Baker City, Oregon
Berniece E. Cockram, 88, of Baker City died Nov. 19, 2001, at St. Elizabeth Care Center after a short illness.
Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at First Lutheran Church, 1734 Third St. Pastor David Hahn of the Desert Cross Lutheran Church at Tempe, Ariz., will officiate. Vault interment will be in Mount Hope Cemetery
Berniece was born at Wilson Creek, Wash., on Feb. 23, 1913, to J.Q. and Docia Lynch Freeman. She moved to Baker City as a small child to the homestead ranch on Sutton Creek south of Baker City.
She attended schools in the country and in Baker City and was a 1931 Baker High School graduate. She married Ernest Cockram on Sept. 8, 1934. They made their home in Baker City until 1957, when they moved to La Grande to operate their wholesale grocery business.
She was a homemaker until her children were grown and then worked as a receptionist for Dr. Bryce Young for several years before retiring. In 1999, she moved back to Baker City to be close to family. She was an active member of First Lutheran Church in Baker City and Zion Lutheran Church in La Grande.
Survivors include her sons and daughters-in-law, Freeman and Shirley of Vancouver, Wash., Fred of Baker City and John and Tonya of Scottsdale, Ariz.; eight grandchildren, Michelle and Collin Kaseberg, Cherie and Craig Ward and Daryl Cockram, all of Baker City, Jeanne and Scott Mohr of Vernonia, Ann and Rick Giles of Vancouver, Wash., Linda and Jeff Sandberg of Newberg, Kacey and David Hahn of Tempe, Ariz., and Keri Cockram of Scottsdale, Ariz; 13 great-grandchildren and seven stepgreat-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Bea Jordan of Washington; and three nephews, two nieces and many friends in La Grande and Baker City.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, a brother, a daughter-in-law, two great- grandchildren and a nephew.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First Lutheran Church of Baker City, Zion Lutheran Church of La Grande or Doernbecher Childrens Hospital. This may be done through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: The Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, November 23, 2001
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor