Baker City, Oregon
Betty E. Lethlean, 79, a long-time Baker City resident, died May 5, 2004, at her daughter’s home.
Her funeral will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Baker City Christian Church, 2998 Eighth St. Pastor Roger Scovil will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will be until 7 p.m. tonight at Coles Funeral Home.
Betty was born on Nov. 21, 1924, at St. Louis, Mo. She was a daughter of Gordon and Esmerilda Tippett Bennett. She married William Ivan Gilliland and they moved to Baker City in 1944. He was killed in a logging accident in 1960.
In September 1965, she married Carl “Bill” Lethlean at Prineville. In 1972, they moved to Roseburg, where they lived until Bill retired. They then moved to Waldport, before returning to Baker City in 1991 where they made their home together until his death in 1998.
Betty loved gardening and being outdoors. She enjoyed being with her family and reading. She was a member of Baker City Christian Church.
Survivors include her children, Bonnie Jean Gentry, and her husband, Homer, of Haines, William R. Gilliland and his wife, Nancy, of Waldport, Kenneth “K.C.” Gilliland of Pendleton, and June Marie Coller of Hermiston; stepchildren, Merle L. Lethlean and Gary Wallace Lethlean of Newport; brother and sister-in-law, Burton and Mescal Paine of Hermiston; sister, Donna Moore of Washington; 16 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren; and special friends, Mary and Don Plumber of Richland and Alfred and Elenor Glenn of Boise; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husbands, William Gilliland and Carl “Bill” Lethlean.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, May 14, 2004
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor