Conklin, E. B. Mrs. – Obituary

Death Takes Ex-Teacher Mrs. E. B. Conklin Dies In Willamette Valley Home of Daughter Funeral services for Mrs. E. B. (Estella) Conklin, who died Saturday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. L. N. Fryer, in Garden Home, Oregon, were conducted at Peterson’s funeral home at 2 p.m. Tuesday with the Rev. Mr. C. L. Callahan officiating. Burial was in the Ontario cemetery, where members of the Order of the Eastern Star conducted final rites. Mrs. Conklin, who had taught Ontario youngsters in the primary grades for 14 years, was the widow of the late Eugene B. Conklin, Ontario’s first … Read more

Odell, Mabel Esther Wheelock – Obituary

Mabel E. of Beaverton; mother of Charles and Ralph; 3 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren. No services will be held at the request of the deceased. Private inurnment Portland Memorial Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, contributions maybe made to the Tucker-Maxon School for the Deaf. Portland Memorial Funeral Home. Oregonian, September 4, 1978 Contributed by: Shelli Steedman

Tremain, Frieda June Thudium Mrs. – Obituary

Frieda June Tremain, 86, a former Baker City resident, died Nov. 8, 2005, at the Jennings McCall II Assisted Living Center in Forest Grove. A celebration of Frieda’s life will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Jennings McCall Assisted Living Center in Forest Grove. Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral Home in Forest Grove is in charge of the arrangements. Frieda was born June 12, 1919, at St. Catherine, Mo., to Edward Thomas Thudium and Nellie Rose Baker Thudium. She was raised and educated at Brookfield, Mo., and was a 1936 graduate of Brookfield High School. She then attended Kirksville … Read more

Varner, Melvin – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Enterprise native, Melvin Varner, 68, of Forest Grove, died July 21, 1995, at his home from lung problems due to smoking. He was born May 8, 1927, at the family home near Enterprise, the son of Albert G. and Cecile (Lay) Varner. On December 2, 1946, he married Dolores Isakson. He worked 23 years for Tektronix, retiring in 1983. he enjoyed hobbies of woodwork and fishing. Survivors include his wife, Dolores of Forest Grove; daughter D’Ann Reid of Salem; sons, Steve Varner of Cornelius and Jay Varner of Hillsboro; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; his mother … Read more

Lee, Joseph Roscoe – Obituary

Joseph Roscoe Lee, resident of Baker county 1904 to 1956, died November 14, at the family home in Forest Grove. He was born March 22, 1880 in Dallas, Oregon, where his father J.D. Lee was born in 1849. J. Roscoe attended Portland schools except enrollment in Independent Academy, The Dalles, 1888-1892, and attended Willamette U. and Capitol Business College, Salem. He was married to Myrtle Guttersen in 1914 at St. Paul, Minn. In Baker county he had a dry good store, farmed in Eagle Valley and in later years ran an insurance agency. His wife was a teacher and co-school … Read more

Collins, Ruby Banister Payne Mrs. – Obituary

Joseph, Wallowa County, Oregon Ruby P. Collins, 90, formerly of Joseph and Athena, died Monday, October 19, 1987 at Hillsboro. She was born April 10, 1897, at Athena, the daughter of Bern and Mary Pinkerton Banister. She was a member of Athena High School’s first graduating class. In 1916, she married Ross Payne. The couple farmed in the Adams area and had ranching interests at Joseph. Payne died in 1949, but she continued their farming and ranching until her retirement. During World War II she worked as a mechanic at the Pendleton Air Base and also received awards as an … Read more

Fowler, J. J. – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon W. W. Fowler’s Father Passes Away Suddenly J.J. Fowler, father of W.W. Fowler of Enterprise, died suddenly of heart disease last week in his room in a Spokane hotel. W.W. Fowler was greatly shocked to hear the news on Friday and left at once for Portland, where his father’s body was taken for burial. The father was here in November, leaving on the tenth. He was robust and appeared in the best of health and did not look more than 55 years of age although he was 62. The senior Mr. Fowler was a salesman for … Read more

Biography of Leander P. McCubbin

The stability of a land depends upon the character of her sons and it is very gratifying to find the citizens who form the population of Wallowa county stanch and capable, and in this worthy number we are constrained to give especial mention to the subject of this sketch, since he has manifested qualities that are deserving of this position and has achieved success that demonstrates his ability to be among the leading financiers and property owners of the northeastern part of Oregon, while also he has maintained an untarnished reputation and displayed a well rounded character replete with the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Louis La Brache

LOUIS LA BRACHE. – Mr. La Brache was born in Illinois in 1847. His father was at that time a partner with Stephen A. Douglas in the lumber and wood business, taking large contracts. In 1862 he became a citizen of Washington Territory, locating at Walla Walla, and engaging in freighting to the mines. Three years later he was packing from Wallula to Montana. In 1866 he accompanied his father in a tramp throughout the mining districts of Eastern Oregon, and the next year was engaged as government packer in a Nez Perce war. He also served the government in … Read more

Laird, Georgie Neoma Jackson Mrs. – Obituary

Georgie Neoma Laird, 77, of Aloha, a former Halfway resident, died July 9, 2006, at Beaverton. Her memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Pine Baptist Church at Halfway. Pastor Bill Shields will officiate. Visitations will be for family only. Burial will be at the Pine Haven Cemetery in Halfway. There will be a gathering for family and friends after the service at the home of Rob and Denise Laird at 1380 D St. Georgie was born on June 20, 1929, at Roy, N.M., to George and Oma Jackson. She was raised at Albuquerque, N.M. She moved … Read more

Biography of Col. T. R. Cornelius

COL. T.R. CORNELIUS. – In view of the prominent part sustained by Colonel Cornelius in the Indian wars of our early history, as well as in our political history since, it seems best to give at length the interesting picture of his connection with those wars. This is done mainly in his own language, and hence preserves the vividness of his own recollections. T.R. Cornelius was born November 16, 1827, in Howard county, Missouri. At an early age he moved with his parents to Arkansas, and in 1845, then a youth of nineteen, came with them to Oregon. The company … Read more

Biography of A. H. Johnson

Few American cities can furnish so many instances where men have accumulated large fortunes simply by well directed labor, however adverse the circumstances which surrounded their early struggles, than Portland. The subject of this sketch is a striking example of the truth of this statement. Arriving in Portland some thirty odd years ago, without friends or money, but possessed of good health and plenty of pluck and energy, he has steadily pushed onward and upward until today he occupies a prominent place among the leading business men of the city. He was born in London, in 1830, and is the … Read more

Biography of Russel Basim

One of the early pioneers of Wallowa County, a man possessed of sound principles and dominated with wisdom and talents of a high order, the subject of this sketch is well fitted for representation in this history of Wallowa and Union counties, since also he has wrought here for the advancement of the county’s interests and has constantly manifested unswerving integrity and moral qualities that have given him the admiration and confidence of all of his fellows, and he is today numbered with the leading agriculturists of the county and is a substantial citizen. Mr. Basim was born in Coshocton … Read more

Wilson, William Benton – Obituary

William Benton Wilson, a native of Washington County, passed away at his home in Portland last Friday. He was born on the old Wilson donation land claim near Greenville 71 years ago, and was the son of the late William and Sarah Wilson, pioneers of 1847. Mr. Wilson was married to Martha J. Crow in this County about 45 years ago and is survived by his widow and two daughters, Mrs. W. W. Boscow, of Hillsboro and Mrs. W. Imlay, of Portland. One brother and five sisters also survive. James Wilson and Mrs. Mary Fowler, of Forest Grove, Mrs. Flora … Read more

Bay, Ira Ivan – Obituary

Ira Bay, 2217 X ave., died Monday in Forest Grove following an extended illness. He was 88. Mr. Bay was born in Alkali, Wash., Feb. 12, 1894, the son of Billy and Iantha (Stevenson) Bay. They moved to the Grande Ronde Valley when he was an infant. He married Stella M. Arnoldus on July 29, 1923 in Summerville and they have lived in La Grande since then. Mr. Bay was a carpenter and worked for the Van Patten Lumber Company for 25 years, retiring upon its closing. Mr. Bay was a World War I veteran and active in the La … Read more

Biography of Charles A. Barrett

CHARLES A. BARRETT. – There is no good reason why the people of Oregon should not be as state. They are a selection from the residents of communities from all parts of American, and even from Europe, possessing the culture and intelligence of their native regions with the super-added experience of Western life. And we think that the work of settlement and development done by our people would be no discredit to any in the world. Mr. Barrett is from Maine, where he was born in 1852. After a few years in Massachusetts and also on the Pacific coast in … 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

Renfrow, Mary A. Wright Mrs. – Obituary

Services Held For Mary Renfrow Memorial services for Mary A. Renfrow sho passed away Thursday, December 4, 1958 in Forest Grove, where conducted Saturday at 2 p.m. by the Bollman Funeral Home from the Enterprise Church. The Rev. Al Boschee officiated, and Mrs. Don Kooch was organist. Mrs. Al Boschee and Mrs. Delbert Pratt sang “In The Garden” and “The Old Rugged Cross.” Casket bearers were: A.J. Oliver, Oscar Maxwell, James Fleet, Therval Gray, Hubert Johnson, Roy Carper, and vault entombment was in the Enterprise Cemetery. Mrs. Renfrow was the daughter of Jackson and Malinda Wright and was born January … Read more

Biographical Sketch of A. B. Robley

A.B. ROBLEY. – The figures which express the business of the Eastern Oregon shipping points are instructive and almost startling. Thus, by the record of Mr. Robley, Centerville shipped in 1888 seventeen thousand tons of wheat and seven hundred tons of barley. The average yield of wheat per acre of a belt of the country extending twelve miles around Centerville is about thirty bushels. The other grains and the vegetables are grown to advantage; and the fruit is a good crop. Centerville has excellent railroad facilities, being on the direct line of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company’s road, which … Read more

Stanley, Jay H. – Obituary

Imnaha, Oregon Jay H. Stanley, 95, hillbilly, cowboy, bachelor and hero, died early November 9 at Danielle’s Adult Foster Care home in Tigard, OR. Mr. Stanley was born February 2, 1906 in a log cabin 3-mi south of Joseph, OR. Jay, the second son of Charles and Elsie (Beecher) Stanley, whose parents were both early pioneer families in Indian Valley. Jay and his brother Jabez helped their father on the 500-acre ranch. When he was in his teens Jay helped saw the lumber and build the big house. In 1923, he assisted his father and brother JB saw lumber for … Read more