Harold Ward Redfield, 84, died at his home in Electric City, WA, on March 28, 2023. Harold was born in New York on December 21, 1938, the second child and oldest son of James Francis and Frances (Reisovic) Redfield. He grew up in Hollis, NY, and attended St. Gerard Majella parochial school and Brooklyn Technical High School, graduating in 1957.
Harold collected postage stamps from the time he was nine years old. His first source was the Jamestown Stamp Company, and he had five volumes. Harold wrote poetry beginning in 1954, some of which are posted on Facebook.
Harold entered the U.S. Air Force in 1958, receiving a 95 on general intelligence and a 95 on the Psi-lambda Foreign Language Aptitude Battery. As a result, Harold was sent to Yale University to learn Mandarin Chinese. He was stationed with the 6929th Radio Squadron Mobile at Pyongyang-do for six months, receiving hazardous duty pay for the time he was there.
Harold returned to New York and married Tana McCandless on February 7, 1960. Together, they had three children: William, Donald, and Daun, and they bought a house in Queens Village, NY, in December of 1964. Harold worked for New York Telephone (MA BELL) in Manhattan for 16 years (1961 - 1977), where he was slated to become a vice president, but the family moved out of the city to Stone Ridge in upstate New York. A year later, the family moved to the Wenatchee Valley. Harold applied for a position at GTE in 1978, where he was hired as a Central Office Supervisor until his retirement in 1992. Harold and Tana retired to Texas in 2010, where they enjoyed their rural home and two dogs until July 2022, returning to Washington State to be closer to their sons.
He is survived by his wife; children; 11 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.
There will be a Memorial Service for Harold held on Sunday, May 21, 2023, at Columbia River Fellowship, 30 E. First St., Mansfield, WA, at 3:00 p.m.
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