Eila “Babe” Hopkins Lewis, 83, a longtime Baker City resident, died July 9, 2007, at her home after an extended illness.
Her funeral will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Grays West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. There will be a celebration of Eila’s life afterward at Community Connection (the Baker Senior Center), 2810 Center St. Friends and relatives are invited to bring a potluck dish.
There will be a graveside service at 11 a.m. MDT Monday at the Canyon Hill Cemetery in Caldwell, Idaho.
Visitations will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Gray’s West & Co.
Eila was born on Sept. 29, 1923, at Parma, Idaho, to Perry and Katy Buffington. She was the youngest of eight children.
She married Orange A. Hopkins on Aug. 24, 1940, in Idaho. They moved throughout Idaho, Washington, and Oregon and raised their seven children. Eila was a mom and homemaker.
She did many different jobs. She helped in the family wrecking yard in Portland before they moved to Baker City in 1966. While in Baker City, she worked as a waitress at various restaurants including Roy’s Chuck Wagon. The couple was divorced in 1971, but remained friends.
She married Ronald Lewis on June 25, 1975, at Reno, Nev.
Eila’s hobbies included crafts, crocheting, flowers, collecting treasures, and dancing. She and Ron lived in Baker City where Eila owned a dog grooming shop.
The couple was active in the Good Sam’s Club and enjoyed traveling with their RV. She was very active with the Senior Center and enjoyed coffee hours.
She was affectionately called “Grandma Great.”
Survivors include her sister, Thelma, and her husband, Jack Bish, of Fruitland, Idaho; her daughters, Joanne, and her husband, Bill Allen, of Baker City and Gaston, Donna Coble and her husband, Jerry, of Winnemucca, Nev., soon to be of Baker City, Kaye Fleming and her husband, Walt, of Naples, Fla., Linda Peters of Portland, and Rosanne Van Patten and her husband, Gary Van Patten, of Baker City; her sons, Richard Hopkins, and his wife, Loretta, of St. Helens, and Chester Hopkins and his wife, Jeanette, of Coulee Dam, Wash.; 30 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Ronald Lewis and Orange Hopkins; brothers, Cecil Buffington, Frank “Sam” Buffington, Elmer Buffington and Ernest “Whitey” Buffington; sisters, Alta Healy and Ruby Hoagland; grandson, Michael Coble; and granddaughter, Tonia Roper.
Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of one’s choice through Gray’s West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, July 12, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor