OBITUARY
Name:
Vergil Arthur Vant
From: The Kitsap Sun, Bremerton,
Washington
Date: March 25, 1999
Vergil Arthur Vant, 76, of Bremerton died March 15,
1999, in a train accident near Bourbonnais, Ill.
He was born Nov. 21, 1922, in Casper, Wyo., to Floyd R. and Ethel M. (Galutia)
Vant. He moved to Auburn in 1930, then to Bremerton in 1939. He graduated from
Central Kitsap High School in 1942.
He served in the Army from 1943 to 1945. He was a private first class and a tank
driver in the 7th Armored Division. He participated in five major campaigns,
including the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge.
He worked as a sheetmetal mechanic in Shop 17 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for
32 years, retiring in April 1979. He had also worked as a rigger helper at PSNS
from 1942 to 1943.
He was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Washington state, building
bridges, campgrounds, trails and fire lookouts.
He married Leona P. Pygott on Feb. 26, 1944, in Bremerton. He died with his wife
and their daughter, Wendy Lorraine Vant, in the accident.
Survivors include a son, John of Port Orchard; five daughters, Valerie Hinkle of
Burlington, Robbyn Handel of Bremerton, Virginia Vant of Bremerton, Melissa
Flowers of St. Marys, Ga., and Rebecca Phillips of Gig Harbor; a sister, Hazel
Daniel of Port Orchard; 18 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. He was
preceded in death by three brothers, Kenneth, Raymond and Fayburn, and a sister,
Dorothy Marcear.
A memorial service will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Gabriel Catholic Church
in Port Orchard. Arrangements are under the direction of Pendleton-Gilchrist
Funeral Home at Rill Chapel.
Memorials may be made to the American Red Cross, 605 Washington Ave., Bremerton,
WA 98337.