Marvin Eugene Rife

Marvin Eugene Rife was born November 22, 1945 in Bentonville, Arkansas to Opal and Walter Rife. He
lived with his parents and older sister, Coralea, in Rogers, Arkansas until he and his mother moved to
Lavaca, Arkansas to complete his senior year at Lavaca High School in 1964. The rest of the family joined
them shortly thereafter.
After high school, Marvin joined the United States Air Force. After basic training at Lackland Air Force
Base, he was assigned to McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, WA as a refueling specialist. Marvin asked
a friend on base if his girlfriend could introduce him to someone he could ask out on a date. She
introduced him to Lorna Jean Wilson who was entering her junior year at Pacific Lutheran University.
Their first date was on August 14, 1967. He proposed soon after that first date, but he was given orders
to a remote tour of duty on Mactan Island in the Philippines. While there he broke his left leg while on
duty. At the end of his tour in the Philippines, he was assigned to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha,
Nebraska.
After Lorna’s college graduation on June 1, 1969, Lorna and Marvin were married June 14, 1969 at the
Tumwater First Baptist Church in Tumwater, Washington. After the ceremony, they traveled to Omaha
where he was assigned to Offutt Air Force Base. They lived in Omaha for the next nine months. Marvin
was eventually released from the Air Force due to his injury. The couple returned to the Pacific
Northwest where Marvin attended Tacoma Community College and in 1974 he graduated from Pacific
Lutheran University.
Marvin was a social worker for the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services,
Division of Aging and Adult Services. He retired in 2011 after 35 years of service. Marvin believed
strongly in employee unions and took an active and leadership role in the union representing his work
group. Marvin was also a long-time member of the Lions Club. Marvin loved all things train whether it
was a calendar, a model train, or the real thing. Marvin was known for having a joke for every occasion.
And he could always remember the punch lines.
Marvin is survived by his wife Lorna of University Place; his son Bradley Rife, his wife Geraldine, and
granddaughter Mavis Rife, all of Maplewood, NJ. He is also survived by his niece Stacey Finnigan of
Tilburg, the Netherlands.
The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, December 14, at Gaffney Funeral Home Chapel,
1002 S. Yakima Avenue, Tacoma. There will be a committal service with military honors at Tahoma
National Cemetery on Friday, December 15 at 11 a.m.