OBIT:

George Michels, 74, a Kittitas valley pioneer farmer who had lived here for 57 years, died suddenly last night after an illness of a month.

Coming to this valley in 1889 to take up a farm in the Denmark District, he was identified with the development of both the valley and the city of Ellensburg. He had lived in Ellensburg since 1907, serving as a member of the city council and having a part in the early development of the present municipal utilities.

He had long been connected with the potato industry in the Kittitas valley. Among the first farmers of the valley to go into potatoes on a commercial scale, he was widely known as an authority on the crop which became one of the most important here. He was a consistent advocate of the use of treated certified seed and for many years was identified with that phase of the industry.

Born January 4, 1865 in Aurora, Ill., he spent his boyhood in western Minnesota and came west with his father's family in 1882 by way of railroad to San Francisco and by boat to The Dalles, Ore., and thence to the Yakima valley. Later in the same year the journey was continued to the Kittitas valley which has been his home since. He operated a farm in the Denmark District, the land for which he purchased form the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1889.

He was married in 1889 to Miss Cecilia Quinn of Seattle who survives him. In addition to his widow, he is survived by six children, Rev. J. R. Michels, O. P., of Oakland, Calif.; Ben Michels of Seattle, Emmett Michels of Tacoma, Carl Michels of Seattle, Bernard Michels of Helena, Mont., and Mrs. Frank Graaff of Ellensburg; eight brothers and sisters, Mrs. Anna Uebelacker, Mrs. Elizabeth Meagher, Frank Michels, Henry Michels, Miss Lena Michels and Peter Michels, all of Ellensburg; Jake Michels of Duluth, Minn., and Mrs. Rose Beaver of Bellingham. There are 20 grandchildren.

Funeral services, for which arrangements have not been completed, are tentatively scheduled to be held at St. Andrew's Catholic Church Saturday morning.

Ellensburg Daily Record, April 6, 1939