Sylvia Ruth Price, 85, of La Grande, died at her home March 24. A funeral service begins at 10 a.m. Friday at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in La Grande. Loveland Funeral Chapel and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.
The eighth of 12 children, Sylvia was born Jan. 5, 1923, to Fredrick and Olive (Crisp) Duneman on a farm near Cresco, Iowa. She and some of her siblings walked 1 1/2 miles to a country school until junior high, then they went to school in town. After her school years she worked at different jobs, doing waitress work and working at the Cresco Hospital.
When World War II started, she and her sister Eunice moved to Madison, Wis. After working there for some time, she went with a girlfriend to Denver. Sylvia worked at Remington Arms, a defense plant, until 1945 when the war ended. She then moved back to Cresco, where she met Harvey. They married on Nov. 28, 1945.
The couple later moved to Kellogg, Idaho, where their son, Neil, was born on Jan. 20, 1947. They later moved back to Cresco for a few years, then moved to Grundy Center, Iowa, where they bought a short-order café in Morrison. They later sold that and bought one in Grundy Center.
They moved to Springfield where they bought and operated an ice cream store for a couple of years. They were then offered a job managing a retirement home. After a few years, they were transferred to Beaverton to manage another retirement home there. Later, they decided to retire to La Gande where their son was living.
Sylvia was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and enjoyed traveling, crocheting and working in her garden.
She is survived by her son, Neil, and his wife, Gloria; one granddaughter; brothers, Jerry of New Hampton, Iowa, and Virgil of Cresco, Iowa; and one sister, Eunice, of Grants Pass. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; three brothers; and five sisters, all of Iowa.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Union County Home Health Hospice, P.O. Box 3290, La Grande 97850.
La Grande Observer – Obituaries for the week ending March 29, 2008 – Published March 27, 2008
Submitted by Dixie Ricker