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Mildred Emily Gale
Mildred Emily Gale
(Nov. 9, 1916—July 17, 2009)
July 17, 2009, Mildred Emily Gale, 92, went peacefully to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For the past six years she had been with her daughter Pam Murphy and family in Boulder City, Nev. Several of the family had returned with her only the evening before to her big yellow house on the corner of College and B.
Mildred’s services were at Gray’s West & Co. July 24, 2009, followed by her burial at Mt. Hope Cemetery and a graciously hosted reception at the Methodist Church.
The fifth of seven children, she was born Mildred Emily Griffith, Nov. 9, 1916, at Dixie, Ore., to Glen and Gladys Griffith. After a glorious childhood in a loving family, she graduated from Huntington in 1935 and Eastern Oregon Normal School in La Grande in 1937. She taught for two years in a one-room schoolhouse when she was wooed by Henry Gale, president of the local grange. They married July 10, 1939, and honeymooned at the San Francisco World Fair. For nearly 40 of their 50 years of marriage, they owned and operated Gale’s Grocery (Market) on Broadway across from the Junior High School.
Mildred, who both worked and played hard, enjoyed many pastimes including croquet, snow skiing and backpacking. For several winters she and Henry flooded their own vacant lot, turning it into an ice skating rink for all who would partake.
After their daughter, Pam, graduated from high school, the Gales began filling their home with foster children—more than 50 in all. The Gale house bustled with these and the soon-to-follow grandchildren.
Mildred always cherished her Methodist Church and dear friends within it. Then, in the late 60s, she embraced the Born Again Movement that swept through Baker. Her already full life now overflowed with an even wider array of friends, Bible studies and Christian outreaches.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her beloved husband Henry and son Byron, and her six brothers and sisters. Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law Pam and Jim Murphy of Boulder City, Nev., daughter-in-law Sheri Caldwell or Pendleton, 10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and many nephews and nieces—all of whom she loved dearly.
Memorial donations may be made to the Baker Methodist Church or the Baker Salvation Army.
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