Eva Mae McBride, 95, of Baker City, died July 7, 2007, at St. Elizabeth Care Center.
Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Coles Funeral Home , 1950 Place St. Pastor John Goodyear of the Baker Valley Church of Christ will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. There will be a reception afterward at Geiser Pollman Park.
Visitation is today from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Coles Funeral Home.
Eva Mae Tipton was born April 22, 1912, in Idaho to Ezekial and Hattie Tipton. She worked for the Baker County Tax Office and the Sheriff’s Office in the 1930s and ’40s. She later moved to Blackfoot, Idaho.
In 1948, she married the love of her life, Lester McBride. The couple moved back to Baker City in 1956 and Eva started working for her brother and sister-in-law at the Inland Cafe. For 12 years she did the cooking and baking, making a good share of the cafe’s pies.
Lester died in November 1966 after an extended illness.
Later, Eva did janitorial work for the Forest Service.
Eva was devoted to her church. In 1986 she traveled to the Philippines as a member of a Work and Witness team for the Nazarene Church.
After losing most of her sight and hearing, she could no longer hear sermons. Even in her last days, she commented on how she missed her friends and the fellowship she had with them.
“Grandma Eva,” as she was known, loved her grandchildren more than life itself, her family said. She could go on for hours talking about them to anyone who would listen, sharing her cute little stories. She was most happy and full of smiles when she was around her family.
Survivors include her daughter, Janet Spriet, and her husband, Larry, of Baker City; grandchildren, Julie and Rick Stout, Jason and Renea Spriet of Baker City and Jarrod and Terri Spriet of Pendleton; great-grandchildren, Lucas and Christopher Sells of Baker City, Katie Stout of Pendleton and Shelby and Samantha Spriet of Pendleton; a brother, Ralph Tipton, better known as “Babe,” her only surviving sibling, and his wife, Sue, of Boise; sisters-in-law, Colleen Jones and Lucile McCullough, both of Baker City and Dora Chick of Hagerman, Idaho; one brother-in-law, Don McBride of Seattle; and a special nephew, Rex McBride, and his wife, Betty, of Baker City; and numerous nieces, nephews and special friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband; one daughter, June VanCleave; her parents, Ezekial and Hattie Tipton; two sisters, Mary Troxel and Mildred Smith; and three brothers, Ray, Eldon and Dell Tipton.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Baker Valley Church of Christ through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, July 9, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor