Baker City, Oregon
Margaret Anna Smith, 83, of Baker City, died Aug. 24, 2006, at St. Elizabeth Care Center.
Visitations will be today from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. Her graveside service will be Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Mount Hope Cemetery. Jack Pittman of the Baker City Christian Church will officiate.
Margaret was born July 10, 1923, at Klondike in Sherman County to William G. and Pansy Gwynne Seehafer.
She started school at Helix and in the fourth grade the family moved to Lena, where she attended a country school, and then went to Heppner. As a freshman she went to school in Ione.
She was a member of the Christian Church, the Legion Auxiliary, the VFW Auxiliary and an honorary member of the Elks Lodge.
Margaret worked for many years and retired from Levinger’s Rexall Drug Store.
She enjoyed her family, her home and garden, and flowers. She also loved to fish, and enjoyed the mountains and wildlife.
Survivors include her children, Jo Ann Hayes and her husband, Ken, of Woodland, Wash., Elaine Johnston and her husband, Guy, of Elko, Nev., John Gaarsland and his wife, Amy, of Baker City, and Melvin Gaarsland and his wife, Terri, of Elko, Nev.; 13 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; three sisters, Jane Tye of Enterprise, Billie Ballweg of Fort Worth, Texas, and Mildred Tavares of Eagle, Idaho; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ray W. Smith, who died in November 1987; her parents; and her sisters, Eulenna Vaughan and Gladys Holderman.
Memorial contributions may be made to Community Connection of Baker County through Gray’s West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, September 1, 2006
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor