Services Held For Joe Carper
Funeral Services were held at Centralia, Washington, Saturday, March 13, for Joseph K. Carper, former resident of Promise for many years. Mr. Carper passed away at the Swedish hospital in Seattle March 10, where he had been confined for a month.
Mr. Carper was born in Raleigh County, West Virginia, on September 21, 1865, the son of George Washington and Delilah Carper. His father was a minister and came west in the 90’s moving into the La Grande and John Day country.
Joe Carper was married when he was 17 years old and came west sometime in the late 1890’s with his family. They lived for a couple of years in the Grande Ronde valley before moving to a homestead in Promise, where they homesteaded 160 acres of grazing land.
Mr. Carper went into the business of raising fruit and peddled his products through out the county. He raised fine fruit and was commonly called Huckleberry Joe. He was fond of hunting, usually kept a pack of hounds, and was employed as the first government hunter in the county about 30 years.
Mr. Carper was the father of 17 children by his first wife. In 1920 he married Myrtle Voetburg and one child, Eugene, was born to this union.
In 1925 Mr. and Mrs. Carper moved to Grants Pass where they lived a few years. In 1929 they visited relatives in Iowa, West Virginia, and Indiana, and in 1931 moved to Rochester, Washington.
Mr. Carper was proud of his large family consisting of 18 children, seven step children, 80 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.
His widow and the following children survive: Perry Carper and W. W. Carper of Wenatchee, Wash.; Theodore Carper of Bates, Oreg.; Rose Peterson of Medford, Oreg.; Nona Terry of Boise, Idaho; Eunice Buckles of Malaga, Wash.; Jenny Wortman of Wallowa; Grace Newby, Lucy Reed and Anna Makin of Rochester, Wash.. He is also survived by the following step-children: H. R. Voetburg of La Grande, H. C. Voetburg of Enterprise, L. C. Voetburg and R. W. Voetburg of Rochester, Wash., and Mrs. J. R. Williams of Kent, Wash., Mrs. Doris Pomeroy of Eugene, and Mrs. and Mrs. Elma Denham of Klamath Falls.
The following children are deceased: George, Alfred, Eugene, Viola, Elizabeth, Alice, and two infants.
Surviving sisters and brothers are: Virginia Tyree of Pacha, Wash., Julie Sannar of Wallowa, Susan Fleshman of Ellensburg, Wash., and J.W. Carper of Promise.
Deceased sisters and brothers are Rachel Bennett, Cynthia Bennett, Evelyn Lively, Charley Carper and Walter Carper.
Funeral services were held at Centralia, Wash., last Saturday March 13. Pall bearers were: H.R. Voetburg, H.C. Voetburg, L.C. Voetburg, R.W. Voetburg, John Reed, and J.R. Williams. Burial was in the Centralia cemetery.
Enterprise Chieftain, March 16, 1943 Page 5
Contributed by Sue Wells