Baker City, Baker County, Oregon
Thomas W. Dryden, 95, of Baker City, died Jan. 2, 2003, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center.
At his request, there will be no funeral services.
Disposition was by cremation at Gray’s West Pioneer Crematory.
Mr. Dryden was born Feb. 16, 1907, in Dodge City, Kan., to Charles W. Dryden and Rose Bell (Arbuckle) Dryden. He was the youngest of three children.
When he was quite young, the family moved to Indiana, several years later to Arizona, and on to southern California.
He married Doris E. Smith on Sept. 12, 1931, in Yuma, Ariz., and settled in Escondido, Calif., where he had been working for the Matzen Ranches since the mid-1920s, raising avocados and oranges until his retirement in the mid-1970s.
Mr. Dryden was a past member of BPOE in Escondido. He was an outdoors person and loved camping and fishing with their friends. He and Doris moved to Baker City in 1997 to be near their daughter and son-in-law.
He was loved and very respected by all who were fortunate enough to know him.
Survivors include his wife of 71 years, Doris, of Baker City; daughter and son-in-law, Mickie and Skip Bell of Baker City; grandchildren, Sue Tessler and husband, Marc, of Santee, Calif., Tomi Jo Giedeman and her brother, Bob, of San Diego, Calif., Laurie Cantrell of Ruidoso Downs, N.M., Dakin Bell and his wife, Erin, of Seattle, Wash., and Stacy Bell of Portland; nieces, Earlyne Swanson and husband, Jim, of Escondido, Calif., Rosemary Sams and husband, Ed, of Yreka, Calif.; nine great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Betty Jo Willman, his brother, Verner Dryden, and his sister, Frances Zickefoose.
Memorial contributions may be made to Pathway Hospice in care of Gray’s West & Company, P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, January, 10, 2003
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor