Cove, Union County, Oregon
Funeral services for Roy J. Baker, 84, Cove, will be held 2 p.m. Saturday at Dempsey’s Funeral Chapel. He died Wednesday at Valley View Manor following an extended illness.
Rev. Paul O. Jewell of the First Methodist Church will officiate the services. Vault interment will follow at the Cove Cemetery.
Baker was born Feb. 1, 1890 at Osakis, Minn., the son of George Baker and Hannah Saunders. They moved to Oregon in 1895, stopping in Union where they lived a short while. Later the family moved to the Cove area onto the old Payne farm now known as the Marvin Childers farm. Baker graduated from Cove High School in 1912.
During part of 1905 and 1906,Baker was a substitute mail carrier to Nibley. He also hauled cream from Cove to Union.
He married Amy R. Barker in November 1912 at Cove and she preceeded him in death in 1922.
In 1916, he purchased the old Daughtery ranch from Dr. Corpe, where he and his family lived until he sold it in 1952 and moved into Cove. His main interest were cattle and sheep production.
Baker was a member of the Cove Methodist Church; Odd Fellows Lodge, of which he was a past grand master; Rebekah Lodge; and the Farm Bureau. He was the first president of the Union County Cattlemen’s Association in 1948 and was the Union County Catttlemen of the Year in 1953.
Baker is survived by a son, Claude E. of Cove; daughter, Mrs. John (Lois Jean) Kirby of Union; stepson Almon Geiss of Portland; six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and other relatives. He was preceded in death by one son.
The La Grande Observer,
January 24, 1975
Contributed by:Holly Vonderohe