J. F. Sears, Millwright, Taken Here Yesterday

John Franklin Sears, 70, veteran millwright and sawmill operator, credited with turning out the first lumber used in construction of a lumber camp at what is now Headquarters, died at 3:50 a.m. yesterday at the home of his daughter, Mrs. R. G. Curtis, 1222 1/2 12th St. He has been ill for the last three years.

Born in Osborne City, Kan., Jan 21, 1877, he came west at an early age with his parents and located in the Bitteroot valley at Hamilton, Mont. He operated sawmills in Montana and Idaho and was employed by the old Clearwater Timber Co., now Potlatch Forests, Inc. He had been a resident of central Idaho since 1926, making his home at Pierce. He came to Lewiston three months ago to be with his daughter. In 1903 he married Miss Laura May Pfeifer. Of their nine children seven survive.

He leaves his wife, five daughters and two sons; Mrs. Kathryn Krame and Frank Sears, Jr., both of Pierce; Mrs. Mamie Curtis, Lewiston; Mrs. Marguerite Rogers, Thompson Falls, Mont.; Mrs. Louise Heth, Newport, Wash.; Mrs. Verona Darnell, Missoula, Mont.; and John Sears, Spokane; three brothers and one sister, Mrs. Ida Acheson and Edward Sears, both of Oakland, Calif.; George Sears, Cincinnati, Ohio, and William Sears, St. Regis, Mont.; also eight grandchildren.

He was a member of the Methodist church and of the Odd Fellows lodge at Pierce.