Wesley Leo Plager

Wesley Leo Plager died July 15 at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane at the age of 91.

Born to Rudy and Louise Schutz Plager on the family ranch near Paha on a particularly hot Friday the 13th of July, 1923, he was the grandson of Adams County pioneers from Detmold, Germany and Bessarabia, Russia.

He enjoyed telling tales of growing up on the farm with his three sisters Irene (Selcho), Evie (Phillips), and Rita (Arlt). He had a large extended family of 102 first cousins.

After taking over the farm in the 1940s, he raised wheat, but particularly loved his Hereford cattle.

In his earlier years, he...