Nathalia “Dolli” Koch Vanderford

Nathalia “Dolli” Vanderford was born in Ritzville, on Oct. 14, 1917, six years after her parents, Frederick Koch and Susannah Juckert, emigrated from the German colony of Kolb, Russia.

The fourth of 10 children and the last to die, Dolli died on her 99th birthday, Oct. 14, in Yakima.

Dolli retired as a training supervisor with AT&T, but in the course of a colorful life, she also worked as a beautician and a telephone operator. During WWII, she was a Rosie the Riveter at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane.

When she was 40, she discovered yoga, and as a result, she said, “It changed my whole li...