Madonna Cummings Ashby, 79, a former Richland resident, died Dec. 4, 2007, in Seaview, Wash. A graveside service at Eagle Valley Cemetery has already been held.
Madonna was born to Albert and Jessie Sullivan Cummings on Aug. 9, 1928, in Portland, the fifth of six children. Her happiest memories were of those times spent on the ranch with her brothers and sisters and loving parents.
Madonna attended school in Richland, graduating from Eagle Valley High. She went on to college in Portland. On May 25, 1946, she married Dale Ashby. Madonna and Dale were the parents of three children: Randall Jay, Lucinda Rae, and Marissa Allene. Dale’s career took her away from Eagle Valley and Baker County, but friends and family always kept those places “home.”
She is survived by her daughters Cindy and Rissa, her adopted daughter, Angela Oliver, stepchildren David and Patty Oliver, and daughter-in-law, Sharon Ashby.
She is also survived by 17 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, her beloved sisters Emma Jean Greener of Halfway, and Lillian Densley of Baker City, a cousin, Norman Masterson of La Grande, and sister-in-law Geneva (Ashby) of Baker City, along with numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Dale; three brothers, Wayne, Eylar, and Tuffy Cummings; sisters-in-law Verna and Nancy Cummings; brothers-in-law Jack Greener, Raymond Ashby, and Glenn Densley; a nephew, Eldon Greener; and by her beloved son, Randy.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, December 14, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor