Erma June Heard, 95, a longtime resident of the Haines area, died at her home on Sept. 16, 2005.
Her graveside service was at 2 p.m. today at the Haines Cemetery. Sally Wiens of the Haines United Methodist Church officiated. There was a luncheon and fellowship afterward at the Methodist Church Annex.
Erma was born on Jan. 12, 1910, at Haines to George H. and Mary Elizabeth Ashwood Taylor. She lived most of her life on the same farm where she was raised.
She graduated from Muddy Creek High School and attended her first year of teachers college at Monmouth. When the Eastern Oregon Normal School (now Eastern Oregon University) was built, she was a member of its first graduating class.
She taught school at Manning Basin until she married. Married teachers were not allowed in that district.
She married Theodore R. Heard on Oct. 11, 1930, at Vale. Erma and Ted bought her parents’ farm where they lived and raised their children.
They had been married nearly 64 years when Ted died in 1994. Together they shared a rich life of hard work, love and companionship from the 1930s into the 1990s.
For a number of years she was a member of the Mutual Improvement Club and the Eastern Oregon Museum, where she remained an honorary member. She helped at the Haines Library and was a member of the Retired Teachers Association.
Erma also helped in the publishing of the Baker County History Book and was happy to be named Queen of the Fourth of July Celebration at Haines in 1995.
She grew up attending the Haines Methodist Episcopal Church and was on the cradle roll in 1910. She went on to teach Sunday School at what is now the Haines United Methodist Church where she was a member.
She loved her grandchildren and spent many wonderful times with them. They were her greatest joy.
Survivors include two daughters, Arvilla Corey of Deming, Wash., and Cheryl Craig and her husband, Lowell, of Haines; five grandchildren, Lonna, and her husband, Frank Hocker, of Olympia, Wash., Frank and his wife, Tami Corey, of Bellingham, Wash., Bryce and his wife, Jennifer Corey, of Seattle, Wash., Julie and her husband, Tim Kerns, of Haines, and Don Massey of Baker City; six great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; three stepgrandchildren, Kendall Craig of Pendleton, Kelly Craig of Shelton, Wash., and Kristi Ellis of Milwaukie; eight stepgreat- grandchildren; and nine stepgreat- great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ted.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Haines United Methodist Church Maintenance Fund, the Haines Eastern Oregon Museum or to Pathway Hospice through Gray’s West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, September 23, 2005
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor