Roger C. Edgren, 87

Former longtime Colfax, Wash., resident and business owner Roger C. Edgren, 87, passed away on Feb. 1, 2016, at Wellspring Meadows Assisted Living in Hayden, Idaho. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, in the chapel of Bruning Funeral Home. Vault interment will follow at the Colfax Cemetery. Friends are invited to join the family for a reception at Events on Main following the burial.

Roger was born on Aug. 28, 1928, in Colfax to Claude and Carol Edgren. He grew up in Colfax and graduated from Colfax High School in 1946 and then went on to study pharmacy at the University of Washington. While at UW, Roger was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) and it was through the fraternity that Roger made lifelong friends. After graduating college, Roger enlisted in the United States Army and served for two years before being honorably discharged in December 1952. After his discharge, Roger returned to Colfax to work with his father at the family-owned Elk Drug Store.

Roger married his sweetheart, June Johnson, on Sept. 10, 1955, and they lived in an apartment over the drug store before building their home on Prune Orchard Road. They continued to live in Colfax until Roger’s retirement in the mid-1990s. After selling the store and their home, Roger and June moved to Hayden Lake, Idaho. Although they physically left town, their hearts always remained in Colfax.

Whether it was hunting in the Blue Mountains, flying his airplane, snowmobiling in Elk River or boating on Lake Coeur d’Alene, Roger loved the outdoors. He enjoyed his horses and mules, tending to his garden and building fences. Roger will be remembered as a loving father and grandfather and a longstanding pillar of the Colfax business community.

Roger’s favorite hobby, however, was photography. Many Colfax residents still remember a camera (or four) that they purchased from him at Elk Drug, many of which are still in use today. Roger never missed a Colfax sporting event and took photos of nearly every event he attended. Even at the care facility, he had no less than six cameras in his room, and was still taking photos, mostly of residents and staff, and then giving those photographs as mementos. Roger is survived by his daughters, KayLynn (Bill) Mayhew of Whidbey Island, Wash., Jana (Jeff) Daily of Park City, Utah, and Shari (Darin) Griff of Hayden; as well as four grandchildren — Jenna, Hayden, Shayla and Dylan. He was preceded in death by the love of his life, June; as well as his parents and his brother, Gordon.

Memorial contributions are suggested to Whitman Hospital Foundation or Colfax Schools Foundation.

Bruning Funeral Home, of Colfax, has been entrusted with funeral arrangements. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.bruningfuneralhome.com.