Biography of J. H. Settlemier

J.H. SETTLEMIER. – Mr. Settlemier was born on the 5th of February, 1840, in Jersey county, Illinois. In 1849 his parents, George and Elizabeth Settlemier, becoming imbued with the restless spirit that possessed all the pioneers of the Pacific coast, and, selling their home, turned their faces towards the setting sun. The family at that time consisted of eleven persons, father, mother, eight boys and one girl. They crossed the Missouri river at St. Joseph, and bade long farewell to civilization; for at that time there was not a settler’s house from the Missouri to the Sacramento, which was reached … Read more

Morin, Lewis – Obituary

Lewis “Dude” Morin, 80, of Woodburn, died Aug. 29, 2009, at Woodburn. His memorial will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Woodburn. Lewis was born on Feb. 1, 1929, at Hagerman, Idaho, to George and Dottie Morin. He and his wife, Eleanor, were owner/operators of Woodburn Auction for 50 years. He served as the auctioneer until the couple’s two sons purchased the business. Lewis proudly served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a member in good standing of the Eagle and Elks lodges. He also enjoyed fishing. Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Eleanor, and … Read more

Gray, Ernest Merrill – Obituary

Former Union County resident, Ernest M. Gray, 84, of Woodburn, died Thursday at a hospital in Oregon City. Mr. Gray was born March 18, 1903, in Lower Cove to George M. and Mary (Miller) Gray. He married Nellie Lemon on May 28, 1921, in La Grande. Survivors include his wife; daughters, Mrs. Everett (Muriel) Ellis, Boise, Idaho, and Mrs. Ed (Darlene) O’Mahundro [sic – O’Mohundro], Silverton; sisters, Mrs. Eudelle Olson and Mrs. Othella Purvine, both of Milwaukie; five grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, one great-great grandchild; aunt Mrs. Eugene (Dillie) Millering, La Grande, three nieces and a nephew. Mr. Gray had … Read more

Gray, Mary Alma – Obituary

Mary Alma (Miller) Gray of Woodburn, a former resident of the Lower Cove area, died in Woodburn Jan. 4 following an extended illness. She was 89. Funeral services will be held at Dempsey’s Funeral Chapel in La Grande at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 7, the Rev. Cyril A. Stevens officiating. Burial will follow at the Summerville Cemetery. Mrs. Gray was born in Union County Feb. 3, 1884, the daughter of George and Matilda (Conley) Miller. She was a member of the Baptist Church. Survivors include two sons, Ernest of Woodburn, and Hugh of Vancouver, Wash.; two daughters, Mrs. E. C. … Read more

Perkins, Martha Ellen Long Mrs. – Obituary

Former Resident Passes March 30 The passing of Ellen Long Perkins on March 30, 1987, at Woodburn, Oregon was announced here this week. She was the wife of Hardin K. Perkins. Mrs. Perkins was born in Haines in 1895, the daughter of Charles and Ida Long. She resided with her husband in the Baker Valley during the 1950’s. She has been an active teacher of Junior High Students in many areas of Oregon and Washington. She was a member of Eastern Star, National Teachers Association, and Delta Kappa Gamma honorary. She is survived by her husband of Woodburn; sister Kitty … Read more

Warnock, Alice Anatoinette Brown Mrs. – Obituary

Alice Antoinette Warnock, 94, died Aug. 16, 2002, at St. Elizabeth Hospital after a brief illness. Private burial was at the Sumpter Cemetery. There will be a memorial celebration of her life at 3 p.m. Sunday at the McEwen Community Church in Sumpter Valley. Pastor Bill Cox will officiate. There will be a beef barbecue at the church for family and friends after the service. Alice was born June 17, 1908, to Herbert and Theresa Nystrom Brown at Portland. She was raised on farms at Woodburn and Mohawk, and graduated from Eugene High School in 1924 at the age of … Read more

Gray, Nellie Frances – Obituary

Nellie Frances Gray, 91, formerly of Union County, died Tuesday, May 25, 1993, of natural causes in Spanaway, Wash. A funeral service will be held Wednesday at Unger Funeral Chapel in Silverton. Interment will follow in Belle Passi Mausoleum in Woodburn. Mrs. Gray was born Sept. 25, 1901, in Lenox County, Iowa, to George Washington and Alice Mae Wiley Lemon. The family moved to Lynden, Wash., when she was very young. Her father died there when she was six, and her mother moved the family to Union, where she received her education. She married Ernest Merrell Gray on May 28, … Read more

Biography of J. T. Hunsaker

J.T. HUNSAKER. – This pioneer of 1846, one of the most substantial and upright men of one state, who has borne his full share of the burden and heat of the day in building up Oregon, was even from the first upon the advanced wave of American civilization, having been born at Jonesboro, Illinois, in 1818, and having assisted in laying the foundations of that giant state of the old West. He began domestic life in 1837, marrying Miss Emily Collins of the same state, and devoting his energies to the development of a farm. He was moved, however, by … Read more

Churchill, Marjorie Bethene Dye Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Marjorie Bethene Dye Churchill, 90, a longtime Baker City resident, died March 18, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. Interment will be April 9 in Grants Pass. Marjorie was born on Feb. 18, 1914, in Arcadia, Neb., to Arthur Simeon and Millicent Pearl Vincent Dye. She married Raymond Leonard Churchill on Oct. 16, 1932. They had five children. During her life she enjoyed running a dairy with her husband in Woodburn. They loved working together and being together. During her life she was also a bookkeeper. Her greatest love was that of her children and grandchildren. The … Read more

French-Laird, Hester M. Holden Mrs. – Obituary

Hester M. French-Laird, 87, of Oregon City, a former Baker City resident, died March 5, 2006. Her funeral Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Thursday at St. Luke’s Catholic Church at Woodburn. Interment will be at Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in Portland. Visitations will be until 5 o’clock tonight at Cornwell Colonial Chapel in Woodburn. Hester was born on Jan. 22, 1919, at Baker City to Ward and Gwendolyn Holden. She was raised at Baker City and married John “Jack” French in 1938. He died in 1979. In 1995, she married Richard Laird. She lived at Woodburn from 1981 … Read more

Marshall, Donald Leslie “Don” – Obituary

Halfway, Oregon Donald Leslie “Don” Marshall, 78, of Halfway, died Sept. 30, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. There was a celebration of his life today at the Pine Baptist Church in Halfway. Don was born on Sept. 10, 1926, at Drake, N.D., to Laurence Franklin Marshall and Melissa Louise McCarty. He was their only surviving child. Don’s father hopped a train from North Dakota to Oregon in September 1931. Don and his mom used the same hobo method of transportation to reach Oregon in October of 1931. They settled at Corbett. In the early 1940s, the family moved to … Read more

Jennings, Stella E. Treat Mrs. – Obituary

Stella E. Treat Jennings, 80, of Woodburn, a former Huntington resident, died June 7, 2008. There will be a private service. She was born on Feb. 26, 1928, at Nature, Okla. She married Buddie Jennings in 1945. He died in 2007. She was a homemaker and had lived in Oklahoma and California before moving to Oregon in 1969. She had lived at Portland, Scappoose and Corbett before moving to Canby in 1980. She had lived at Huntington for more than 15 years. She was a member of the Assembly of God Church and was active in church activities. She enjoyed … Read more

Bruch, Georgeanna Marie – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Georgeanna Marie Bruch, 89, of Hillsboro and formerly of La Grande died Aug. 4. A memorial service was held today in Hillsboro. Burial at Fir Lawn Cemetery in Hillsboro will be private. Fir Lawn Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Mrs. Bruch was born Nov. 19, 1916, to George E. and Marie Keller Lockwood in Riverside. She attended school in La Grande and graduated from St. Luke’s School of Nursing in Spokane in 1940. On Jan. 24, 1943, she married Robert H. Bruch. The lived in Yreka, Calif., and Hillsboro before moving to Woodburn, and more recently … Read more

Stitt, Donald Virgil – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Donald Virgil Stitt, 92, of Woodburn and formerly of La Grande, died June 18 at the Cascade Park Retirement Home in Woodburn. Funeral services were held June 27. Donald was born June 9, 1915, the third of six children, to Charles and Annie Stitt in La Grande. He grew up in La Grande and graduated from La Grande High School where he was an outstanding athlete in basketball, football and track. In 1937, he moved to Portland with his family. He played professional basketball for the Signal Oil Co. and attended Oregon State University in 1939 and … Read more

Calavan, James Madison – Obituary

James M. Calavan, a resident of this section for about eight years; died at the Willamette Sanitarium, Salem, Saturday evening, August 20th [1921]. He was aged 71 years, the husband of Mrs. Maggie Calavan and father of J. M. Calavan, Downs, Washington; J. L. Calavan of Silverton; R. E. Calavan of Oaksdale, Washington; Mrs. C. S. Page [Ivy] of Salem and Mrs. C. E. Eckhart [Elizabeth] of Wilson, Wash. Mr. and Mrs. Calavan resided on a farm east of Woodburn until about three years ago, when they moved to one northwest of this city, where they made their home until … Read more

Morin, Norman E. – Obituary

Norman E. Morin, 82, of Woodburn, a former Baker City resident, died Jan. 16, 2005, at Woodburn. His memorial service will be Feb. 5 at Cornwell Funeral Home in Woodburn. Mr. Morin was born on May 20, 1923, to George D. and Dottie Roseberry Morin. He served in the Civilian Conservation Corps when he was a kid and then worked at Irby’s Dairy. He joined the U.S. Navy during World War II. He operated a second-hand store in Salem for a while and then spent the rest of his life at the Woodburn Auction. He will be missed by a … Read more

Harsin, Susan Jane – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Susan Jane Harsin, 67, of La Grande, died June 30 in Woodburn. A memorial mass will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church. Mrs. Harsin was born Aug. 22, 1938, to Jim and Elizabeth Nolten Gooding in Salem. She graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in Salem, and moved to La Grande. She married Darwin Harsin on July 24, 1961. She was a member of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church and the St. Jude Altar Society, the UPRR Junior Old Timers and Old Timers, the Eagles Auxiliary and the American … Read more

Edwards, Ivan Russell – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Ivan Russell Edwards, 83, of Woodburn, Oregon, a former Baker City resident, died Jan. 25, 2003. At his request, there was no funeral. Mr. Edwards was born on Feb. 4, 1919, at Baker City. He worked as a boilermaker, retiring in 1981. He was a member of the American Legion, No. 122, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Baker City. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and the National Guard. He served during World War II at Papua, New Guinea. He lived at Aurora before moving to Woodburn in 2001. His interests included hunting … Read more

Lee, William Jonathan – Obituary

Funeral services were held June 9 at Zacher Mortuary for William (Bill) J. Lee, 74, retired Lone Pine rancher, who died in the night June 4 [1970] at home. Officiating at the 2 p.m. rites was Rev. George Chase and music was by Bill and Judy Simmons. Mr. Lee was born Feb. 20, 1896, at Woodburn. He was a World War I veteran and had lived in the Lone Pine area for 34 years. Survivors include his widow, Juanita, Lone Pine; six sons, Bill Jr., Richland, Wn.; Kenneth, Klamath Falls; Charles and Lawren, St. Marie, Idaho; Paul, U.S. Navy, stationed … Read more