Juanita McCord

Juanita McCord, 75, a lifelong Baker City resident, died Feb. 23, 2001, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Services.

Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Coles-Strommer Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Pastor Dennis Hickman of the First Lutheran Church will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Mrs. McCord was born April 24, 1925, at Baker City to Lee and Minnie Estes Srack. She attended Baker City schools and then went to work at the Baker Hotel as a desk clerk. She later worked as a Title I secretary and then was head cook at South Baker Elementary School. She worked for the Baker School District for 17 years, retiring in 1985.

Mrs. McCord was known to her nieces and nephews as Nita or Ne-Ne. She liked to stay at home and take care of her yard, flowers, squirrels and her cat. She loved to watch her nieces and nephews anytime the families needed her, with great pleasure.

In her early years, she enjoyed breakfast being cooked on the open campfire at Catherine Creek State Park. She also enjoyed watching her son, Mike, play Babe Ruth baseball and to play in the Drum and Bugle Corps in his high school years. She enjoyed listening to her husband, Perry, play the organ and watching him tie fishing flies.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Lee and Minnie Srack; her husband, Perry McCord; and her sister, Marie Srack.

Survivors include her son, Mike McCord, and his wife, Julie, of Camas, Wash.; her brother, Pete Srack, and his wife, Carol, nephews, Josh Srack and Dan Srack and his wife, Kim, great-niece, MacKenzie, great-nephew, Kyle Srack, nephew, Doug Srack, and his wife, Denise, great-nephew, Eric Plaza and great-nephew, Andrew Srack, all of Baker City; and one uncle and several cousins.

Memorial contributions may be made to the First Lutheran Church or a charity of ones choice through the Coles-Strommer Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, Ore. 97814.

Phill Boyer

Phillip J. Phill Boyer, 85, of Baker City, died Feb. 27, 2001, at St. Elizabeth Health Services.

His funeral will be Friday at 10 a.m. at the Coles-Strommer Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. His graveside service will be Friday at 2 p.m. at the Canyon City Cemetery in Canyon City. The Rev. Susan Smith-Allen of St. Peters Episcopal Church in La Grande will officiate.

Mr. Boyer was born Nov. 5, 1915, at Heppner to Guy and Clara May Boyer. He received his education in the Heppner area. He married Theda Rhea in Vancouver, Wash., on April 20, 1941.

Mr. Boyer enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force while attending college. He was stationed in California where he trained cadets for a time and then spent the remainder of the war ferrying aircraft around the country. He was also stationed in Alaska.

After Mr. Boyers discharge the couple lived in Salem, where he continued flying and worked as a flight instructor. The Boyers moved to John Day after his father took ill. He worked in a furniture store for a time and then managed the John Day Airport, where he continued flying and instructing. He purchased an airplane and began his charter business.

During this time, Sig Ellingson would charter Mr. Boyer to fly him around to the various places that he needed to be. When the Ellingsons purchased the mill in Baker City, Sig asked Mr. Boyer to move to Baker City and be the Ellingson Lumber Co.s corporate pilot.

The Boyers moved to Baker City in 1967. He continued to fly for the company until the mid 1980s, when he retired after 44 years of flying.

Mr. Boyer enjoyed being home during his retirement but traveled to Portland, California and Arizona. He had a love for flying, which was his hobby, and also played golf for a while.

Mr. Boyer is survived by his wife, Theda Boyer of Baker City; his brother, Don Boyer of John Day; his sister, Jane Blondell of Tigard; nephews and nieces, Martha Boyer Murphy, Doug, Don and Paul Moody, Marla Moody Anderson, Mike, Greg and Mark Jeffries; and several cousins.

Mr. Boyer was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Oregon Lung Association through the Coles-Strommer Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, Ore., 97814.

Clint Kirkland

Clint David Kirkland, 30, of Boise and a lifetime Union resident, died Feb. 24, 2001, at St. Lukes Hospital in Boise.

His celebration of life service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Union High School gymnasium. Committal and interment will be at the Union Cemetery. Visitations will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Daniels Chapel of the Valley, 1502 Seventh St., in La Grande.

Mr. Kirkland was born on Nov. 27, 1970, at Portland to David and Phyllis Brookshire Kirkland. The family lived at Union and he was a Union High School graduate. He later graduated from UTI at Phoenix.

He married Jill Wood at La Grande on March 1, 1997, at La Grande. They made their home in Boise where he worked as a welder for Yonkees Steel fabrication.

During his high school years, he was very involved in everything, including FFA, 4-H and Natural Helpers. He was a top athlete and a caring friend to all. He was an outdoorsman and an avid hunter and fisherman.

He was known as a hard worker, and an excellent husband and father. He took pride in everything he did. He also will be remembered for his keen sense of humor.

Survivors include his wife, Jill Kirkland and sons, Ty and Colton Kirkland, all of Boise; brother, Mark Kirkland of Nampa, Idaho; parents, Phyllis and Bert Marx and Dave and Pam Kirkland, all of La Grande; stepbrother, Chase Kirkland of La Grande; stepsister, Laurie Testerman of Enterprise; grandparents, Beryl and Dorothy Brookshire of Union; a very special lifetime friend, Wade Richards of Boise; parents-in-law, Bart and Yvonne Wood of Boise; and numerous aunts, uncles and other relatives and friends.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Clint Kirkland Memorial Fund, which will be a college fund for his boys, through Daniels Chapel of the Valley, 1502 Seventh St., La Grande, Ore., 97850.

Frank Aldrich

Frank Aldrich, 72, of Union, a former North Powder resident, died Feb. 25, 2001, of natural causes at Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande.

His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Daniels Chapel of the Valley in La Grande. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 2990, will officiate. Committal and interment will be at the Haines Cemetery. Visitations will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Daniels Chapel of the Valley.

Mr. Aldrich as born on June 10, 1928, at North Powder to Everett and Grace Blize Aldrich. He married Josie Couvertier on Nov. 17, 1951, at New York City.

He was a logger, rancher, service station owner and had worked as police chief at Union. He also worked for Courtright Irrigation.

He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and was a Union City Council member and volunteer firefighter for many years. He loved hunting, fishing and his family.

Survivors include his wife, Josie of Union; stepdaughters, Dora Willcuts of Fontana, Calif., Elsie Bianco of Mesa, Ariz., and Marie Aldrich of Union; his mother, Grace Aldrich of Union; brothers, Kenneth Aldrich and Glen Aldrich of Union and George Aldrich of Cove; a sister, Betty Griffith of Prineville; 12 grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews and other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his father; a brother, Elmer; and a sister, Wilma.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Intensive Care Unit at Grande Ronde Hospital or to a charity of ones choice through the Daniels Chapel of the Valley, 1502 Seventh St., La Grande, Ore., 97850.

Jessie Laird

Jessie Morris Laird, 91, a former Baker County resident, died Feb. 21, 2001, at Spokane, Wash.

A private service is planned for the interment of Mrs. Lairds ashes.

Mrs. Laird was born on July 23, 1909, to Robert Lee and martha Ann Morris on their homestead on Missouri Flat northeast of Baker City.

She had seven brothers, Ed, Rob, Jerry, Sam, Wayne Bill and Mack Morris, and five sisters, Christine Morris (who died as an infant), Eva Robinson, Jane Colvin, Louise Worrell and Myrtle Perkins, who all preceded her in death.

Mrs. Morris attended Baker City schools. She and her brothers and sisters rode to school in a cart drawn by their fathers dapple gray. Because there were so few automobiles at the time, they had to unhitch the horse and turn him away from oncoming Model Ts. Otherwise the horse would rear in fright.

This caused them to be tardy many times. Mrs. Laird was a 1928 Baker High School graduate. She moved to La Grande to work in the bakery there.

It was in La Grande where she met and married Robert O. Laird on May 3, 1930. They lived at Cove where they had three children: Lewis, Lowana and Laurel Lee. In 1946, they purchased a 50-acre farm on Cricket Flat north of Elgin. She and her husband worked hard there to make the farm a success.

Mrs. Laird is remembered for her charismatic personality and hospitality as well as for being a loving mother and wife. Everyone was always welcome in her home. Her outstanding ability as a cook was enjoyed by all who visited or worked on the Laird farm.

Mrs. Laird nursed her husband through a difficult illness until his death in 1965 after 34 years of marriage. She leased the farm and returned to Baker City to be close to her loving brothers and sisters. She became an active member of the United Methodist Church and Rebekah Lodge.

She loved to entertain in her home as well as to sew, garden and be a grandma to her two beautiful granddaughters, Shelley and Tammy Salvage.

In 1989, Mrs. Laird moved to Spokane when it was not longer physically possible to live alone. She lived in a private care home until her death.

Bob Pellissier

Robert Joseph Bob Pellissier, 69, of The Dalles, died Feb. 17, 2001, at Mid-Columbia Medical Center.

His funeral was last week at Spencer, Libby andamp; Powell Funeral Home in The Dalles, with Asa Jenson officiating. Interment was this morning at Mount Hope Cemetery in Baker City.

Mr. Pellissier was born Jan. 7, 1932, at Walla Walla, Wash., the middle child of three sons born to Oran and Euna (White) Pellissier. He grew up in Tonasket, Wash., graduating from high school there in 1950.

After high school he moved to Baker City, then entered the U.S. Army, serving from 1951-55. After the service he returned to Baker City to work in the family trucking business.

Mr. Pellissier moved to Portland in 1960 and worked for Mitchell Brothers Trucking. In 1976 he moved to The Dalles, where he purchased Sauters Truck Service, which he operated as Pellissier Trucking Inc. with his son, Mark, and daughter-in-law, Linda.

Mr. Pellissier was a member of The Dalles Elks, Moose and Eagles lodges, and the American Legion. He enjoyed participating in community activities, including supplying trucks for local parades, and donating time to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County Museum.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley Joan (Bollinger) Pellissier, whom he marred June 22, 1999, at The Dalles; his sons and their wives, Mark and Linda Pellissier of The Dalles, and Greg and Jeannie Pellissier of Vancouver, Wash.; grandchildren, Oran and Elisha Pellissier of Vancouver; his brothers and their wives, Jim and Elsie Pellissier of Baker City, and Mike and Corrine Pellissier of Plymouth, Wash.; his sons mother and his ex-wife, Hazel Allegre of Gresham; and numerous stepchildren.

Mr. Pellissier was preceded in death by two infant sons, Robert, who died in 1951, and Bobby, who died in 1957.

Contributions in Mr. Pellissiers memory may be made to the American Diabetes Association at 380 SE Spokane St., No. 110, Portland, Ore., 97202.