Baker City, Oregon
Katheryn Braswell, 90, of Baker City, died April 8, 2002, at Ashley Manor Care Center.
Her graveside funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland. The Rev. Lennie Spooner of the First Church of the Nazarene will officiate. There will be a reception afterward at the home of Pat and Bobbie Braswell.
Visitations will be until 6 o’clock tonight at Gray’s West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave.
Mrs. Braswell was born on April 5, 1912, at Baker City to A.P. and Lulu Sullivan. She attended Baker schools and was a 1930 Baker High School graduate. She was the editor of the 1930 yearbook.
She was a graduate of Southern Oregon State Normal School with a lifetime teaching certificate. She was active in Baker County education for many years as were her sister, Mabel Erickson, and her son, Patrick Braswell.
Her brother, Edward Sullivan, served several years on the Baker County School Board and her brother, Stewart Sullivan, established a scholarship fund for Baker County students.
She taught school for several years in Baker County schools at Little Lookout, Sparta, Carson and New Bridge and later served as a member of the first school board for the reorganized Pine-Eagle School District.
She married Allen Braswell on Feb. 22, 1935. They lived at New Bridge until 1942 when they moved to Sparta. There she helped her husband operate a general store, post office and ranch. She took care of two young sons, ran the general store and was appointed acting postmaster during her husbands military service during World War II.
In 1952, the family moved back to New Bridge. After retiring from teaching, she helped her husband run an upholstery business for 17 years. She was quite active in the New Bridge Grange and was frequently involved with decorating the grange booth at the Baker County Fair and keeping the Grange notebook for state competitions for community service.
She donated significant time to the community by putting together and then maintaining the Eagle Valley Cemetery records in much better order during the 20-plus years her husband served on the Eagle Valley Cemetery Maintenance Board.
Survivors include two sons, Dennis Braswell of Renton, Wash., and Patrick Braswell of Baker City; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; all eight of her siblings, Mabel Erickson of Baker City, Edward Sullivan of Hereford, Mayme Lonzway of San Diego, Ethyl Hill of Opportunity, Wash., James Sullivan of Orange County, Calif., Stewart Sullivan of Baker City, William Sullivan of Baker City and Alden Pat Sullivan of Arlington, Va.; her husband, Allen Braswell, who died in August 2000; and two sons, Michael, who died in August 1993, and Timothy, who died in July 1947.
Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice through Gray’s West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, April 12, 2002
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor