Baker City, Oregon
Mena Norris, 99, died April 25, 2004, at Settlers’ Park Assisted Living.
Her graveside service will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Mount Hope Cemetery. Pastor Robin Harris of the Cornerstone Baptist Church will officiate.
Mena Norris was born on Dec. 18, 1904, at Granite. She was the daughter of Grant County pioneers, J.W. “Walkie” and Margaret McNulty Tabor. She attended school at the Columbia Mine and Sumpter.
In July 1923, she married Earl Hackett at the Methodist parsonage in Baker City. Earl followed mining and their first home was at Homestead.
After several years of working at small mines they moved to northern Idaho and Earl worked as a shift boss at the Hecla Mine at Burke until his retirement because of ill health. At that time Mena began working as a cook at the Wallace Elks Club.
She continued in charge of the kitchen and she was noted for her excellent home-style cooking. Earl died in 1961.
In 1965 she married Carl Norris. At the time of his death in 1982 they were living at Osburn, Idaho. Mena continued living there until 1999 when she moved to Baker City to be near family.
Mena was active in community affairs. She was a noble grand of the Rebekah Lodge, a longtime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, a member of the Eagles Lodge, the Lady Elks, and the Garden Club.
Survivors include her sister, Theresa Fowler of Baker City; nephews, Albert Tabor, and his wife, Eldamarie, of Prineville, and Richard Tabor and his wife, Virginia, of Burns; nieces, Christina Beck of California, Gail Boes and her husband, John, of Spokane, Wash., and Ronda McLean of Lewiston, Idaho; and numerous great-nieces and great-nephews, several cousins; her many friends in the Wallace area and the girls at Settlers’ Park who will miss her.
Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of one’s choice through Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, April 30, 2004
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor
