05/31/1998
Memorial services for Rodney "Rod" Cleland Proffitt, 67, of Mt. Vernon, Wash., who died May 31, 1998, at the University Medical Center in Seattle, were held June 5, 1998, at the Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church. Dr. Paul Jensen officiated at the services.
Rodney was born June 30, 1930, in Pleasantville, the son of Willard P. and Leona B. Proffitt. The family moved to Knoxville in 1934, and he graduated from Knoxville High School in 1948.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1948 and served during the Korean War. He was stationed at the Naval Air Stations in Whidbey Island, Wash.,
Kodiak, Alaska, and Barber's Point in Hawaii. He was honorably discharged in 1952.
He was united in marriage to Mary Lee Monroe on January 11, 1952, in Sedro-Wooley, Wash. The couple lived in the Skagit Valley, Wash., and Oak Harbor, Wash., areas, returning to Mount Vernon in 1997.
He retired in 1987 from the Texaco Corporation, where he was a chief draftsman in the engineering department at the refinery in Mount
Vernon.
He also performed as a professional drummer for dance bands and was a member of the musician's union.
He was a member of the Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church, serving as an elder, a member of the Skagit County Musician's Union, the Oak Harbor Yacht Club, of which he was a board member, the Elks Lodge, and the American Legion.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister, Jean Courtney.
He is survived by his wife of Mount Vernon, Wash.; three daughters, Cynthia Babington of Coupeville, Wash., Sherrill Doe of Sedro-Wooley, Wash., and Shirley Rees of Mount Vernon, Wash.; a sister, Shirley Cross of Upper Marlboro, Md.; and seven grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to the Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church Fund, 1511 E. Broadway Street, Mount Vernon, WA 98274.
Arrangements were made by Kern Funeral Chapel in Mount Vernon.