System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Elaine Leigh
Elaine Betty "Hap" Leigh, 84, of Baker City, who was nicknamed "Happy" by a close friend, died May 5, 2005, at St. Elizabeth Nursing Home.
There will be a Celebration of Life service at 1 p.m. Saturday at Gray's West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave. Pastor Monte Loyd of Harvest Church will officiate. There will be a reception afterward at the home of Bill and Cindy Leigh.
Elaine was born on April 27, 1921, at Wingville to Percy Huston Lewis and Thelma Alice Petersen-Lewis. She was born a twin with Adele Lewis-Williams. She lived most of her life in the Baker City area. She also spent a short time in Pendleton and the Portland area.
Elaine married Chester Ingram on July 5, 1938. They had three children, Lyle Chester Ingram, Judy Diane Ingram and Carl Lewis "Lewy" Ingram.
She married William Paul Leigh on June 7, 1947. They had two children, William Paul Leigh Jr. and Mary Alice Leigh.
Elaine worked as a waitress, a farm hand and a cook. She enjoyed going on picnics with friends and family, traveling to the mountains and the Snake River area, camping, fishing, cooking, knitting, crocheting and she had an enormous love for animals.
She was a loving person with a very kind heart. She will be missed by her friends and family. She had a sense of humor and livened things up wherever she was.
Survivors include two sisters, Zena Edwards and Faye Edge, both of Baker City; a son, Lyle Ingram of San Diego; daughter, Judy Ingram of Baker City; son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Cindy Leigh of Baker City; daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Lon Nalder of Oxbow; 12 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, William P. Leigh; a son, Carl Lewis Ingram; a sister, Adele Williams; and a granddaughter, Diana Francis-Hulick.
Memorial contributions may be made to Pathway Hospice through Gray's West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
La Neva Shephard
La Neva E. (Scott) Shephard, 89, of Ontario, died May 7, 2005 in an Ontario assisted-living facility.
Funeral services will be Friday at 11 a.m. (MDT) at the First United Methodist Church in Ontario. The Rev. Linda Tucker will officiate. A graveside service will follow at 1 p.m. (PDT) at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Lienkaemper Funeral Chapel in Ontario.
La Neva was born July 10, 1915 to Herbert H. and Myrtle F. (Powell) Scott in Oroville, Wash. As a small child she moved and eventually settled with her family in Baker City, where she was an excellent student, graduating from Baker High School with a Certificate of Honor. La Neva also studied accounting, and was soon employed by W. C. Calder Enterprises, working within their offices.
La Neva fell in love and soon married Wallace D. Shephard of Baker City on June 20, 1937 in Klamath Falls in the Christian Church. While Wallace was working in Klamath Falls, La Neva spent her days working as a personal secretary to Dr. A. Soule, M.D., and soon after worked for Shaw Lumber Co. as a secretary in their Klamath Falls office.
Upon returning to Baker, La Neva worked as a secretary for the Baker Wholesale Grocery Co., and later resigned from that job to raise her growing family. When all of her five children were in school, she worked as a bookkeeper for the Baker Goodyear Store. In 1964, La Neva, her husband and daughter Christina moved to Weiser, Idaho, where they operated the Washington Hotel Dining room for six years.
In 1970, La Neva and her husband operated the La Paloma Restaurant in Ontario for 5 years and she eventually worked as a bookkeeper for the Charlois Restaurant where Wallace was executive chef until they both retired in 1985. La Neva was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Baker City and Ontario, the Community Concert Association, a long-standing member of the Disabled American Veteran Auxiliary, the American Legion Auxiliary, a past member of the Elk's Emblem Club, and a past secretary of The Business and Professional Women's Club of Weiser.
La Neva, known for her wonderful smile, was an incredibly devoted wife and mother.
She is survived by her five children, Sharron L. Ewing and her husband, Duane, Wallace Scott Shephard and his wife, Sherrie, Carolyn E. Medlin and her husband, Jerry, Delbert H. Shephard, and Christina E. Bonadiman and her husband, Brent; 16 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild and her brother, William H. Scott, and his wife, Nan.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and a great-grandchild, Kassandra Ewing.
