Auburene M. O’Neil, 93, went home to be with the Lord, Nov. 10, 2007.
She spent the last two months of her life at St. Elizabeth Care Center where she received loving care from the nurses and staff.
Visitation will be held at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel on Friday, Nov. 16, 2007 from 2 to 8 p.m.
A Graveside service will be held at Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland, Ore., on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007, at 11 a.m. Pastor Mel Harris of the First Lutheran Church in Baker City will officiate.
A memorial in celebration of her life will be held in the spring of 2008, so more family members and friends can attend. Date, place and time to be announced in the future.
Auburene was born May 28, 1914 in Newbridge, Ore., to Mathias Welter, and Mary A. Wright McCormick Welter. She graduated from Eagle Valley High School in Richland, Ore., in 1932 and married Vernon H. O’Neil Aug. 30, 1934. She was a member of First Lutheran Church in Baker City.
In High School, she played on the girl’s basketball team and was known as “Buddy Welter” by all her friends. She loved going camping in the mountains, and enjoyed taking her grandchildren and their friends to the cabin that she and her husband owned during the grandchildren’s growing-up years.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Vernon O’Neil; sisters: Marguerite (Welter) Compton, Caroline (Welter) Campbell, Florence (McCormick) Thompson, and infant sister Auytanum McCormick; brothers: Clarence McCormick, Kenneth McCormick, infant Charles McCormick, and three infant Welter baby boys; 10 much loved nieces and nephews; and all of her cousins, aunts and uncles.
She is survived by daughters; Sherrill and husband Tom Bunch, Enterprise, Ore., Patricia and husband Larry Munkres, Aloha, Ore., and son Greg O’Neil and partner Deana Miller, Monroe, Wisc.; Grandchildren: Kristi (Bunch) and spouse David Zweifel, Kelly (Bunch) and spouse Randy Benjamin, Tom T. Bunch and spouse Donna, Terry “Pat” (Bunch) London and partner Roy Planty, Kirsten (Osborne) and spouse Luis Castre, Joel Osborne and spouse Jane, and Brett O’Neil age 2; great-grandchildren: Kara and spouse Justin Stoker, Dan Zweifel, Christopher Zweifel, Lindsay McNamara, Matthew Bunch, Mark Bunch, Morgan Williams, Evan Williams, Madison Shoaf, and Aaron Osborne; step-great grandchildren, Erin and Dana Benjamin; two great great step-grandsons; seven nieces and nephews; and numerous great and great-great nieces and nephews.
Memorial contributions may be made to the First Lutheran Memorial Fund (Baker City), Leading The Way, or Best Friends of Baker City in care of Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: The Record Courier, Baker City, Oregon, November 15, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor