Baker City, Oregon
Ronald Orville Batson, 63, of Walla Walla, Wash., a former Baker City resident, died Jan. 20, 2003, at his home after an extended illness.
His memorial service was Friday at Walla Walla. His cousin, Pastor Mouse McKinney, and Pastor Dan Neisner officiated.
Ron was born on April 9, 1939, at Cobden, Ill., to Orville Jake and Elma Simmons Batson.
His early years were spent at St. Louis, Mo. The family moved to Baker City in 1955. He was a 1958 Baker High School graduate.
Ron served in the U.S. Air Force from 1958 to 1962. He married Marie Cot on Sept. 7, 1962, at Walla Walla.
He was a 1965 graduate of Hartnell College and Salinas, Calif., and a 1966 graduate of Moler Barber College at San Jose, Calif. He retired from a 30-year career with the U.S. Postal Service at Walla Walla in 1995.
Ron and Marie owned and operated the Lavender Hill Herb Farm at Walla Walla from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Elks Lodge, the America Postal Workers Union, National Woodcarvers Association and the NORD Foundation.
He was a devout Christian, a serious Bible student and a member of the City Seventh-day Adventist Church at Walla Walla. He was a talented artist in pen and ink and also did woodcarving.
He was a Civil War buff and also studied paleontology, birds and early Christian history. Ron will be remembered as a devoted and gentle husband, father, brother, son, grandparent and friend, and for having a wonderful sense of humor.
Survivors include his wife, Marie of Walla Walla; his son, Robert, daughter-in-law, Tina, and granddaughter, Riella, all of Anchorage, Alaska; his daughter, Tina Hammons of Walla Walla; granddaughter, Natasha Husak of Portland; father and stepmother, Orville and Estelle Batson of Carbondale, Ill.; sister, Donna Scott of Baker City; half sister, Brenda Quintero of Pasadena, Calif.; cousins, Dick Culley, and his wife, Darlene, of Baker City, Al Simmons and his wife, Phoebe, of Madras, and Mouse McKinney and her husband, Jim, of La Grande; and special friends, Sherri and John Neel and Sandy and Lupe Torres.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Elma Phillips; his stepfather, Marvin Phillips; an infant sister, Clara Jean; and brother-in-law, Gerald Scott.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, January 31, 2003
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor