Baker City, Baker County, Oregon
Gertrude Inman, died peacefully on Friday, Oct. 28, 2005, at St. Elizabeth Care Center in Baker City.
A graveside service was held at 2 p.m. Wednesday Nov. 2, 2005 at Mount Hope Cemetery in Baker City. Arrangements by Gray’s West and Company in Baker City. A memorial event is being planned at a date in the future.
Gertrude was born in Portland, Ore., on Nov. 8, 1908, to Ernest and Mattie Turner, Gertrude. Her mother moved to Baker from Spokane in the early 1920s. With family in Canyon City, she and her mother made frequent trips on the Sumpter Valley railroad. In Baker, she met her lifetime best friend Ava Steiger, and over the years the two became like sisters. In their teens, Gertrude and Ava tended sheep camps in the Wallowas, and developed a lifetime appreciation for travel and the great outdoors.
Gertrude graduated from Baker High School and continued her education at the Normal School in Cheney, Wash. At age 17, she began a more than 30 year teaching career with a class of 7th graders in Imbler, Ore.
She later graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle. The copious notes taken in her Shakespeare texts hint at the joy she found in language and literature. She continued her studies with graduate work at several universities including the University of Oregon.
On Aug. 18, 1945, Gertrude Turner married Marion C. Inman in Ontario. Together they raised two sons, Roger C. Inman and John W. Inman, in the Baker house built by Gertrude’s mother. Marion owned the Courthouse Market and later was a partner in Our Market. Gertrude taught at Baker schools and spent many years teaching Senior English at Baker High School. She was both John and Roger’s Senior English teacher. The family also raised cattle at their ranch outside North Powder.
After Gertrude retired from Baker High School in 1969, Gertrude and Marion began traveling by RV. Their motor home allowed them to visit with their sons and grandchildren throughout the country. Everywhere they went they explored the outdoors, and could usually be found behind a set of binoculars looking for new birds to observe. In the 1980s they had great fun being ‘snowbirds’ in California and Arizona during the winter.
After Marion’s death in 1983, Gertrude remained in Baker, traveling to visit her sons and grandchildren. She and Ava continued their outdoor activities until Ava’s death. Her membership in Delta Kappa Gamma, PEO and Eastern Star kept her in touch with many of her former colleagues and she loved to talk with former students.
She is survived by her sons and their wives, Roger and Karen Inman of Tallahassee, Fla., and John and Jody Inman of Salinas, Calif.; grandchildren, Ann Gaylord of Huntington Beach, Calif., Amy Landerman of Maitland, Fla., Jill Marie Inman of Leesburg, Va., Marla Blair of Tallahassee, Fla., Janet Inman Sutton of Anacortes, Wash.; and seven great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Baker County Library Foundation, 2400 Resort Street, Baker City, OR 97814 or the donor’s favorite charity.
Source: The Record-Courier, Baker City, Oregon, Thursday, November 3, 2005 Page 5
Contributed by: Gary Jaensch