Barbara Barton
Virgil Ray Britain
Charlotte Green
LaFaun Hood
Elmer R. Schulz
Steve Waldron
Barbara Barton
(June 24, 1921—April 18, 2009)
Barbara Barton 84, formerly of Halfway, Ore. died Saturday, April 18, 2009, at her home near Baker City. Ore. At her request there will be no services, a private vault interment will be held at the Pine Haven Cemetery in Halfway, Ore.
She was born to Lovell and Velma Gover on June 21, 1924, at their home place in Pine Valley. Barbara’s family goes back to her great grandfather, Aquilar Farmer Estes who came from Missouri to become an early pioneer of Pine Valley and Cornucopia. Her grandmother, Barbara (known as Lorene) married Aquilar’s son George Estes, who was killed in a snow slide at the Queen of the West mine at Cornucopia.
She was educated in the Halfway schools and was raised on her parent’s ranch with her half brother Jr. She became an accomplished rider and cattle women. She had the distinction of being the first Baker County Fair Queen in 1938.
Barbara married Howard Barton, a bomber pilot instructor at Liberal Air Force Base in Liberal, Kansas in 1944. They returned home to Halfway in 1945 after the war and Barbara worked at the Idaho Power Company office for the next 41 years.
In 1948, Barbara and Howard formed a partnership with her parents which was the beginning of a very successful Gover and Barton Angus Company.
The company when sold in 1988 became the second oldest and fourth largest Angus Ranch in Oregon. They selected replacement heifers from their own herd and chose elite herd sires to build one of the outstanding Angus herds in America over a 40-year period.
Choosing not to show their cattle, their progeny, nevertheless, won Champion, Grand Champion and many other honors throughout the years. They never hired a herdsmen and did the records and cattle management themselves. Barbara often mentioned how Wes and Joy Barnhart were indispensable when working their cattle. As a teenager, Tim DelCurto started helping with the haying operation. As the years passed he became more involved with all activities and was so very helpful he was considered a member of the family.
Barbara had a passion for the cattle spending endless hours caring for them. After spending a full workday at the office, Barbara would slip into her blue jeans and walk the spring range checking the cows and small calves. When asked why she spent so much time with the cattle she would reply this is a form of recreation for me.
Barbara always had a great love for Pine valley. Her cousins Lynda Thomas Bird and Cheryl Thomas recall that during their grade and high school years she would give them a ride to school as she was on her way to work. Every morning she would comment on how beautiful the Granites were. It was with a sad heart that the partners agreed to sell the property in Halfway and move to Baker City in 1988. She continued her interest in cattle and delighted in following the Thomas Angus and Harrell Herford programs. During her years of declining health, she continued to face life with a positive attitude and a pleasant smile. She made the comment many times, “I am as tough as an old boot!”
She is survived by an aunt, Arlene Thomas of Halfway, Ore. and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and close friends, Jerry and Vi Clay who provided loving care in recent years.
Barbara was preceded in death by her father Lovell in 1960, her half brother, Lovell Jr in 1981, her mother Velma in 1990 and her beloved husband “Bart” in 2001.
Those wishing to make memorial contributions in her memory may direct them to Pine Haven Cemetery Assoc. This maybe done through the Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Baker City, Ore. 97814.
Virgil Ray Britain
(Born Sept. 12, 1933)
Virgil Ray Britain of Aberdeen, Washington, a former Baker City resident, passed away April 6 after a short illness. He was 75.
Virg was born Sept. 12, 1933, in Pendleton, Ore., to Frank Jacob and Anna May (Bashor) Britain. He attended several schools in central and eastern Oregon and California while growing up. He graduated from Stanfield High School in 1951, one in a graduating class of nine. He entered the U.S. Army in 1953, spending much of his stint in Germany. He was discharged in 1956 with the rank of Sergeant. He went to work for Cascade Natural Gas in November of 1956 in Pendleton and continued with the company until his retirement in October of 1995. He held a number of positions during his years with Cascade. He was a top ten salesman for several years in Bend, winning every sales award the company offered before being promoted to District Manager in Baker City in 1975. He was in Baker City until 1980. He was named the company Boss of the Year while in Baker City and was heavily involved with the Rotary Club Student Exchange Program and a member of the YMCA Board. He was also District Manager in Ontario, Ore. and Aberdeen, where he retired. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and enjoyed golf.
He is survived by his son, Jeff Britain of Hood River, Ore.; his daughter Ceridwen Attwood of Aberdeen; his former wife Lora Looman of Bend, Ore.; sisters Edna Peterson of Pendleton and Pat Massie of Hermiston; granddaughter Caitlin Attwood of Olympia, Wash.; grandsons Jamie, Colin and Alex Attwood of Aberdeen and numerous nieces, nephews and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers Jack, Frank, Gene and Charles Britain and sisters Bertha Britain, Marie Blakley and Ruth Hoover.
A funeral will be held Friday, April 24, at 2 p.m. in the chapel at Burns Mortuary in Pendleton. followed by an inurnment in Olney Cemetery, also in Pendleton. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or Toys for Tots, in the name of Virgil Britain.
Robert Gerry
Robert Gerry, 80, of Baker City died April 15, 2009, at Settlers’ Park. A Memorial Service will be held this summer. Arrangements by Gray’s West & Company Pioneer Chapel.
Charlotte Green
(July 15, 1917—April 15, 2009)
Charlotte Crystal Canfield Green passed away of natural causes at 1:50 p.m., April 15, 2009, at her daughter’s home in Baker City, Ore. Always it is sorrowful to say goodbye to a beloved parent. However, this is also a time of reflection to honor the legacy of Charlotte’s life.
Charlotte was born in Seattle, Wash., July 15, 1917, to Emma Meyer Canfield and Virgil David Dewitt Canfield. She grew up on the small island of Vashon, Wash., where she met her cherished sweetheart, Philip, when she was 15. They married in June, 1936, and went to the University of Washington together, where she majored in home economics, he in social work and together were practice partners for the University tennis team. They spent 69 years of happy marriage until his passing in 2005. Together, they provided love and guidance to their five children, Cheryl (Friedman), Aletha (Bonebrake), David, Heather (Bell) and Hollyn Green.
As a mother and woman, Charlotte was, above all, supremely generous. Her children never lacked for her full attention. Each evening, dinner represented the knowledge of balanced nutrition plus the lifelong skill of good cooking. Holidays were a fantastic feast, with preparation starting days ahead.
Threaded throughout her family life, Charlotte was wonderfully creative. The holiday home was festooned with seasonal displays. Every few years, the walls of the house were re-papered in soft boat scenes, or palm fronds or other exotic designs, not due to wear and tear but due to a happy embrace of new light and color. Likely, Charlotte’s greatest expression of talent was through her sewing. She made beautiful suits from Vogue patterns reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy’s wardrobe, a woman she greatly admired, that she would wear to social events in Washington, D.C., where Philip was in government, and to diplomatic affairs when they traveled together on business to Copenhagen and Cairo and South America. She became a local celebrity when she personally tailored for her two eldest daughters‚ weddings held just a week apart in August, 1961. The brides, the mother of the bride, and the full entourage of bridesmaids were resplendent in Charlotte’s dramatic creations.
Any memory of Charlotte’s home includes books and books and books. Charlotte was a devoted reader throughout most of her 91 years. Even during the early years of television, the family would encircle the novelty of Bonanza or Walt Disney’s World of Color, while Charlotte huddled in the kitchen engrossed in a novel. Family trips to the local library were more common than to the grocery store. Charlotte’s prodigious reading habit made her an easy winner in any Scrabble or Crossword contest.
These memories are not static, but a living legacy of contribution to her family and community. Charlotte‚s lessons of generosity, expressed in the family circle or through leadership of United Way campaigns, were absorbed by her children and are expressed today through careers in service work. Likewise, Charlotte’s spontaneous creativity and passion for learning imprinted a lifelong example that nourishes her children’s, grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren's minds.
Charlotte Canfield Green, your wit and wisdom and grace are a loss that will not be replaced. But your gifts to us all continue each day.
Charlotte was preceded in death by her brother Donald, brother Herb, her husband Philip, and her daughter Cheryl. She is survived by one brother, Basil Eugene, her son-in-law William Friedman (Cheryl), son Philip David (Debbie), daughters Aletha, Heather (Calvin) and Hollyn (Mainus Sultan), grandsons Warren Green, Brendan Flowe and Gordon Bonebrake, granddaughters Sylvia Bonebrake Bowers, Jennifer Bonebrake Harting and Kajori Sultan, and great-grandchildren Charlotte, Franklin, Lena and Stella Bowers, and Frank and Emma Harting.
She was lovingly cared for in the last year and a half by Charles Nalley, CNA, of Baker City.
Charlotte’s cremains will be buried next to her husband Philip’s in the Green family plot on Vashon Island.
Those wishing to make memorial contributions in memory of Mrs. Green may direct them to the Baker County Library, this maybe done through the Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Baker City, Ore. 97814
LaFaun Hood
(Feb. 23, 1925—April 12, 2009)
Pauline LaFaun Hood, 84, of Baker City died April 12, 2009, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. A Celebration of Life will be held at Missouri Flat Grange April 26, 2009, at 2 p.m.
LaFaun was born Feb. 23, 1925, to Glenn & Zelda (Hotz) Yarberry in Fowler, Kansas. She was raised in many of the other small towns around Dodge City, Kansas where she graduated from the Dodge City High School in 1943.
On Aug. 29, 1944, LaFaun married Paul “Pinky” Hood. They had three children: Lynn, Terry and Robin. The lived in Connecticut, Kansas, and California before finally settling in Oregon in 1954.
LaFaun’s favorite hobbies were sewing, crafts, painting and gardening. She loved to cook for the family. Fall was a special time of the year as she could always be found canning her favorites from the garden she had grown. LaFaun loved family and friends and would always help if anyone needed assistance. She enjoyed the outdoors. She helped out by taking the Girl Scouts on camp outs when living on the Oregon coast. La Faun and Pinky moved to Baker City in 1989 to be near and help with the youngest grandchildren. She will be greatly missed.
LaFaun is survived by her husband, Pinky Hood of Baker City; her mother, Zelda Yarberry who is 101 of Eugene, Ore.; her brother, Glenn Yarberry, Jr. of Eugene, Ore.; her son, Lynn Hood and his wife, Mary of Mapleton, Ore.; her daughter, Robin Mawhinney and her husband, Chuck of Baker City; her grandsons, Kelly Green and family of Junction City, Ore, Don Mawhinney and family of Twin Falls, Ida., Dennis and Cody Mawhinney of Baker City.
She was proceeded in death by her father, Glenn Yarberry, a daughter Terry Green and son-in-law, Eldon Green.
Those wishing to make memorial contributions in memory of Mrs. Hood may direct them to Pathway Hospice or a charity of ones choice, this maybe done through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Baker City, Ore. 97814.
Betty (Fringer) Plueard
A graveside gathering will be held at Shields Cemetery in Cottage Grove on Sunday, May 3, at 2 p.m. for Betty Louise Plueard. Betty died on Saturday, April 11, of age related causes at the age of 81.
She was born May 5, 1927, in Ogden Utah, but grew up in Vale, Ore., where she met and married Donald Lee Fringer in 1945. He was killed in a logging accident in 1964. She then moved to Cottage Grove and married William Plueard in 1965. He died of cancer in 1979.
She is survived by five sons, Benny Fringer of Longview, Wash., Jack Fringer of Dorena, Ore., Evan Fringer of Dorena, Ore., Jeff Plueard of Springfield, Ore., and Doug Plueard of Cottage Grove, 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
Elmer R. Schulz
(April 22, 1918 - March 16, 2009)
Elmer R. Schulz was born April 22, 1918, in Portland (Garden Home) Ore., to Harry Schulz and Elva Ellen McCormick Schulz. He died March 16, 2009, in Portland, Ore.
He served in the US Army in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. His service included New Guinea, the Philippines and the occupation of Japan. He also served in the Oregon National Guard rising to the rank of master sergeant. After the war, Elmer began his civilian career working for Pacific Northwest Bell for 34 years until he retired at 62. Elmer was assigned to the University of Oregon during the last several years of his phone company career. He and his wife have lived in Oregon in Baker City, Sisters and the Portland area most of their lives.
Elmer was an active member of the First Christian Church in Baker City for many years. He loved the Lord all his life.
He is survived by his wife, Vina M. Schulz, whom he married on May 6, 1948. He is also survived by his daughter, Flora L. Schulz Wade and her husband, Charles E. Wade, of Portland, Ore.
Elmer is also survived by his only brother, Keith Schulz, and Keith’s son, Terry Schulz and Terry’s wife Nanette.
Fud is also survived by his granddaughter, Miriam L. Bradetich and her husband, Terry Bradetich, of Springfield, Ore.
He is survived by four great-grandchildren: Russell A. Wade, and his wife, Staci Wade, of Portland, Ore., and their children, Elmer’s great-great-grandchildren, Madison, Austin and Blake Wade. Floyd DeWayne Montgomery Jr. (Rocky) of Portland; Myndi L. Montgomery of Eugene, Ore.; and Teddy Jean Montgomery and his son, Elmer’s other great-great-grandson, Keelynn Montgomery of Gresham, Ore.
There was a celebration of life graveside service on April 18, 2009 at 3 p.m., at the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Baker City, Ore.
Steve Waldron
(Feb. 11, 1956—April 18, 2009)
Steve Waldron, 53, died at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Ida. on Saturday, April 18, 2009. A Traditional Funeral Service and Celebration of Steve's Life will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 2 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Halfway, Ore. Officiating the service will be Reverend Bill Shields, Gordon Bond and Father Rob Irwin. Vault Interment will follow the service at Pine Haven Cemetery. Friends are invited to join the family for a potluck reception following the interment, at the Halfway Lions Hall.
Steve was born on February 11, 1956 in The Dalles, Ore. He was raised and educated in Washington, Oregon and California, graduating in 1973 from Foothill High School in Citrus Heights, Calif. Each summer during his youth, he would go to Halfway, Ore. and stay with his Granddad Clifford and Grandma Ellen Waldron. He had the best of farm life during his stays, helping Granddad with the fences, milking the cows, fishing on Pine Creek, haying, spending time with "Stubby," listening to Granddad sing and cook breakfast in the morning. It was a time in Steve's life that always held fond memories.
Steve met Tami when she moved into the house next door to his. They married the following year in Rancho Cordova, Calif. on October 12, 1974. Their first home was in Woodland, Calif. where Steve worked for a crop dusting outfit, but Steve's love for Halfway was always a driving force. One day he came home from work and said "I quit my job, I'm moving to Halfway," and he did. In 1977, Steve and Tami moved into the ol' Littlefield place.
Steve and Tami have two children, a daughter Stephanie and son Steve Jr. Steve absolutely loved the "Waldron Ranch," and took great pride in "his place," he was always so tickled to know that his kids after they were grown, would continue to enjoy the place that he loved. He built beautiful rock ponds, water features, rock walls all around his home and was so proud of all he had done. Everywhere you look on the place, Steve left his mark, including just the weekend before his death, setting his chair up in front of the BBQ in preparation for the summer.
Steve worked on the Oxbow and Brownlee Dams in construction. He was a member of local 121 working for Wildish, DEBCO, Peter Kewitt Construction, MK Construction and Western Construction. Steve enjoyed the challenge of surveying and did so for 25 years. Many of his friends enjoyed referring to him as "Wally."
Steve had the gift of music, he loved playing his guitar. He never took a guitar lesson and learned to play by ear. Steve was one of the original members of the "R.V. Jones Band" and loved playing the lead in his style "loud." Steve started his career out in the band, sitting on a stool, with his back towards the audience. It took almost two years to get him to turn around and "Wow" his audience. He was always in search for the elusive pick, which explained all of the matchbook lids in his pockets.
He was so talented with rockwork, and did various projects in Halfway including: Wild Bills flower beds and bench, the Telephone Company, the U.S. Post Office, Pine Eagle High School reader board, the wall turning onto Fish Lake Road, two memorials at McCormick and Copperfield Idaho Power Parks, several fireplaces, headstones at the cemetery and more. He always took the time, to find the perfect rocks, for the perfect corners, for the perfect spacing with each and every project.
Steve relished the opportunity to tell scary stories; and loved to scare the life out of his family with the often told "hook" or the "swamp monster at Holbrook." He was always ready for a good scary movie as well. With Steve working away from home, every weekend home was one that he cherished with his children whether it be camping, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling. Steve really enjoyed hunting, and the one year that he was successful in filling his tag, turned out that he put the wrong bullet in the rifle, took a shot and had absolutely no idea that he had actually gotten his elk, until several hours later. He was so proud of that elk, but we are all still scratching our heads to how that actually happened and how that rifle didn't blow up in his hands!
He was proud to become a "Granddad" to Sterling, Savannah and Daniel. He built memories with them of walking to "drinking water" to throw pennies in and make wishes, color, play dolls with Savannah (for hours) or just sit in the chair on his lap, he loved it and he loved them so much.
Steve was the "Maintenance Man" working with Tami and Tami's Pine Valley Funeral Home since 2001. And he absolutely was thrilled to be called the "guru" of unemployment. Amazingly, he drew unemployment far too long this time, and was so proud of it. As timely as it is, they officially sent him a letter this week that said his claim was expired.
Steve was preceded in death by his Grandparents Cliff and Ellen Waldron, Aunt Grace Ritter, Uncles Jim, Clair and Perk Ritter, niece Kayla and his cow "Lily" beloved "puppy" (our first born whom we had for 16 years) and black lab "Tony" who was a part of the family for 16 years and Stubby.
This last year, Steve loved saying that he was "retired." And we heard him say it over, and over and over.
Steve is survived by his wife Tami, daughter Stephanie and husband Sam of Bend, Ore., son Steve Waldron Jr. and his wife Laura of Anderson, Calif.; Grandchildren Sterling, Savannah and Daniel; parents Bob and Freda Waldron of Baker City, Ore., sister Valerie Feeley of Baker City, Ore., brothers Mike Waldron of Sacramento, California and Jim Chandler and his wife Sharol of Halfway, Ore.; Aunt and Uncle Bill and Veryl Waldron of Halfway, Ore., many nieces, nephews and cousins, his Yamaha Brother Jamie Bula; horses Jasper and Coco, the cats Lickerson and Baby, his herd of ducks and so many wonderful longtime friends.
For those who wish to make a memorial donation in memory of Steve, the family suggests the Eagle Valley Ambulance equipment fund through Tami's Pine Valley Funeral Home P.O. Box 543 Halfway, Ore. 97834.
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