George Morton
George Byron Morton, 85, of Baker City, died May 9, 2005 at St. Elizabeth Health Services.
Graveside memorial services will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. at Mount Hope Cemetery. Baker City AMVETS Post 1874 will conduct military rites.
George was born in Baker City on Jan. 8, 1920, to Zarelda Mae Sparks and George B. Morton.
Upon graduation from Huntington High School, he began work for the Union Pacific Railroad. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942, where he served in campaigns in Sicily, Naples, Foggia, Rome-Arno, Southern France and Germany. During his time in the service, he attained the rank of Staff Sargent and was a tank commander in Company B, 191st Tank Battalion, and received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Following the war, he returned to work for the Union Pacific Railroad. Upon retiring from the railroad, he purchased Ray's Grocery in Huntington. After retirement from the store, he moved to Baker City.
He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He belonged to the V.F.W., American Legion and Disabled American Veterans.
George is survived by his wife, Letha, of Baker City; two daughters, Shirley, and son-in-law, Dale King, of Medford and Mary Lou Kendrick and son-in-law, Jeff Blanchard, of Anacortes, Wash.; a son, Grant Morton, and daughter-in-law, Rebecca, of Pullman, Wash.; four grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Irene, and half brothers, Willis and Henry Foersterling.
Memorial contributions may be directed to the Senior Center through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.
Forrest Hamilton Sr.
Forrest Lee Hamilton Sr., 62, of Baker City, died May 4, 2005, at St. Luke's Hospital in Boise.
His funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Gray's West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. Keith Long will officiate. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Visitations will be until 8 o'clock tonight at Gray's West & Co. Pioneer Chapel.
Forrest was born on June 1, 1942, at Dexter, Mo., to Howard Houston Hamilton and Dorothy Earlees Irvin. He was raised by his dad, Antero "Terry" Banes.
He attended school at Earlimart, Calif., and joined the U.S. Navy Reserves in 1959. Forrest graduated from Delano High School in 1961 and joined the U.S. Navy on June 8, 1961.
He transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard on July 1, 1972, as a flight engineer and A/E electrician for the C-130s. He retired from the USCG on Aug. 30, 1982.
He married Carolyn Dixon Boesch on May 9, 1992.
Forrest was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He loved the outdoors, and hunting and shooting were his passions.
He supported and helped everyone he met. He loved his family and especially his grandchildren.
Survivors include his wife, Carolyn; stepson, Devan Boesch, and wife, Melissa, of Baker City; step-daughter, Kellie Blair, and her husband, Jon, of Redmond; son, Forrest L. "Chip" Hamilton Jr. of Bremerton, Wash.; daughter, Don Jean Hamilton of Grand Rapids, Mich.; brothers, Bill Hamilton and his wife, Anna, of South Carolina, Terry Joe Banes and his wife, Donna, of Porterville, Calif., Ron Banes and his wife, Kandy, of Kennewick, Wash., and Tommy Banes and his wife, Dorothy, of Claremore, Okla.; sisters, Donna Hatfield and her husband, Bill, of Porterville, Calif., Earlees Hamilton of Porterville, Calif., Ann Hurley and her husband, Richard, of Baker City, and Mary Lee Hall and her husband, Jerry, of Wasilla, Alaska; three grandchildren, Alexander Boesch Blair and Nickolas Jon Blair of Redmond and Josalyn Rani Boesch of Baker City; 21 nieces and nephews; and numerous cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Antero and Dorothy Banes; and two brothers, Gene and Jimmy Hamilton.
Memorial contributions may be made to the family to help with services or to the Disabled Veterans of America through Gray's West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Sharon Derrick
Sharon Derrick, 66, of Ontario, a former longtime Baker County resident, died May 7, 2005, at Ontario from colon cancer.
Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Community United Methodist Church, 240 S.E. Third St., in Ontario. Private interment will be later.
Visitations will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Haren-Wood Funeral Chapel, 2543 Fourth Ave., in Ontario.
