Stake Center. Bishop Fred Clark of the Ashland Second Ward of the church will officiate. The graveside service will follow in Memory Gardens Memorial Park.

Mr. Hassell died Sunday (Aug. 4, 2002) in Sonora, Calif.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Perpetual Education Fund, c/o Bishop Mark Skillman, 5597 Highway 66, Ashland, OR 97520.

Born Feb. 7, 1923, in Mesa, Ariz., he married Grace Arlene Whetten, who survives. They were married for 58 years.

He lived in the Rogue Valley for 46 years before moving to Sonora, Calif., 11 years ago.

Mr. Hassell was a logger in Southern Oregon. When he saw a need for a better log bunk, he invented one for himself. He sold his log truck in 1954 and started his own steel fabrication business. His log bunks and stakes are still used on most log trucks in the Northwest. He enjoyed inventing.

He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he was bishop in the Ashland Second Ward for five years, president of the Medford Stake for 10 years, and president of the Canada Halifax Mission for three years.

He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II as a pilot in the Pacific.

In addition to his wife, survivors include a son, Alan Hassell, Ashland; three daughters, Joyce King, Walnut Creek, Calif., Arlene Craig, Sonora, Calif., and Paula Henderson, Raleigh, N.C.; two brothers, Clayton Hassell, Coquille, and Collins Hassell, Ashland; two sisters, Anna Mae Hassell, Ashland, and Ida Belle Hassell, Olivehurst, Calif.; 24 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two daughters, Carolyn and LaRee Hassell.

Arrangements: Memory Gardens Mortuary, Medford.