Helen Lucille Gilkison Fisher, 96, a longtime Haines resident, died Aug. 3, 2005, at her home.
Her funeral was Saturday at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel. Pastor Sally Wiens of the Haines Methodist Church officiated. Vault interment was at the Haines Cemetery.
She was born on May 18, 1909, at Baker City to Wilber and Maggie Holt Gilkison. She spent her early years near Unity, moving to Lone Pine just west of Baker City in 1924. (Transportation to school in those days was by horseback.) She was a graduate of Muddy Creek High School.
She attended normal school at Monmouth for one year, then transferred to the normal school at La Grande, graduating with its first class in 1930.
She taught school at Muddy Creek until her marriage to Orville Fisher on Nov. 29, 1933. She finished that school year and then left to begin her life as a rancher’s wife. they moved to the Fisher family farm in 1941 where she lived until her death.
She was active in PTA and 4-H while her children were in school. She was an active member of the Haines United Methodist Church and active in the Rock Creek-Muddy Creek Mutual Improvement Club. In 1993, she was honored as the queen mother of the Fourth of July celebration at Haines.
She loved spending hours in her garden, sharing its bounty with family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; her sister, Edna Blair; her son-in-law, Gerry DelFatti; her daughter-in-law, Sylvia Fisher; and two half-brothers, Wilford and Everett Tibbs.
Survivors include her son, Cecil Fisher of Boise; daughters, Marilyn DelFatti of Baker City and Gail and Jack McAllister of Burns and Fallon, Nev.; grandchildren, Natalie Miller of Baker City, Nanette Collier of Ontario, Nancy and Ed Harrington of Boise, Tim and Roxanne Fisher of Haines, Brian and Kelly DelFatti of Gladstone, Markay and Monty Hindman of New Hope, Minn., and John and Melaine McAllister and Lane and Myndi McAllister, all of Fallon, Nev.; great-grandchildren, Andrea and Ed Jaca, Amanda and Shawn Grandeen, Ashleigh Miller, Preston Strey, Suzan Collier, Jonathan and Jacob Harrington, Sheldon and Austin Fisher, Kyle and Kirby DelFatti, Allie Hindman, Sean and Aidan McAllister, Bryttani Estep and Lexis McAllister; great-great-granddaughters, Chloe Grandeen and Brooklyn Jaca; sisters-in-law, Marie Tucker of Portland and Evelyn Tibbs of Cornelius; brother-in-law, Bill Fisher, and his wife, Connie, of Echo; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Haines United Methodist Church or a charity of one’s choice through Gray’s West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, August 12, 2005
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor