Payette County ID

Sasser, Myrna Karleen – Obituary

Myrna Karleen Sasser, 70, formerly of Wallowa County, died Aug. 6 at her home in Idaho. Burial will be at the Enterprise Cemetery. Summers Funeral Homes of Boise is in charge of arrangements. Miss Sasser was born Jan. 28, 1936, to Foy A. and Edna Byrle Sturm Sasser near Enterprise. She graduated from high school in New Plymouth, Idaho, and attended Nampa Business College. She worked as a legal secretary for attorneys in Boise and Eugene, and for U.S. Sen. Frank Church in Washington, D.C. She returned to Boise in 1980. She published the decisions of the Idaho Industrial Commission … Read more

Biography of William L. Ryder

Prominent among the businessmen of Payette is William Louis Ryder, who for eight years has been closely identified with the history of the city as a representative of one of its most important business interests. He is a man of keen discrimination and sound judgment, and his executive ability and excellent management have brought to the concern with which he is connected a large degree of success. The safe, conservative policy which he inaugurated commends itself to the judgment of all, and has secured to the company a patronage which makes the volume of trade transacted over its counters of … Read more

Jones, Roy Vernon

Roy Vernon Jones, 79, of Haines, died Feb. 21, 2005, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. At his request there will be no service. Disposition was by cremation. Mr. Jones was born on March 5, 1925, at Doniphan, Mo., to Eddy and Lina Eagan Jones. He was the youngest of 11 children. He started his education in Missouri and completed it at Rockbridge, Ill. At age 18 he was inducted into the U.S. Army at Peoria, Ill. He suffered injuries in a training plane crash and was given a medical discharge after three months. He had a beautiful voice and played … Read more

Biography of Garner Miner

For thirty-eight years Garner Miner has been a resident of Idaho, having come to the territory in 1861, when the development of this great northwest was in its incipiency and the frontiersmen had to meet many privations and dangers. The Indians were frequently on the warpath, carrying death and devastation wherever they went; and separated from the base of sup-plies, from the comforts and luxuries of the east the pioneers endured hardships undreamed of by the present generation. In those days brave hearts were necessary, indeed, but the same spirit of Anglo-Saxon daring, fortitude and stability, which, has characterized the … Read more

Hickerson, Mabel Boyce Mrs. Obituary

Mabel (Boyce) Hickerson, 98, a former resident of Payette, Idaho, died at her Salem home Monday, Feb. 3, 2003. Mabel’s family were pioneers in the Baker Valley. A graveside service will be held at Riverside Cemetery, Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. Survivors include daughters, Beverly Perkins of Fruitland, Idaho, and LaVelle Lasher and her husband, Frank of Salem; 11 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; 12 great-great-grandchildren; and a sister, Helen Brown of California. She was preceded in death by her husband, Art (1959); daughters, Genevieve Brown (1999) and Evelyn Cainan (2002); and three sons-in-law. Memorial contributions may be made to Payette … Read more

Burgess, Eliza Ann Horn – Obituary

Services for Mrs. Eliza A. Burgess, 66, Vale resident for the past 35 years who died in her home Sunday [January 7, 1968], was at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Chapel of the Roses at Payette, with Elder Harry Sunday Fry of Payette Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints officiating. Mrs. Burgess was born in Ellensburg, Wash., Oct. 16, 1901. In 1915 she moved with her family to Oregon, settling in Curry County. She was married to Fred Burgess, December 19, 1922 in Coquille, Ore. They lived in Curry County 11 years and came to Vale in 1933. They … Read more

Smith, Robert Darrel – Obituary

Robert Darrel Smith passed away peacefully early October 16, 2004, at Ivy Place in Boise, Idaho. Darrel was born in the Crane Creek, Idaho area, April 20, 1904, to Alex and Effie Anne Cochran Smith, the youngest of three children. The family lived on their father’s homestead until Darrel was 2 years old, when they moved to Payette, Idaho. When he was 7, the family moved to the ranch his father purchased near Durkee where he rode a horse to a one-room schoolhouse and completed the eighth grade. After attending his high school freshman year in Brownsville, Ore., he returned … Read more

Biography of Robert Van Gilse

The capable and educated gentleman, of whom we now have the privilege of writing, is one of the leading fruit men of the entire northwest, being better fitted, doubtless, than most in this industry in the entire country, for in addition to the practical experience in handling nurseries and fruit farms themselves, he has received from some of the leading horticultural schools of Europe the best theoretical and practical training that is now the privilege of a man to secure. It is with great pleasure, therefore, that we grant space here for an epitome of his interesting career. And it … Read more

Biography of Joseph F. Griffin

For more than a half century Joseph F. Griffin, of Ketchum, has resided in the northwest. A native of Kentucky, he was born in Cumberland County, December 10, 1831. The family is of Scotch origin, and the first American progenitors were early settlers of South Carolina and participants in many of the events which form the colonial history of the south. Jesse Griffin, the grandfather of our subject, was one of the pioneers of Kentucky, where occurred the birth of Burrell Bell Griffin, the father of Joseph. Having arrived at years of maturity he married Miss Sally Thogmorton a native … Read more

Russell, Gerald Dee “Jerry” – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Gerald Dee “Jerry” Russell, 67, died June 22, 2003, at his home in Baker City. At his request, there will be no formal funeral. His family will have a private gathering in celebration of being a part of Jerry’s life. He was born on Nov. 8, 1935, at Farmington, Iowa, to Craige and Annabelle Lucille Dee Russell. About the age of 8, he moved with his family to Fruitland, Idaho. It was there that Jerry graduated high school and a short time later married Barbara Reimers. The couple had two daughters: Lori and Sandra. During his life … Read more

Haines, Christene Lois French Corcoran Mrs. – Obituary

Christene Lois Corcoran Haines, 74, of New Plymouth, Idaho, and formerly of Baker City, died April 12, 2008, at home with her family at her side. Her memorial services will be at 3 p.m. MDT Tuesday at the First Baptist Church in New Plymouth. Pastor Phil Pittman will officiate. There will be a dinner at the church for family and friends after the service. There will be a graveside memorial service at 2 p.m. PDT Wednesday at Mount Hope Cemetery in Baker City. Chris was born on March 25, 1934, in Friendsville, Tenn., to Hoyle and Myrtle French. She was … Read more

The Payette Valley, Its Towns

For the following graphic and ably written article in regard to the attractions of the Payette valley we are indebted to a souvenir edition of the Payette Independent issued in March, 1898: The Payette valley lies in the southwestern part of Idaho, with its upper and narrow end extending far back into pine-clad mountains and its lower flaring into broad, fertile fields, terminating at the banks of the Snake river, just across whose waters rise the mountain peaks of Oregon. Its length is upward of forty miles, its width varying from two miles at the upper point to eight where … Read more

Biography of William A. Coughanour

For almost fourteen years Payette has numbered William A. Coughanour among its most prominent and progressive citizens. He may well be termed one of the founders of the city, for he has been the promoter of many of its leading business enterprises, and the growth and development of a city depend upon its commercial and industrial activity. His connection with any undertaking insures a prosperous outcome of the same, for it is in his nature to carry forward to successful completion whatever he is associated with. He has earned for himself an enviable reputation, as a careful man of business, … Read more

Hall, Lois Jean Beamguard Sanford Mrs. – Obituary

Lois Jean Beamguard Sanford Hall, 78, of Boise, a former Baker City resident, died Oct. 3, 2007, at her home. There will be a memorial service to celebrate and honor her life at 10 a.m. MDT Wednesday at the First United Methodist Church, Cathedral of the Rockies, in Boise. The Rev. Steve Tollefson and Ralph Lawrence will officiate. Burial will be at 1:30 p.m. MDT at the Rosedale Cemetery in Payette, Idaho, near her parents, William Clark and Vinnie Beamguard. Visitations will be from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Cathedral of The Rockies, First United Methodist Church. … Read more

McLeish, George D. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon George D. McLeish, 77, of Baker City, died Feb. 23, 2003. His memorial service will be at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Coles Funeral Home. Pastor Lura Kidner-Miesen of the United Methodist Church will officiate. Private interment will be Monday at Mount Hope Cemetery. Mr. McLeish was born Feb. 20, 1926, at Wiggins, Colo. He was a son of James Andrew and Gertrude Amy Baker McLeish. He received his education at Wiggins, Colo., Payette, Idaho, and Baker City. In 1943, he entered the U.S. Navy to serve his country during World War II in the South Pacific. … Read more

Biography of Moses H. Goodwin

The history of mankind is replete with illustrations of the fact that it is only under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposition that the best and strongest in men are brought out and developed. Perhaps the history of no people so forcibly impresses one with this truth as the annals of our own republic: and certainly in our own land the palm must be awarded to New England’s sturdy sons. If anything can inspire the youth of our country to persistent, honorable and laudable endeavor it should be the life record of such men as he of … Read more

Starry, Beverly C. “B.C.” – Obituary

Beverly C. Starry, better known as “B.C” or “Bunk,” 93, a former Baker City resident, died July 1, 2003, at Fresno of lung cancer. His memorial service was July 9. B.C. was born on Jan. 14, 1910, at Louisburg, Kan., to Beverly Cashman and Elizabeth Starry. The family included a brother and four sisters. He married Edith L. Livingston on May 10, 1931, at Louisburg, Kan. They had two children, Beverly Ann and John Livingston Starry. B.C. worked in Southern California from 1936 to 1944 in the grocery business. The family then moved to Mount Morrison, Colo., to operate their … Read more

Courtney, Pinkney L. – Obituary

Mrs. B.T. Long received word Thursday evening of the death of her father, P. L. Courtney at Payette, Idaho and left for that place Friday. M. O. Courtney of Lostine accompanied her. P. L. Courtney was one of the earliest settlers of the valley and lived here until recent years when he was compelled to try a different climate to relieve asthma from which he was a sufferer. He spent the past year in California from there going to Payette only two weeks ago and on the trip contracted the influenza to which he succumbed. Pinkney L. Courtney was born … Read more

Marcum, William Millord “Squeak” – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon William Millord “Squeek” Marcum, 65, of Sand Hollow, Idaho, and formerly of La Grande, died Sept. 26 at the VA Hospital in Boise. A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Daniels Chapel of the Valley. Private interment will be at the Hillcrest East Cemetery. Mr. Marcum was born April 16, 1941, the son of William H. and Evelyn (Sanderson) Marcum in Weiser, Idaho. He was educated in La Grande and in his later years was raised by his mother and step-father, Howard Ramsey. After graduating from high school he enlisted in the … Read more

Biography of C. M. Scott, M. D.

In viewing the mass of mankind in the varied occupations of life, the conclusion is forced upon the observer that in the vast majority of cases men have sought employment not in the line of their peculiar fitness but in those fields where caprice or circumstances have placed them, thus explaining the reason of the failure of ninety-five per cent, of those who enter commercial and professional circles. In a few cases it seems that men with a peculiar fitness for a certain line have taken it up, and marked success has followed. Such is the fact in the case … Read more