Baker City, Oregon
Grace Winifred Irby, 73, a lifetime Baker City resident, died June 27, 2001, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center.
Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Coles-Strommer Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Pastor Roger Scovil of the Baker City Christian Church will officiate. Vault interment will be in Mount Hope Cemetery. Friends and family are invited to the Baker Elks Lodge, 1896 Second St., for a time of fellowship and sharing after the service.
Mrs. Irby was born on Sept. 17, 1927, at Baker City to Roy and Lenora Anderson. She was a 1946 Baker High School graduate. She married Walter Truscott Irby at the Wingville Grange Hall on Oct. 10, 1946.
She was a wonderful wife and mother, whose love, caring, and kindness flowed from her heart to everyone she met and spent time with. She found great joy in caring and loving people. Her family and friends were surrounded by her love.
She endeavored to create happiness by her sensitive response to the feelings of others, always wanting to help in any way. She was a beautiful child of God, her irreplaceable spirit will be ever present in the memories of family and friends she leaves behind.
She was a seventh-degree member of the National Grange, sixth-degree member of the Oregon State Grange and fifth-degree member of the Baker County Pomona Grange. She was an active member of the Wingville Grange for 56 years.
She also was a member of the Ladies of the Elks, and Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion auxiliaries. She spent a wonderful year in 1987-88 as first lady of the Oregon State Elks when her husband, Truscott, was president of the Oregon State Elks Association.
Her hobbies were her devotion to her husband, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She also enjoyed reading and attending rodeos.
Survivors include her beloved husband, Truscott; four children: a daughter, Lenora, and her husband, Richard Way, their children, Lisa, and her husband, Mark Becker, and their children, Kimberly, Kassandra, and Kaila, John Way and his wife, Jodie, and their children, Ashlea and Taylor; a son, Rod Irby, and wife, Susan, and their children, Krystal and Heather; daughter, Zona Irby, and her fiance, Mick Hiatt; and a daughter, Carolyn Irby, and her fiance, Stu Davis; her brother, Andy Anderson, and his wife, Beverly, and their children Gary, Greg, Ron, and Larry; and her sister in-law, Edith Morin, and her daughter, Glenabell, and husband, Bink Lewis.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Roy and Lenora Anderson; and her sister, Edith Campbell.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association through the Coles-Strommer Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, Ore., 97814.
Used with permission from: The Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, June 29, 2001
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor