PORT TOWNSEND — Horns blaring, a convoy of about 100 log trucks paraded Saturday afternoon from Chimacum to a memorial service at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, where 700 mourned a Quilcene couple described as icons in the timber industry.
Patrick Yarr, 60, and Janice Kay Yarr, 57, were killed in their Quilcene home last month.
A Quilcene man, Michael J. Pierce, 34, has been charged with 11 felonies — including murder — in connection with the deaths and arson of their home.
“I knew Pat since SSRq66,” said Larry Allen, a trucker who organized the procession.
“He was an icon in this industry. Both he and Janice.”
Pat Yarr had worked as a log trucker across the North Olympic Peninsula since the early 1960s, and the family had lived in Forks and Chimacum before settling in Quilcene.
“The timber industry is like a huge community,” Allen said.
“They belonged to us.”
Eastern Washington
Allen said trucks came from as far away as Eastern Washington to be part of the service.
The polished trucks stood sentinel outside the service for the two Jefferson County natives who stood for hard work, family and community involvement.
The Yarrs owned Pat Yarr Logging and Yarr Cattle Co., working their herd on their Boulton Farm Road property in Quilcene.
Janice Yarr also worked as a bookkeeper for Seton Construction of Port Townsend.
They were discovered dead in their home at 780 Boulton Farm Road, off U.S. Highway 101 north of Quilcene, on March 19, a day after a fire had consumed the structure.
Many memories
Speakers told tales of the Yarrs for more than two hours on Saturday.
“My parents lived for this community,” said Patty Waters, who now lives in Portland, Ore.
“There is so much we’re going to miss. It’s just such a very sad day.”
Her sister, Michelle Ham of Chimacum, echoed her sister’s statements.
“I jut want everyone to know what kind of people they were,” Ham said.
It was clear at the memorial that an extended family of hundreds knew exactly what kind of people the Yarrs were.
“They didn’t think about what legacy they would leave,” said Marianne Walters, a friend of the family, who led the service.
“They just tried to live an honest life.”
Walters said the Yarrs were hard workers who always put family first.
“They took great pride in their work,” she said.
“Their greatest pride was their family.
“Pat and Janice were synonymous as a couple. You couldn’t have one without the other. It was an extremely high priority to stay connected to their family.”
Walters listed a few words that she said best described her friends: Loving, sentimental, stern, supportive, and very gentle.
‘Touched us all’
“Their lives touched all of us,” said John Boulton, who worked in the trucking business with Pat Yarr.
“They lived in Quilcene until the early SSRq70s when logging slowed down, and then moved to Forks.
“Then they lived in Forks for 10 years and in SSRq83, Forks logging slowed down and they moved back to Beaver Valley.
“That arrangement went quite well until the spotted owl deal,” he said to some laughter.
“So then I leased Pat and Janice the farm they lived on.
“That was 18 years ago now.”
Joe Carey and Ralph Erickson spoke of Pat Yarr delivering logs for the construction of the Port Townsend chapter of Boy Scouts new Scout house.
“He was doing it for almost free,” Erickson said. “He was covering his diesel and his insurance, and that was about it.
“He did that for a lot of people, gave his time.”
Said Allen: “I knew there would be this many people here.
“This community will miss them.
“And the last thing I have to say is, they were my friends.”
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
