Ronald Duane Culley, 66, a former Baker City resident, died Sept. 26, 2007, at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Boise.
His memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Baker City Church of the Nazarene, 1250 Hughes Lane. Pastor Jonathan Privett of the Nazarene Church will officiate.
Ron was born on July 17, 1941, in Baker City to Harold and Catherine Bradley Culley. He lived for a couple of years in Baker City then spent about a year on the Umatilla Army Depot where his father was working.
He moved from there to the Bourne area where his father worked as a gold miner. He lived there with his family until about age 5.
His father mined with his grandfather, Hal Bradley. In 1947, the family moved from Bourne to Granite where Ron attended first and second grade. He moved to Sumpter and attended school in the old schoolhouse that sat on the hill beside the Masonic hall. He rode the school bus from Sumpter to Baker for Grades 7-9 at the Helen Stack Junior High.
Ron spent time on the Arch Payton Ranch out in Wingville in 1957-1958 where he learned to break horses and run farm and ranch equipment with Arch and Blanch Payton. He learned the old are full of wisdom.
He enlisted in the U.S Army as an engineer in 1958 and served two years in Saumur, France, as a pole lineman installing telephone wire. After his discharge in 1961 he married Shirley Johnson of Olympia, Wash. He worked for Eastern Oregon Television in Baker as a lineman.
After a divorce, Ron moved to California and worked for Audett Enterprises as a welder and metal fabricator. After moving back to Caldwell, Idaho, he married Roxann Ekhart of Caldwell and worked for her father at United Iron and Metals.
After they divorced Ron moved to Ontario. In 1974 he met and married Sharon Hoffman and had two children, Luke and Kimberly. He started a taxi business and credited his success to his wife, Sharon, for her wisdom and advice.
He also worked for Treasure Valley Motors as an auto mechanic. Ron was a member of the Nazarene Church in Baker City.
He loved to hunt, fish and camp on Ebell Creek as well as in the Eagle Caps. He loved to raise flowers, especially the sweet Williams, John Kennedy and the Lincoln Roses. He stated many times his wife’s green thumb and her advice is what made the flowers flourish.
Ron’s family said he left this advice to the young: Store life’s memories of family and friends and never turn away those in need; their need may one day be yours.
Survivors include his children, Luke and Kimberly of Baker City; his best friend, Magic; his wife, LaVora of Ontario; stepchildren, David, Kathy, Helen, and Melody of Leesburg, Texas; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Pittsburg and Leesburg, Texas; his aunt, Pat Culley of Baker City, who filled his need for a mother; and many other aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews, including a special nephew, Michael of Pendleton.
Ron was preceded in death by his parents, two sets of grandparents, his uncle and some aunts.
Memorial contributions may be made to the funeral home to assist with funeral expenses: Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, October 2, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor