Helen M. Jewett, 93, of La Grande, a former longtime Baker City resident, died Aug. 17, 2007, at Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande.
Her memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Cove Christian Camp.
Helen was born on June 22, 1914, at Montesano, Wash., to Harold and Thena Mae Moak Fry.
She spent most of her growing-up years on a ranch on the Wynooche River near Montesano, with a brief time spent at Alberta, Canada. Her elementary years were in a one-room school that included high school students at Montesano.
She attended Eugene Bible College (now Northwest Christian College) in Eugene. She and her husband ministered during college years at the Christian Church in Florence.
Her husband, Joe, attended graduate school at Enid, Okla., where their daughter, Joanne, was born. Two years later their twins, Doris and Robert, were born.
They traveled with their young family back to Oregon where they began a five-year ministry at the Milton-Freewater Christian Church on Pearl Harbor Day. In 1946, they moved to Heppner, ministering for two years at the Christian Church.
In 1948, the family moved to Baker City where they ministered for 21 years at the Baker First Christian Church. Their final years of ministry before retirement were at the Enterprise Christian Church.
Helen was an active minister’s wife, teaching Bible classes to the children of the church, working as church secretary, and teaching and directing youth camps. She also was the main cook at Cove Christian Camp for many, many years, under conditions that kept her and her helpers busy from dawn to dusk.
Helen and Joe were two of the driving forces for Cove Christian Camp, and many young people have been influenced by their teaching and example, their family said.
After retirement, Helen and Joe were managers at Red’s Horse Ranch for a summer, then spent two summers at Minam Lodge. They loved being in the mountains, and were able to take their grandsons with them for some of these experiences. In the winters, they traveled to Yuma, Ariz., where they became ministers to the senior citizens in the Yuma Christian Church.
Joe, Helen’s beloved husband of almost 70 years, died in 2005. She also was preceded in death by grandsons, Robby Jewett, and Andrew Howard; a granddaughter, Bethel Gomez; her parents; and brothers, Arnold Fry and Oliver Fry.
Survivors include her children and their spouses, Joanne and Richard Sweet of La Grande, Robert and Joyce Jewett of Chehalis, Wash., and Doris and Jerry Lundmark of Enterprise; grandchildren, Cami and Ron Brewer of Ramona, Calif., Stuart and Linda Sweet of Centennial, Colo., Tony and Debbie Howard of Dundee, June and Perry Petrequin of Portland, Karen and Randy Smith of Oregon City, and Randall Jewett of Centralia, Wash.; 16 great-grandchildren; one great-great grandson; and her siblings, Violet Dusbabek of Aberdeen, Wash., Dorothy Bolton of Mountain View, Calif., Arthur Fry of Morton, Wash., and Grant Fry of Aberdeen, Wash.
Memorial contributions may be made to Cove Christian Camp through Loveland Chapel, 1508 Fourth St., La Grande, OR 97850.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, August 22, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor