Elgin, Oregon
Colletta Delores Adams, 88, formerly of Elgin and La Grande, died Saturday at home in Southlake, Texas. Viewing will run from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday. Recitation of the holy rosary will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday at Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center in La Grande. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Elgin. Burial will follow at the Elgin Cemetery. A memorial Mass will be held at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Grapevine, Texas, at noon on April 26.
Colletta was born Feb. 10, 1920, to Joseph and Catherine Schmidt Bodenschatz in Wilmore, Pa. She grew up in Wilmore and graduated from high school there.
On Sept. 4, 1944, she married James Adams in Wilmore. They were married for almost 47 years until his death in 1991.
In 1953, she and her family moved to Elgin. Although she moved to Texas in 2003 to live with her son and his family, she always considered the Grande Ronde Valley her home.
She was an active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and St. Anne’s Altar Society in Elgin. In her later years, she was a member of the Southlake Senior Center and St. Francis Catholic Church in Grapevine, Texas.
She enjoyed crocheting, quilting, sewing and other crafts. She was often called on to hem a pair of pants or a dress at the last minute. She enjoyed cooking and baking and for many years baked pies for Snyder’s Café. Her homemade rolls were enjoyed by many each year at St. Mary’s annual Elk Hunters’ dinner. She also enjoyed working crossword puzzles and successfully completed them most days until shortly before her death.
Survivors include her children, Delores Adams of Richardson, Texas, Kaye and her husband, Mike Hanson, of Vancouver, Wash., Becky and her husband Rod Nichols, of Boise, Idaho, daughter-in-law, Lessa Adams of Elgin; Ed and his wife, Donna, of Southlake, Texas; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; and a son, Harold in 2004.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Mary’s Catholic Church or Call A Ride Southlake (CARS) in care of Daniels-Knopp, 1502 Seventh Street, La Grande 97850.
La Grande Observer, Obituaries for the week ending April 12, 2008