Jewell, Marie Mildred Bilyeu – Obituary

A funeral for Marie Mildred Jewell will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the chapel of Skyline Funeral Home. Burial will be in Skyline Memorial Gardens. Mrs. Jewell died of pneumonia Saturday in a Portland hospital. She was 66. Born Dec. 30, 1925 in Silverton, she was raised and attended school in Lebanon. Her maiden name was Bilyeu. She married Ray Evan Jewell on June 20, 1943. Mrs. Jewell worked for the Milwaukee Box Factory for several years and was employed at a gift shop at Union Station for about five years until 1970. She then operated the utility pay … Read more

Biography of Heman J. Geer

HEMAN J. GEER. – The name of Geer is so well known in our state that the following account of the father of T.T. Geer of the Waldo hills will be of interest to all. This now venerable pioneer was born in Ohio in 1828, removing with his parents to Illinois in 1840. In 1847 he crossed the plains to Oregon with General Palmer’s train. The large company forestalled trouble with the Indians. Peter Hall, who stopped with Whitman at Walla Walla was the only one who experienced any disaster. The crossing of the Cascade Mountains by the Barlow Road … Read more

Biography of Hon. Edward Hirsch

HON. EDWARD HIRSCH. – Someone has written, “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may;” and the subject of this sketch is a living exemplification of it. When, away back in “the fifties,” he landed a poor boy in the city of New York, among strangers in a strange land, and looked about him for honest employment in any capacity, how little he dreamed that as years passed by he would hold the purse-strings for the then almost unknown territory of Oregon, when a few years later she should lay aside her swaddling clothes and … Read more

Rash, Phoebe Rowe Collins – Obituary

Mrs. LeRoy Rash, 54, resident here for the past month, died this morning [February 9, 1944], in St. Anthony’s Hospital, following a week’s illness caused by pneumonia. Mr. and Mrs. Rash came here from Silverton, Mr. Rash having purchased the Charles Peterson ranch at Cayuse. Besides her husband, Mrs. Rash is survived by two sons and a daughter, Lloyd Rash, Harold Rash, and Mrs. Arline Thompson; a brother, Jack Rowe of Meacham, and five sisters, Mrs. E. W. [Georgia] Barnum of Pendleton, Mrs. Laura Jochinsen of Spokane, Wash., Mrs. Sylvia King of Chewelah, Wash., Mrs. James [Carlie] Wickham of Hood … Read more

Biography of Heman J. Gerr

The name of Geer is so well known in our state that the following account of the father of T.T. Geer of the Waldo hills will be of interest to all. This now venerable pioneer was born in Ohio in 1828, removing with his parents to Illinois in 1840. In 1847 he crossed the plains to Oregon with General Palmer’s train. The large company forestalled trouble with the Indians. Peter Hall, who stopped with Whitman at Walla Walla was the only one who experienced any disaster. The crossing of the Cascade Mountains by the Barlow Road proved the worst of … Read more

Barger, Cyrus W. – Obituary

Old Stage Driver Buried In Silverton Cyrus W. Barger, one of the oldest coach drivers in the north west, died in Portland, Wednesday of last week, at the age of 76. He was buried at Silverton last Friday, and his body was borne to its last resting place in a hearse drawn by a span of horses. His old whip which lashed the backs of his steeds for nearly fifty years laid in his hands. These were two of the aged man’s requests. Barger was one of the Overland stage coach drivers that made Baker in that day and there … Read more

Wirth, Lloyd – Obituary

Lloyd Wirth Was Meat Cutter Here Funeral services for Lloyd James Wirth 75, 2775 Main St. longtime Baker and Baker County resident were conducted Wednesday Feb. 11, at Gray’s West and Co. Pioneer Chapel. Rev. Orville Mick of First Christian Church officiated and Baker Masonic Lodge No. 47 A.F. & A.M. participated at graveside. Interment was in the Masonic Park at Mt. Hope Cemetery. The Baker Veterans Organizations participated by conducting graveside honors. Mr. Wirth was born Sept. 5, 1894 at Silverton, Oregon the son of Alonzo S. and Hattie Dunnels Wirth. he attended schools both in Tualatin, Oregon and … Read more

Rash, LeRoy R. – Obituary

Funeral services for LeRoy R. Rash, 74, Boardman, will be Monday [March 22, 1951] 2 p.m. at the Burns Chapel in Hermiston. Dr. James Bennett of the Hermiston Baptist Church will preach the services. Burial will be in Olney Cemetery in Pendleton. Mr. Rash died at Boardman at the home of a son, Harold Rash. Another son survives him, Lloyd Rash of Estacade, Ore. A daughter, Mrs. Roy Thomas, lives at Hermiston. There are two brothers and five sisters and 13 grandchildren surviving Mr. Rash. He came to Umatilla county seven years ago from Silverton, Ore., where he was a … Read more

Biography of Gen. John H. Stevens

GEN. JOHN H. STEVENS. – This hero of a hundred Western adventures, and a pioneer of the great Inland Empire, was born on a town line in Windham County, Vermont. The son of Asa Stevens, a miller and farmer, he learned to use his hands and brain in practical affairs, and at the village school obtained a good working education. In his youth he followed business in Boston, and was engaged in lumbering in Pennsylvania. In 1832 he came west to Michigan, and at Coldwater, Branch County, kept a hotel, advancing his business also by taking mail contracts, and in … Read more

Dawes Laurin T. – Obituary

Laurin T. Dawes, 70, died at his Fairview District ranch on Sunday [December 5, 1976]. He was born February 21, 1906 at Silverton, Ore. He came to Ellensburg from Portland in 1930. He was married to Edna Cooke in 1933 and was a carpenter for many years prior to moving to his ranch in 1945. He is survived by his wife Edna and one brother, Walter Dawes of Portland, Ore. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Evenson Chapel. The Rev. Don Meekhof will officiate. Entombment will follow at the IOOF Mausoleum. Contributed by: Shelli Steedman

Bilyeu, Edward C. – Obituary

A former city councilman and owner of an insurance firm here, Edward C. Bilyeu, 62, 321 Tangent St., died of a heart attack Monday at Lebanon Community Hospital. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday at Lebanon First Assembly of God Church. The Rev. Garland Rogers and the Rev. H. D. Robeson will officiate. Burial follows at the IOOF Cemetery. Jost Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be made in his memory to the First Assembly of God Church or Gideon Memorial Bibles and left at the funeral home. Bilyeu was appointed to fill a vacant seat … Read more

Biography of Solomon Hirsch

There is something inspiring in the record of a busy and useful life; something stimulating in the details of a career that is marked by a generous and beneficent purpose; something worthy of emulation in the success that has been wrought by unselfish means. Such has been the record of the gentleman whose name is the title of this biography, and so thoroughly have the varied lines of his efforts been blended with the agencies which have been conducive to the material progress of the Pacific Northwest during many years that no history of this portion of the Union, and … Read more

Biography of Frank M. Hubbard

Frank M. Hubbard is numbered among the successful farmers of Weiser. He was born in Pike county, Illinois, on the 9th of July 1851, his parents being Joseph and Sarah (Venable) Hubbard. His father was born in Wisconsin, and the mother was a native of Illinois. They crossed the plains with oxen in 1853 being six months in making the long and perilous journey to the northwest. Indians occasioned them considerable annoyance, but they accomplished the journey in safety and located in Silverton, Marion County, Oregon, where the father obtained three hundred and twenty acres of land, which he successfully … Read more

Biography of William Rice Dunbar

W.R. DUNBAR. – The mold in which a place is first cast is a great determining force in its future development. A quarter of a city which begins with mean buildings invites a class of neglectful or impecunious residents, and seldom outgrows its tendency towards squalor. The new settlers which come into a thriftless community sink more easily to the habits of their neighbors before them than they succeed in inciting those lax individuals to more industrious methods. On the other hand, also, thrift, vigor, a high level of public spirit and morality, leave a stamp which sets the tone … Read more

Gyllenberg, John Powell “Jack” – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon John Powell “Jack” Gyllenberg, 79, a longtime Baker City resident, died June 18, 2004, at his home from cancer. His memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Friday at the Baker City Church of the Nazarene, 1250 Hughes Lane. Jack was born in Baker City on July 13, 1924, to John “Lee” and Marguerite “Madge” Powell Gyllenberg. He spent a number of years in Baker City before the family moved to Arlington during the Great Depression. In Arlington, Jack worked as a child on the Hartfield Wheat Ranch. In later years, he shared stories of driving truck, … Read more

Erwin, Dorothy May Fleming Mrs. – Obituary

Dorothy May Erwin, 86, of Silverton, a former Baker City resident, died April 30, 2001, at Kootenai Medical Center at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Her memorial service was May 4 at the United Methodist Church at Wallace, Idaho. The Rev. Phil Squire officiated. Her body was cremated. Mrs. Erwin was born on April 9, 1915, at Durkee to Bellfield and Etta Cady Fleming. She married Ronald J. Erwin in 1933 and the couple moved from Baker City to the Silver Valley area in 1937. A homemaker, Mrs. Erwin was a member of the United Methodist Church of Wallace, Idaho, and also … Read more

Ellis, Christopher John – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Christopher John Ellis, 38, of Silverton, a former Baker City resident, died April 25, 2004. A small family memorial service will be scheduled later. Chris was born on Aug. 21, 1966, at Portland and spent his early years in Medford. In 1978, the family moved to Silverton where he completed high school and was active in athletics, particularly baseball. He graduated from Eastern Oregon University at La Grande with a degree in accounting. He married Sami Baisley of Baker City, and moved to Burns to work as an accountant. He became a certified public accountant CPA, remained … Read more

Kandle, El Nora M. Graham Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Baker County, Oregon El Nora M. Kandle, 73, a resident of Baker City, died January 16, 2003, at her home. Memorial services for Mrs. Kandle will be Friday at 1 p.m. at Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Mrs. Kandle was born July 11, 1929, to James Robert and Freda Augusta (Dietz) Graham at Klamath Falls. She attended school in Klamath Falls and went to work for the railroad soup house at the age of 14. She worked there for a couple of years and then moved to Silverton where she continued to work as a baby sitter, … Read more