Sandra Briggen Hoover, 68, of Baker City died Aug. 7, 2009, at her home.
There will be a celebration of life for Sandra at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the McEwen Bible Fellowship. There will be a reception afterward at the church hall.
Sandra was born on July 30, 1941, at Rochester, N.Y., to Arthur Edward and Jeanne Isabel Philp Briggen. She graduated from Glenbard High School at Glen Ellyn, Ill., in 1959.
She worked a number of years in banking during the 1970s and ’80s between Stayton and Mission Viego, Calif., while raising 100 plus ewes on her farm at Stayton. She also had owned and operated a feed store in Southern California.
After her divorce in 1993, she returned to college at Central Oregon Community College at Bend. She received her nursing degree in 1996. She worked as a registered nurse at the Rogue Valley Hospital in Medford from 1996 to 2000.
Sandra was also the head nurse for the American Red Cross at Tri-Cities, Wash., from 2000 to 2002. Sandra retired in 2006 as a nurse consultant for the Baker County Healthy Child Care Project.
She married Charles “Chuck” Hoover on May 24, 2003, at Baker City.
She was very active and enjoyed square dancing, gardening, working with her border collie, Maggie, horseback riding, snowmobiling, bunko, and anything outdoors. She loved traveling and exploring the Southwest. Most of all, she loved the visits from her grandchildren.
Sandra was the vice president of the Elkhorn Swingers Square Dance Club and was a member of the Powder River Pistoleros and the Sumpter Valley Snowmobile Club. She volunteered with the SMART reading program, the library and the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and she worked on a number of bighorn sheep projects in the late 1980s with the California Fish & Game.
Survivors include her husband, Charles Hoover of Baker City; daughter, Lisa McCarthy, and her husband, Michael, of West Linn; son, Scott McBain of Port Richey, Fla.; sister, Debbie Lett, and her husband, John, of Orange, Calif.; stepdaughter, Kristi Harris, and her husband, Steve, of Baker City; stepsons, Travis Hoover of Ashland and Eric Hoover of Dutch Harbor, Alaska; and six grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents Arthur and Jeanne Briggen; and sister, Marcia Briggen.
Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of one’s choice through Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon August 12, 2009
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor