Mayme Thelma Garrett, 86, of Baker City, died Jan. 27, 2005, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center.
Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Gray’s West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave. Friends and relatives are invited to a celebration in her memory at the Eagles Lodge, 2935 H St., after the service.
Mayme was born on June 17, 1918, to Perly O. and Flora Temple Devaney Hacker. She was christened with the name of Mayme Thelma Hacker. She married Harlin Lawrence Garrett in Morgan County, Tenn., on Nov. 9, 1935.
The couple started a family on a small 600-acre farm. At the time, they didn’t know that the farm would be better at growing rocks and children than it was at growing crops.
Over the next 16 years, Harlin worked as a coal miner in Tennessee, at a car manufacturing plant in Detroit and at the atomic bomb plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., during World War II. Mayme stayed on the farm and raised the couple’s expanding family.
In the spring of 1951, Mayme and Harlin traded the 600-acre farm for a 1950 two-ton flatbed Chevrolet truck, and built a camper on the back. Into the camper they loaded their family, now consisting of nine children and headed for a beautiful little placed called Baker Valley in Oregon.
They bought a modest home on Colorado Place that was overfilled with children and love. Mayme devoted the next 50 years to raising her children and numerous grandchildren and any other child who needed a home. She had a place in her heart and at her table for all children.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Harlin; and sons, Clifford and Jimmy.
Survivors include her children, Eunafaye McAdams and her husband, Hank, Ray and his wife, MaryAnne, Bobby Lee and his wife, Kate, Jack and his wife, Colleen, daughter-in-law, Jean Garrett, John and his wife, Marge, Thelma Elliott and her husband, Dan, Lynetta Rasmussen, and her husband, Pat, Kenneth and his wife, Arlene, Debi Harris and her husband, Ernest, and Amber Emery and her husband, Doug; grandchildren: Mike, Fred, Bridgette and Max McAdams; Brad and Pat Garrett, Brandon, Shawn and Tyree Garrett; Jeff, Christina and Marlow Garrett, Mayme, Michelle, Christina, Jim and Mandy Garrett; Harley, Justin, Grover Garrett and Carolyn; Terrie, Merilee, Paul and Casey Garrett; Tiffany, Jennifer and Shannon Elliott; Heather Mack and Jessica Rasmussen; Ryann and Michael Garrett; Randy and Jason Darnell and Danielle Burch; Chewie Emery and Chester; 44 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; numerous stepgrandchildren; and her wonderful best friend, Eloise Colton.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Lung Association through Gray’s West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, February 3, 2005
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor