Umatilla County OR

Biography of John R. Ladd

JOHN R. LADD. – The stories told to the children of the generation hence of the abundance of gold and the immense profits of the early pioneers will fire their imaginations and set them on wild, and perhaps profitable, trips to the Andes or to Alaska. Mr. Ladd’s career will be thus exciting to his descendants, and to all who see this sketch. He was born in the Empire state in 1838. He came to California with his father in 1852, but returning East married Miss Rachel Knapp in Illinois. Here might be mentioned as a remarkable coincidence, that Mrs. … Read more

Long, Sue Weaver Stevenson Compton Mrs. – Obituary

Rock Creek, Baker County, Oregon Sue Stevenson Compton Long, 70, who lived a good deal of her life in the Rock Creek area, died Jan. 3, 2006, at La Grande. Friends are invited to a celebration of life service for Sue at 12:30 p.m. Friday at 14101 Launchpad Lane. There will be a private graveside service at 11 a.m. Friday at the Rock Creek Cemetery. The third of three children, she was born on May 31, 1935, at Yreka, Calif., to Amos and Zelna Weaver. Sue attended 28 different grade schools in California and Oregon, while growing up. She earned … Read more

Neill, Edward O. – Obituary

Funeral services for Edward O. Neill, who died at St. Anthony’s hospital in Pendleton Sunday, were held Tuesday with Interment in the Heppner, Masonic cemetery. Mr. Neill was born February 19, 1881 at Hartville, Mo., and came west as a young man. For many years he operated a sheep ranch in the Butter Creek section and at the time of his death he was a guard at the Hermiston ordnance depot. He contracted pneumonia and died as a result of complications. He is survived by the following children, Oleta Akers of Hamuton[?], Neva Neill of Ontario, formerly of La Grande; … Read more

Lee, Mamie Emelia Schulke – Obituary

Mamie Emelia Lee, 83, a two-year resident of the Elzora Manor Nursing Home, died there Sept. 19, 1987. The graveside service will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Mountain View Cemetery. The Rev. David Stunkel will officiate. Friends may meet at Groseclose Garden Chapel prior to leaving for the cemetery. Mrs. Lee was born March 6, 1904 in Bemidji, Minn., to Edward and Helen (nee) Kutzner Schulke. She had lived in the Walla Walla Valley since 1937 and in Pendleton from 1939 until two years ago, when she moved to the nursing home. Her husband, John Henry Lee, died in 1973. … Read more

Wright, Gladys – Obituary

Joseph, Oregon Gladys Wright, a former teacher who taught at a country school on the Sheep Creek Divide, died Sept. 11, 1987 at the Odd Fellows Home in Walla Walla, Wash. She was 81. Funeral services were held Sept. 14th at Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home Chapel in Milton-Freewater with Rev. Edward Morrison officiating. Ritualistic services were conducted by Integrity Rebekah Lodge. Graveside services and burial followed later the same day in the Prairie Creek Cemetery near Joseph. Wright was born April 22,1906 in Evelyn, Wash., the daughter of Douglas and Edith Eaton Towers. She was the eldest of nine children. Following … Read more

Roth, Rhoda J. Coles Mattes Mrs. – Obituary

Rhoda J. Roth, 83, of Pendleton, a former longtime Baker City resident, died Aug. 23, 2002, at Willowbrook Terrace in Pendleton. Her graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Mount Hope Cemetery. Pastor Dennis Hickman of the First Lutheran Church will officiate. Visitations will be from noon until 5 p.m. today and from 8:30 a.m. until noon Tuesday at the Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Rhoda Jane Coles Mattes Roth was born March 1, 1919, at Twin Falls, Idaho. She was a daughter of Joseph Joel Coles and Nettie May Locken Coles Carlson. She moved with her … Read more

Von Arx, Dorothy Law Mrs. – Obituary

Dorothy Von Arx, 88, of Pendleton, a former resident of Baker City and North Powder, died May 18, 2007, at a Pendleton care center. Private interment will be at the Olney Cemetery near Pendleton. Burns Mortuary of Pendleton is in charge of arrangements. Mrs. Von Arx was born on March 2, 1919, at Baker City. She was the daughter of Charles J. and Frances Heard Law. Several years later, the family moved to North Powder. She attended schools at North Powder and Walla Walla High School. She was a 1936 Baker High School graduate. She later attended Baker Business College … Read more

Moberly, Cora “Lois” Speelman Mrs. – Obituary

Cora “Lois” Moberly, 78, of Milton-Freewater and a Haines native, died Sunday, Nov. 20, 2005, in Walla-Walla, Wash. Funeral services will be held Saturday, Nov. 26, at 10 a.m. in the chapel of the Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home, 902 S. Main St., Milton-Freewater. Private burial will be in the Milton-Freewater Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, Alzheimer’s Association, or to the Diabetes Association through the funeral home. Lois was born Dec. 15, 1926, in Haines to LeRoy and Lela Cross Speelman. She received her schooling in Haines, North Powder and Baker City. She married Joseph D. Moberly … Read more

Diehl, Marilyn Marie Bond Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Baker County, Oregon Marilyn Marie Diehl, 66, of Pendleton, a former Baker City resident, died Dec. 31, 2005, at Willowbrook Terrace in Pendleton. Her funeral will be scheduled later in Baker City. Disposition was by cremation. Mrs. Diehl was born on June 10, 1939, at Baker City to John and Vera Speelman Bond. She attended Baker High School and was a graduate of Eastern Oregon State College at La Grande (now Eastern Oregon University). She was an elementary school teacher at Union and Oregon City. Her hobbies included music, drawing and arts and crafts. She was a member … Read more

Hoffman, John Edward – Obituary

John Edward Hoffman, 82, of Forest Grove, a former Baker County resident, died Oct. 8, 2002, at Forest Grove. His graveside funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland. The Rev. Gordon Bond will officiate. Mr. Hoffman was born on June 14, 1920, at Council, Idaho, to George and Jasmine Garrett Hoffman. He was raised at Sparta. He entered the U.S. Army in 1944 and served in World War II. He was honorably discharged in 1946. He married Edna Nale on June 25, 1939, at Creswell. They were divorced in 1966. He married Thelma … Read more

Burford, Paula Errolo – Obituary

Union, Oregon Paula Errolo Burford, 80, of College Place, Wash., and formerly of Union died Sept. 17 at her daughter’s home. The funeral was held today at Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home in Milton-Freewater. Burial was at the Milton-Freewater Cemetery. Mrs. Burford was born March 25, 1926, to Joseph Coleman and Katie Rosilla Deuel Lay in Medical Springs. She graduated from Union High School, and attended Brigham Young University. She moved to Los Angeles, Calif., where she worked for Western Union. On Sept. 16, 1949, she married Clifford Edwin Burford in Los Angeles. They returned to Oregon and lived in Milton-Freewater for … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Thomas G. Matlock

This well-known citizen of Heppner, Morrow County, Oregon, who devotes himself to the improvement of our stock of horses, was born in Dade County, Missouri, March 4, 1849, and came with his parents across the plains to Oregon in 1853, locating with them near Eugene, where they engaged in stock-raising, and remaining until the death of the father at Bannack City, Idaho. He was buried on Buena Vista Bar, July 1, 1863. Thomas received a common-school education, and worked on the farm. His father having been a fancier and producer of fine horses, our subject went in 1871 to Umatilla … Read more

DeRoest, Maurice – Obituary

A memorial mass will be held Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001 at 1 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Portland for Maurice DeRoest who died Aug. 30, 2001 from complications of Rheumatoid arthritis at age 69. Maurice was born Nov. 10, 1931, in Baker City. He attended St. Francis Academy. He married Blanche Fuller on Nov. 27, 1950. Maurice worked for Safeway stories in Baker City, La Grande, Hermiston, The Dalles and Portland for 39 years until his retirement. Maurice was a member of St. Joseph the Worker Church, the Knights of Columbus and the Safeway Employees Union. He … Read more

Pifher, Madeline Josephine Luster Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Madeline Josephine Pifher, 79, of Baker City, died June 21, 2004, at Avondale, Ariz. Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave.Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. The Rev. Robert C. Irwin of St. Francis de Sales Cathedral will officiate. Friends are invited to join the family for a reception at the American Legion, 2129 Second St., after the services. Visitations will be Wednesday from noon to 8 p.m. at Gray’s West & Co. Madeline was born on Feb. 10, 1925, at Baker City to … Read more

Moody, Ralph Lee – Obituary

Funeral for Ralph Lee Moody will begin 2 p.m. Thursday at the Burns Mortuary Chapel in Pendleton, followed by vault burial at Olney Cemetery. Friends may call at the mortuary from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and on Thursday morning. Moody, 74, a lifetime resident here, died Monday [October 10, 1983] at St. Anthony Hospital. He was born in Pendleton, Aug. 30, 1909, to Al and Lula Barnes Moody. With the exception of time spent in military service, he worked for Umatilla County from 1938 until he retired as assistant county roadmaster in 1974. On March 7, 1931, he married … Read more

Biography of George W. Proebstel

GEORGE W. PROEBSTEL. – The subject of this sketch was born upon a farm in Missouri in 1842. When ten years old he crossed the plains with his father, Jacob Proebstel, driving an ox-team and experiencing the usual hardships attending such a trip. On one occasion he saw his mother pay a dollar a pound for flour, which was hard to secure even at that price. It was the Fourth of July that his party reached Independence Rock, and found there a large train celebrating the holiday with music and dancing. The behavior of the cowboys whom he saw made … Read more

Biography of Charles L. Kaler

CHARLES L. KALER. – A real pioneer of the pioneers, who has wrought on the Pacific coast for forty years and more with display of energy and skill that have placed him among the leaders of the county in attaining its progress, the well-known gentleman, whose name is at the head of this article is deserving of representation in the volume of his county’s history. He is proprietor of the large green house in Lagrande and handles one of the largest nurseries of the state, having a full line of all varieties of both ornamental trees and rare shrubs and … Read more

Conrad, George Arthur – Obituary

Flora, Wallowa County, Oregon Death Claims George A. Conrad George Arthur Conrad, 81 years of age and a pioneer resident of Flora, passed away at Hermiston on February 25, 1954. He had been in poor health for the past year. George was the son of Mr. And Mrs. J.C. Conrad and was born in Perry County, Missouri, August 29, 1873. He moved west with his parents in 1889 and they settled at Flora. In 1896 he was married to Nancy Agries Evans. To this union nine children were born, seven boys and 2 girls: Paul and Floyd of Hermiston, Arthur … Read more

Colpitts, Georgie – Obituary

There will be a graveside celebration of her life at 11 a.m. Saturday at Pine Haven Cemetery in Halfway. A potluck reception is scheduled afterward at the Pine Valley Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Halfway. Visitations will be Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home in Halfway. Georgettae Pearl was born on May 26, 1938, in Enterprise to Richard and Dellourias Whitmore Brock. She was raised and educated at Enterprise, graduating from high school in 1956. That very year, in December, she married Harvey Colpitts. They had four children, Audrey, Alice, Arlene and … Read more

Wellington, Vernon Lovell “Vern” – Obituary

Vernon Lovell “Vern” Wellington, 76, of Hermiston, a former Baker City resident, died Oct. 30, 2001, at the Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston with his wife, Norma, by his side. His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Grays West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. Pastor Roger Scovil of the Baker City Christian Church will officiate. There will be a graveside service with veterans participating at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the funeral chapel. Mr. Wellington was born on March 7, 1926, at Baker City to John … Read more