Baker City, Oregon
Claire J. Rudolph, 93, a longtime Baker City resident, died Dec. 23, 2002, at her home.
Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Gray’s West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave. Pastor Roger Scovil of the Baker City Christian Church will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Visitations will be until 6 o’clock tonight at Gray’s West & Co.
Claire was born March 29, 1909, at Lostine to Charles and Catherine Standley Whisman. She attended Brooklyn Elementary School in Baker City. In her mid 20s she attended beauty school at Walla Walla, Wash.
After earning her beautician’s license, she went to work at a beauty shop in the Baker City Hotel. She later worked for The Bootery on Main Street, which housed a beauty shop on the upper floor.
Claire met Earl A. Rudolph in the mid 1930s and the couple were married a short time later. Earl and Claire bought the old Safeway store and changed the name to Our Market, which they operated for about 20 years. They retired in the late 1960s.
Both Claire and Earl were avid golfers. They often played on the old sand greens in east Baker City. They were instrumental in the development of the current Baker City golf course.
In 1990, Claire was awarded a lifetime membership to the course. She really enjoyed hunting, fishing, bowling and of course, golf, which she continued to play well into her 80s. In recent years, she spent quite a bit of time gardening and canning foods, which she had down to a science.
Survivors include a brother, Wayne “Bud” Hardwick, and his wife, Karen, of Anchorage, Alaska; a nephew, Jim Hermsen of Baker City; and many other nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Earl; and three brothers and three sisters.
Memorial contributions may be made to Pathway Hospice through Gray’s West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, December 30, 2002
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor