La Grande, Oregon
Horton K. Andrews, 92, longtime resident of La Grande and Union County, died April 20 in a Portland nursing home following an extended illness. At his request there will be no service. Loveland Funeral Chapel and Alternative Burial and Cremation of Oregon are in charge of arrangements.
Horton was born July 19, 1915, in Perry. In 1933 he graduated from La Grande High School – a school he was proud to have represented in the first statewide high school basketball tournament.
He worked for the Mount Emily Lumber Co. for 30 years and later spent 15 years as the first chemistry storeroom keeper at Eastern Oregon University. On May 3, 1941, he married Ruth E. Tulley at her family home in Wallowa.
He was long active in the La Grande United Methodist Church. He and Ruth enjoyed attending plays and concerts at the college and dinners with the Knife and Fork Club. In the 1950s and early 1960s, he served on the La Grande School Board, including a term as its chair.
His childhood in Perry left him an authority on its sawmills and the Grande Ronde River log drives, and it helped foster his lifelong love for the history and geography of Northeast Oregon. As his sometimes weary family could attest, he tried to drive or hike nearly every road, track or trail in the central and northern Blue Mountains. Few lakes in the Wallowas escaped his visit.
Survivors include his wife, Ruth; daughters, Karla Long of Albany and Sharla Rickles of Portland; son, Michael Andrews of Gresham; four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
La Grande Observer, Obituaries for the week ending April 26, 2008