Erma Gladys Guyer, 93, a former Baker City resident, died Aug. 4, 2004 at Boise after having lived a long life filled with simple pleasures.
Her funeral will be Monday, Aug. 9, at 9 a.m. PDT at the Alden Waggoner Funeral Chapel, 5400 Fairview Ave. in Boise.
Interment with graveside services will follow at Mount Hope Cemetery on Monday at 2:30 p.m. PDT.
Erma was born Oct. 23, 1910, at Richland. She grew up on her parents’ sheep ranch on the Powder River and attended Sunnyside School in Eagle Valley.
As a teenager, Erma worked as a cook at the Sass and Schneau Sheep Ranch in Richland. There Erma met Louis Guyer. After a two-year courtship, Louis and Erma were married on May 18, 1928.
As newlyweds, Erma and Louis moved into their own little home within the Buffalo mining camp in the Blue Mountains, west of Baker City, where Louis worked.
Erma loved to ride horses, and she owned dogs and pet canaries. She especially enjoyed going fishing with her husband.
Later Erma and Louis moved to Baker City where they raised two sons. Erma also worked at Hotel Baker as a salad chef. In 1971 the couple moved to Boise.
Her sons remember Erma as an outstanding caregiver. During the Great Depression, Erma fed hobos, took in single mothers and their children for several years, took in one young man for years, as well as taking in several others for short periods of time. Then, when Erma’s husband was disabled from a mining accident, she took care of him for 41 years. Erma also took care of her aging mother for several years.
Erma will be missed by her family and friends.
Survivors include her two sons, Dale and his wife, Donna, and Vernon and his wife, Cynthia; one sister, Anita Smith of Grangeville, Idaho; two brothers, Joe Wilson of Slate Creek, Idaho, and Harold Wilson of Gooding, Idaho; five grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and 16 great-great-grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to the Boise Rescue Mission or to the charity of one’s choice.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, August 6, 2004
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor