‘In this unprecedented time’ – 6 stories of Tri-Citians who died from COVID-19

Nearly three months after the coronavirus started a slow but deadly spread across the Mid-Columbia, one thing that’s clear is the respiratory infection does not discriminate.

People of all ages and backgrounds have fallen victim to the disease and its complications — 78 so far from the Tri-Cities area.

The first was a woman in her 80s at Bonaventure Senior Living who fell ill after visiting Western Washington. The oldest was 100-year-old World War II vet Albert Bushore.

Complications from the disease also claimed a much-loved Kennewick Walmart worker and three Tyson employees, including Guadalupe “Lupe” Olivera, a 60-year-old butcher at the beef processing plant.

These are the stories of six others Tri-Citians — a military vet and father of a police officer, one of the youngest victims at age 50, a Battelle engineer, the “Iraqi Martha Stewart” of the Tri-Cities, a retired nursing assistant and the wife of a farmer and former county commissioner, who nearly died himself.

Their stories are based on conversations with their loved ones and memories shared in their obituaries.

‘They celebrated life’

When Betty Jackson died in February from Parkinson’s disease, relatives thought her husband of 59 years would “chase her right off the dance floor.”

Instead, Joe Jackson Sr. stuck around for 64 more days — half that time fighting COVID-19.

Medical staff thought Jackson beat the infectious disease. He was the first ventilated survivor at Trios Southridge Hospital.

But three days after his release, the 84-year-old Kennewick man died from pneumonia.

Family believe he contracted it from being on the machine that pushed air, heat and moisture into his lungs and prolonged his life.

On April 26, Jackson was reunited with his love.

“I think it was just too much and the body got tired,” said his son, Kennewick police Sgt. Joe Jackson Jr. “He had indicated to medical staff at Lourdes, when he was there for inpatient rehab, that he just wanted to get home to his wife. So I’d say, mission accomplished.”

Jackson Sr. was born in Oklahoma and moved with his family to Prescott, Wash.

He met Betty during a two-year stint in the Army and, after proposing to her under the Golden Gate Bridge, the couple married in Walla Walla. They eventually settled in Kennewick, where they raised two daughters and a son.

Jackson ran KayMax Travel Agency with his wife for more than three decades, then drove for Ben Franklin Transit until his retirement.

Betty Jackson died Feb. 22 following a six-year battle with her disease.

One month later, Jackson Sr. fell, ending up in the emergency room and then a rehab facility for physical therapy. He was there nine days when he had to be admitted to Trios with the virus.

After he twice tested negative for COVID-19 and was considered recovered, the marketing team at the Kennewick hospital organized a sendoff for Jackson Sr.

Physicians, nurses and employees cheered as he was wheeled down the hallway. Outside, friends and co-workers of his son held a small parade through the parking lot with patrol cars.

He posted the Trios video to his Facebook page, thanking people for their prayers.

Jackson Jr. says his family was blessed to have that Thursday with their father and grandfather since he died the following Sunday. “It’s more than most are getting currently,” he told the Tri-City Herald.

He described his father as a kind, gentle soul with a quirky sense of humor. While he was a hard worker, Jackson Sr. always put family and friends first.

Jackson Jr. does not blame anyone for his dad’s illness or death, saying it is “just kind of the trend that we’re dealing with in this unprecedented time.”

“I have a unique perspective in life with my employment and my views and values. We all have a number and most of us don’t get to pick it,” said Jackson Jr. “Obviously (COVID) is on everybody’s mind, but we’ve all got a date, and that is one of the few absolutes in life. We’re all making that stop some day and it doesn’t matter the cause.”

“We are in a good space,” he added. “(Betty and Joe) won the game. They celebrated life.”

And while still grieving his loss, Jackson Jr. said he wants to help people to see the light through the trees and get past the doom and gloom brought on by the pandemic.

“I want to be part of the positive message that we’re all going to get through this. I personally believe (it can happen) if people take a common sense approach to social distancing and being aware of washing their hands and what not …,” he said. “People need to step up and take care of each other in these times.”

‘Loved with all her heart’

April Preston suffered a debilitating stroke in 2008, but it didn’t stop her from living life to the fullest.

She showed her loved ones, and the world, that she was a fighter.

Then, on April 11 — three days after her 50th birthday — the Richland woman died from COVID-19 complications at Kadlec Regional Medical Center.

The Richland High graduate started her retail career at Kmart and later became a department manager at Sears.

She was a dedicated employee, giving 100 percent to her job while making many lifelong friends, her family wrote in her obituary.

Preston’s stroke may have limited her in later years, but she continued to “provide a positive outlook, a shoulder to cry on, a smile and a joke to make you laugh.”

“She was always first to help and spread her kindness. She loved with all her heart. You could rely on her for anything.”

Preston enjoyed laughter, something she often did while watching movies, playing games and having lunch with friends.

“April was truly an example of one of God’s children. No matter the situation, she persevered with strength, courage and humor,” her family wrote. “She never felt sorry for herself and she always showed us all how to cherish each day.

“April touched the lives of many, leaving a lasting imprint.”

Ashes over the Nile

Neil Erian fondly recalls the last time his family traveled from Connecticut to see his father in the Tri-Cities.

The visit with Fadel Fouad Erian included sightseeing trips to Seattle and Mount Rainier. Another trip had been planned for last month, then most of the country shut down.

Neil Erian was concerned about his 82-year-old dad, who was temporarily living in a Tri-Cities rehabilitation center where several residents and staff had the deadly virus.

But it was decided the elderly Erian would be safer in the locked-down facility, continuing his recovery from a broken leg, instead of alone at his Kennewick home.

So when the call came saying his father was having trouble breathing and had been hospitalized, Neil Erian was surprised.

The doctor said the prognosis was poor and wanted guidance on end-of-life care.

Two days later, he was gone. He died March 25 at Trios Southridge Hospital.

“It is kind of rather shocking, but I guess since it is a pandemic, the elderly are more vulnerable,” Neil Erian told the Herald. “That explains a lot, especially since he was in a rehabilitation center. If he wouldn’t have fallen and broken his leg, he wouldn’t have gotten it.”

Fadel Erian retired more than a decade ago as a fluid dynamicist from Battelle at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

At the Richland lab, he “led a team of engineers to develop a method to safely transfer radioactive material from ... deteriorating underground tanks into state-of-the-art storage vessels,” family wrote in his obituary.

Erian earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering in Cairo, Egypt, then left his homeland for the United States to get a PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Syracuse University.

After graduation, Erian taught engineering at Clarkson College of Technology in New York.

He traded in his professorship to become a staff research engineer at Shell Development Company in Houston.

Family says it was at Shell that Erian “solved the problem of how to safely retrieve oil and gas from deep water ocean wells.”

“Developing this new technology required Dr. Erian to teach himself chemical engineering order to rework the complex differential equations that characterize oil and gas mixtures traveling in pipelines at high speed and explosive pressure,” they wrote in his obituary.

He moved to the Tri-Cities to continue with his work in fluid mechanics at Battelle.

Here he found a community at Shalom United Church of Christ in Richland.

A fluent Arabic speaker, he was involved with the church in welcoming new refugees and helping them acclimate to living in America.

In the weeks since his dad’s death, fellow church members and other Tri-Citians have reached out to the his family with kind words about his father.

Neil Erian is disappointed he was not able to have a funeral in the Tri-Cities, but hopes to return to Egypt with his father sometime in the next two years.

Fadel Erian had proposed a plan to the Egyptian government to dredge the fine silt at the bottom of the Nile River and transport it by pipeline across the desert to create farmland on the coast of the Red Sea.

His ashes will be sprinkled on the Nile, family said, so that one day his “spirit will become part of the new arable land that he envisioned in his final project to improve life in his beloved Egypt.”

With angels in heaven

Razkya Al Salami was known in the local refugee community as the “Iraqi Martha Stewart.”

She was welcomed to the Tri-Cities 13 years ago, and soon returned the love by cooking for her neighbors.

She would proudly stand all day in a tent at the Islamic Center of Tri-Cities to serve up her food during the annual cultural festival.

And, after meeting several Kennewick police officers at “Coffee with a Cop” in October 2018, Al Salami and daughter Shatha Garcia dropped by the station with a traditional Iraqi lunch.

“Thank you for sharing your Iraqi culture and heritage with us,” the department posted on its Facebook page, including a picture of Al Salami, Garcia, Chief Ken Hohenberg and his command staff.

She was a mother, a grandmother and, for Amira Al Salami, she was not only a sister but a friend.

Razkya Al Salami, 69, died May 2.

“My sister was full of life, full of love. Everybody who knew her loved her,” Amira Al Salami said, choking back tears at the memories.

A widow, Razkya lived in Pasco with her sister, daughter, son-in-law and 8-year-old grandson.

She was eager to travel to New York to see a grandson graduate as a mechanical engineer, but then she got sick.

Razkya’s son-in-law is a supervisor at Tyson Foods in Wallula. He contracted the virus from an asymptomatic co-worker, but didn’t know he was a carrier because he too didn’t show any symptoms of being sick, said Amira.

Once health officials became aware of the outbreak at the beef plant, the son-in-law was tested and quarantined in his bedroom. But by then, the rest of the household was exposed already.

Amira said for a few days they followed a home remedy for their dry cough, chills and mild fevers. It did not work for Razkya.

Their primary physician suggested the rest of the family get tested at a clinic but Amira said they were denied testing. It was assumed they all had the virus since there already was a positive case in the house.

Razkya’s condition continued to worsen and she was diagnosed with pneumonia, but not admitted because she didn’t meet certain criteria, said Amira.

After several trips to two Tri-Cities hospitals over a week, she finally was given a room at Lourdes Medical Center. She then had to be moved to Trios because she was having trouble breathing and there were a lack of ventilators.

Amira Al Salami is critical of what she said was poor communication and curt hospital employees. She said even in trying times, staff need to recognize that family members also are struggling because their loved one is fighting for their life.

And in the Iraqi culture, it is up to that family to care for their elderly because “they are the blessing of our life.”

“There is a great pain inside of me and I don’t know how to let it out,” she said.

Now, grandson Gabriel who spent every day with his grandmother understands her spirit is in heaven with angels, but doesn’t know why he can’t still see and touch her.

Their mosque organized a drive-by service for her. They stood on a curb while cars passed by with people praying and expressing their condolences, said Amira.

“It’s really hard having COVID-19, having a death in the family and this social distancing,” she said. “It’s so hard.”

Enjoyed good conversation

Family was everything to John Hall.

The Kennewick man and his twin brother, Larry, were lifelong, constant companions.

And they were just two in a “Hall community,” consisting of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, all living a few hundred feet from one another, his obituary said.

John Hall died April 5 from complications of the new coronavirus in Richland.

He was 69.

The Pasco native earned an associate’s degree from Columbia Basin College and was a certified nursing assistant, caring for those most in need before he retired.

Hall was described as having “a wonderful laugh when something tickled him” and being a dedicated Christ follower who knew the Bible well.

He enjoyed long walks and investing time in a great movie.

“He loved people and always enjoyed a good conversation with a friend or relative ...,” his family wrote.

Life on the farm

Former Franklin County Commissioner Frank Brock and his wife were nearly inseparable.

They were born on the same date in 1932, and later went on share 71 years together.

Both 87, they even fought the coronavirus side by side.

Carol died on April 5 from complications. He spent 51 days in the hospital.

Carol and Frank met on a blind date and married three years later.

In 1963, they bought a plot of land on Birch Road in Franklin County and quickly settled into farm life.

Family said Carol took immense pleasure in their work, occasionally driving an asparagus truck or taking crops to a farmers market.

“Carol was a gifted artist, quilter and avid homemaker who took great pride in the unique and largely self-created decoration of their farmhouse,” her family wrote in her obituary.

She was a member of Hillspring Church in Richland, and enjoyed her twice weekly visits with her “Road 68 Coffee Group.”

Every important anniversary, Carol and Frank returned to the church of their wedding and took a picture on the steps where they were first introduced as husband and wife.

Earlier this week, her husband of 68 years was released from the hospital to finish his recovery at the Brock family farm, north of Pasco.

This story was originally published May 24, 2020 at 12:18 PM.