Willis Earl “Babe” Herness was born at Tacoma General Hospital on Nov. 26, 1922, before Yelm was a town, and the road between McKenna and Tacoma was gravel.
He was raised in McKenna until age 8 where all of his Herness aunts and uncles worked for the McKenna Lumber Company. McKenna between 1910 and 1930 was a company town for the McKenna Lumber Co. and was one of the largest sawmills in the United States. People who were immigrants from all over the world came to work there. You can check the census from 1910, 1920 and 1930 to see the origins of the small community of McKenna.
He was the son and grandson of immigrants from Norway and Germany. After his Grandparents Schroeder died in 1929 and 1930, his parents moved up to the farm that they homesteaded in the late 1880s, before statehood. He lived in the house that Grandpa Schroeder built and died there Monday, Jan. 27, 2025.
Willis and his brother, Bob Herness, grew up in an active athletic family that enjoyed ice skating, camping, some skiing, baseball and basketball. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, our Dad and Uncle Bob played the Harlem Globetrotters and All American Red Heads (a women’s basketball team) who traveled from town to town before the age of television. He said he was the first basketball player in Yelm to dunk a basketball. That’s because one of the Harlem Globetrotters lifted him up, up, up to the basketball rim — then just laughed. Our Dad was only 5’9’’ and weighed about 125 pounds at that time.
He got his nickname “Babe” because he was called “Baby Earl” as the youngest of all his Herness and Schroeder cousins and he was a great baseball player. He ice skated on the Nisqually River in McKenna in the winter of 1929 and 1930. The temperature got down to 15 below 0 and we have a picture of him skating on the river with the railroad trestle in the background. He was 7 years old. He was the last living graduate of Yelm High School, class of 1940.
He was a farmer and logger and delved into land development. He milked Jersey cows from 1936 until the 1970s. Then he sold the Jerseys and became a breeder and rancher of registered shorthorn beef cattle. fiHe finally quit farming at age 90 but kept the farm going by renting out the pasture to other local ranchers.
He married Eleanor “Nellie” Maynard on May 14, 1944. They were married for 71 years. Our parents were true life partners in all aspects of their life as parents, farmers and business partners. They cleared a lot of land, blew up a lot of stumps and picked a lot of rocks to make the farm viable. They both were very sociable people, having lots and lots of lifetime friends. Their main social center was the Deschutes Grange in Yelm where we all grew up. They shared a great sense of humor.
Our parents were 4-H leaders and our Dad coached Little League baseball. His teams didn’t have great win records because he insisted every kid who turned out should play. There were no stars on my dad’s team — every kid was allowed to play. He was also a great teacher. The milking barn was our school. During milking time, we learned all the state capitals, played 20 questions and even had softball games going on in the barnyard.
He was never too tired to take us swimming after the cows were milked. We learned to swim up at Lawrence Lake and in the freezing cold Deschutes River. He and my mother had three children, eight grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren. Surviving children are MaryAnne Cottmeyer (Yelm, Washington), Earlene Dolman and her husband, Jack (Yelm), and Mike Herness (University Place, Washington). Grandchildren are Desiree Allen (Washington), Tom Gallaway and his wife, Michelle (Washington), Sherry Wilkerson (Louisiana), Jack Dolman Jr,. and his wife, Leslie (Texas), Andrew Dolman and his wife, Julie (Washington), Erin Smith and her husband, Cory (Texas), Shannon Huisman and her husband, Eric (Texas), and Derek Herness and his wife, Kasey (Washington).
A graveside service will start at noon on Sunday, Feb. 9, at the Yelm Cemetery. It will be followed by a celebration of life at the Yelm Community Center at Yelm City Park from noon to 5 p.m.
We are so thankful to hospice that allowed him to be home and especially to beloved great-granddaughter Delaney Herness and grandchildren Desiree Allen, Derek Herness, Tom Gallaway, Shannon Huisman and Kasey Herness, wonderful caregivers Grace Gutierrez and Gayle Harriman, and special friends Bill Suzawith and Hal Elde.
