La Grande, Oregon
Ewald Albert Kehr, 84, of La Grande, died April 11 at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise. A funeral will begin at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Faith Lutheran Church, 12th Street and Gekeler Lane. The celebration of life for Ewald will also be a celebration of what would have been Ewald and Edna’s 63rd anniversary. Burial will follow at the Grandview Cemetery.
Ewald was born March 20, 1923, to Ernst and Hilda (Schroeder) Kehr in Wentworth, S.D., where he worked with his father farming.
In October 1939 he moved to Minnesota, where he met Edna Gieseke. They were married April 16, 1944, in South Branch, Minn., and farmed for the next seven years in Truman, Minn.
In 1952 they moved to Grants Pass, where Ewald was a partner in a logging operation. In 1954 he contracted polio and had to quit logging. After recovering he worked in a plywood mill and construction until he started his own contracting business.
Ewald and Edna moved to La Grande in 1976, where he worked at building as long as his health permitted. He loved woodwork, especially scroll work, and continued making wooden pliers until last winter.
Ewald’s biggest enjoyments were to go hunting and fishing with family and friends and his partner in life, Edna. He also enjoyed playing the harmonica. He was active in the Lutheran Church, serving as an elder and Sunday school superintendent, and was a member of the Lutheran Layman’s League.
Survivors include his wife, Edna Kehr; children and their spouses, Patricia and Jerry Brown, Daniel and Maura Kehr and Barbara and Gale Seavert, all of La Grande; brother, Ben Kehr of Gaylord, Minn.; and eight grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, David Kehr, and siblings, Alvin Kehr and Bertha Bruns.
Memorials may be made to the Lutheran Layman’s League or a charity of choice in care of Daniels Chapel of the Valley, 1502 Seventh Street, La Grande, 97850.
The Observer – Obituaries for the week ending April 14, 2007 Published: April 14, 2007