Sharon was born on Jan. 25, 1939, at Belle Fourche, S.D., to Hugh and Laura Cathey. She moved to Baker City with her family in the 1940s. She married Harley Derrick in 1958.
The family moved to their Jimtown farm in 1967. She raised her family in beautiful Pine Valley, an area she truly loved. In 1994, she and Harley moved to the Ontario area to be close to their grandchildren.
The family expressed appreciation to Dr. Douglas Fraker, Dr. James Metz, Debbie Smith and the University of Pennsylvania staff for allowing her to participate in a Phase II study in photo-dynamic therapy to further the research for a cure for cancer. They also thanked Dr. Larry Fiorentino and the oncology nurses at Fruitland Mountain States Tumor Institute for their caring service. And they expressed appreciation to Dr. John Phillips and the staff of Holy Rosary Medical Center in Ontario for their love and concern for Sharon during her long treatment.
Survivors include her husband, Harley; twin daughters, Kathy Iida, and her husband, Steve, and their two children, Chelsey and Chase, and Karen Ross and her husband, Tony, and their two children, Dashel and Sophie; a son, Mike, and his wife, Diahann, and their two children, Daniel and Katelyn; two very special nieces/daughters, Karla Cathey and Ora Mae Rosser, who never failed to visit her each year for 40 years; her loving sister, Verla Boles, and her husband, Bill, who were a constant support during her lengthy illness; her mother, Laura Cathey; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father, Hugh; a sister, Velma; two brothers, Lloyd and LaVern; and a special niece, Darla Cathey, twin to Karla.
‘Dick' Hanson
Richard Lee "Dick" Hanson, 69, died May 7, 2005 at Pacific Specialty & Rehab Care in Vancouver, Wash., from complications of a stroke.
Disposition was by cremation. There will be no funeral. A celebration of his life will be scheduled later this spring in Baker City to allow distant friends and relatives to attend.
Dick was born on Feb. 21, 1936, at Des Moines, Iowa. He attended high school at Des Moines and graduated from Iowa State University at Ames with a bachelor's degree in forestry.
He married Laura Sue McCollum on June 14, 1959. Dick and Sue moved to Oregon in 1963, when Dick took a job with the Bureau of Land Management in Eugene. They moved to Baker City in 1981, and he retired from the BLM in 1994.
Dick was a longtime member of the U.S. Army Reserve.
Survivors include his wife, Sue, of Baker City; his son, Tim Hanson, of Corvallis; his daughter, Cindy Hanson, of St. Paul, Minn.; and his beloved dog, Max.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and his brother, Bob.
In lieu of gifts or flowers, the family suggests that those who wish to remember him plant a tree, because he knew and loved the forest so well.
Steve Young
Steven Eugene Young, 55, of Hereford and formerly of Blackfoot, Idaho, died May 2, 2005, at Holy Rosary Medical Center in Ontario after a long illness.
His graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Gilliland Cemetery in Sweet Home. Vault interment will be at Gilliland Cemetery.
Steve was born on Aug. 5, 1949, at Longview, Wash., to Oscar Gene Young and Betty Alaine Wood. As a family they traveled extensively, wherever the logging jobs took them. The family finally settled at Sweet Home, where Steve attended high school. Steve became quite an athlete and loved sports, especially football.
In 1968, Steve married Millie Cox. They had three children: Tanella "Tani" of Salem; Bobi-Jo of Pinedale, Wyo.; and Steve "Buddy" of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Although Steve and Millie were divorced in 1981, she remained his one and only true love.
Steve lived most of his life in Alaska working as a welder/fabricator. He enjoyed working on big-block Chevy engines and, following in his father's footsteps, became quite a mechanic, rebuilding several pick-up trucks.
His great love was the Alaskan bush wilderness where he hunted elk, caribou and moose. In the early 1990s, he bagged a record bull moose, which he had head mounted and loved to show off. He enjoyed sharing stories of his many hunting trips, filming many videos of those experiences.
Steve returned to Oregon in 1999 to be with his children and grandchildren, Crystal, Kalie, Jamie, Tiffanie, Brian and Mariah. He was a strong man with integrity and kindness who was loved by his family and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Survivors include his mother; his children; five grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; his sisters, Patsy Wilkinson, and her husband, Howard, of Albany, Chris Beeller and her husband, Basil, of Pine Hollow, and Teri Nelson and her husband, Larry Garrels, of Hereford; his very good friends, Jim Sweeney, Cord Parson and Dennis Hilscher; and many good friends in Alaska.
He was preceded in death by his father in 1996.
‘Shorty' Phillips
Dave "Shorty" Phillips, 74, of Prineville, a former Baker City resident, died April 29, 2005, at St. Charles Medical Center at Bend.
At his request, there will be no public service.
Shorty was born on Oct. 10, 1930, to William George and Margarette Akin Phillips at Emmett, Idaho. The family moved to Kinzu when he was 16 where he worked in the mill.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served four years. After his discharge, he moved to Prineville in 1952. He married Colettia Joreg on May 2, 1953, at Goldendale, Wash. She died on Prineville on May 2, 1973.
He later married Ila Stephenson on May 6, 1976, at Reno, Nev. She died on Nov. 19, 2004, at Prineville.
He worked for Hudspeth Mill as a saw filer. He then worked for Crown-Louisiana Pacific and then for Ellingson Lumber Co. until his retirement in 1993.
Shorty lived in Baker City from 1987 to 1997, and then moved back to Prineville. He loved woodworking and the great outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. He was a life member of the American Legion, Post 29.
Survivors include his daughter, Becky Stewart of Prineville; a daughter, Barbara Phillips of Denver; son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Amy Phillips of Spokane, Wash.; stepdaughter and son-in-law, Sandy and Ernie Slavey of Prineville; stepson and daughter-in-law, Jesse and Kathy Fuller of Prineville; his brothers, Merle and Frank Phillips, both of Bend; sister, Juanita Beard of Prineville; six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and numerous stepgrandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Prineville Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Owen Bleakman
Owen Neal Bleakman, 88, a longtime Baker City resident, died May 3, 2005, at St. Elizabeth Health Services.
There will be no burial service. Inurnment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Gray's West & Company Pioneer Chapel.
Owen was born Aug. 9, 1916, at Hardman to Bertrum Percy Bleakman and Hatty May Emery. He attended schools in Hardman and Heppner. When Owen was 18, he moved to Bates, where he worked at the Bates mill as a carpenter helper for one year. While in Bates, he met his wife-to-be, Katherine Taylor. They were married June 4, 1938, in Tacoma, Wash.
Leaving Bates, Owen bought a bus line, "Gray Rock Lines, " which traveled from Arlington to John Day to Heppner and Pendleton. After two and a half years, Owen sold the bus line and moved to Tacoma, where he worked in the ship yards.
In 1943, Owen enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became an air force aviation machinist mate 1st class. He was stationed at Terminal Island, Calif., for two years. He was in the service from 1943 to 1946.
Returning to Baker City, Owen and his brother-in-law, Roy Crockett, purchased a service station and re-cap tire shop on 10th Street. They later built and owned three tire shops known as Roy & Owen Tires, located in Baker City, Ontario and Weiser, Idaho. In 1985, they both retired.
Owen was a life member of the Elks Lodge No. 338, Shrine Club president and past member of the Masonic AM & FM No. 47. He also served on the Baker Planning Commission for two years and the Chamber of Commerce board. He very much enjoyed being involved in the Powder River Sportsmen's Club. He loved to play golf and served on the Baker City Golf Board and was a lifetime member of the golf club.
Owen had a full and happy life. Family was very important to him. He was a avid golfer, hunter and fisherman and also had a love for nature and feeding deer and quail.
He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, one sister, his loving wife, Katherine Bleakman, and his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Roy and Rosie Crockett.
Survivors include his very special best friend, Mary Basche; nieces, Darlene Friedlander and Deanna Reeve and brother-in-law, Les Taylor. His dog, Teddy, was always by his side.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children through Gray's West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
