Harry A. Marell died July 22, 2005, at Beneficial Adult Family Home on Vashon Island. He was 96 years old.

He was born in Biscovich, Vladimir Willinsky, Poland, on Dec. 11, 1908, the second of three children born to Sheyndl Majel and her husband Samuel Marell.

Mr. Marell came to this country with his older sister Rose in 1923, leaving behind a younger sister, Chaike, and settling in St. Paul, Minn., with his father and stepmother.

He served in the Army during World War II, as a forward observer (radioing the front lines where to direct their fire). After the war, he settled in Los Angeles, opened a radio and television sales and repair store, and met and married his beloved wife Esther.

She died in 1987.

Mr. Marell worked at one time or another for many of the major aerospace companies in the Los Angeles area.

Mr. Marell moved to Vashon in 1992 to be close to his daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren. He was an enthusiastic participant in Vashon Maury Senior Center activities, and was the oldest member of Lifetime Fitness, where he attended three-times-weekly classes until March of this year.

Survivors include his daughter Gayle and son-in-law Paul Sommers, and cherished grandchildren Rachel, of Washington, D.C., and Ben and Deb, both of Vashon.

A memorial service will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10. The family requests that donations in his memory be sent to Jewish Family Services, Seattle; People for the American Way, Washington, D.C.; Providence Hospice of Seattle; Vashon-Maury Senior Services; or the Vashon Havurah.

The family thanks staff at Beneficial Adult Family Home for the extraordinary care and love they provided, and for all of the support provided by the Vashon Hospice Team, Gary Koch, and staff at the Vashon Pharmacy.

For more information about the memorial service, call Gayle Sommers at 463-4687.