Baker City, Oregon
Dorothy Arlie Stuart, 87, a former longtime resident of Baker City and Richland, died Feb. 9, 2002, at her home in Omak, Wash.
Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Richland Christian Church. Pastor Gordon Bond of the church will officiate. Vault interment will be in the Eagle Valley Cemetery at Richland. Visitations will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at Gray’s West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave.
Dorothy was born on Feb. 11, 1914, at Ephrata, Wash., to Harvey and Martha Pruitt Coombes. She spent her younger years at Republic, Wash., later moving to Seattle, Wash., and then to Baker City.
She married Gordon Stuart on Feb. 4, 1934. They lived at Enterprise for several years and then returned to Baker City. They moved to Boise in the fall of 1957. Upon Gordon’s retirement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they returned to Baker County and had a ranch at New Bridge.
After Gordon’s death in 1995, Dorothy moved back into Baker City where she lived until 1998 when she moved to Omak, Wash., to be near her daughter, Dorothy Kendall.
She worked for Sylvan’s Laundry (Crown Cleaners) and J.C. Penney Co. in Baker City and as a secretary for the welfare office in Boise.
Her greatest interest was music. She first played the organ at the age of 4. She didn’t read music, but played the piano and organ all her life. She played the organ for the Nazarene Church at Richland when she and Gordon lived at New Bridge. She also enjoyed gardening, especially tending to her houseplants, candle-making and needlework. She was a devoted wife and mother and was always there for her family.
Survivors include a son, Walters Dee Stuart, and his wife, Virginia, of La Grande; a daughter, Dorothy Kendall, and her husband, Donald, of Omak, Wash.; grandchildren, Gordon, Kevin, Shelley, Jim, Deneen and Michael Stuart, Jim Dutton and Christine Larkin, Gregory, David, Robert Kendall and Jennifer Martin; and stepgrandchildren, Ed and Jon Gilmore, Don Frashier and Tina Kassel; numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Gertrude Spencer of Troy, Idaho, and Veytha Berry of Woodland, Wash.; and two special caregivers, Rosa Lopez and Val Gorr.
She also was preceded in death by her daughter, Gloria; two grandsons, a brother and two sisters.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Eagle Valley Ambulance Fund or the American Heart Association through Gray’s West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814 or The Neuropathy Association, 60 East 42 St., Suite 942, New York, NY 10165-0999.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, February 15, 2002
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor