Lillie Ells

Lillie Lovelace Ells, 100, a longtime Baker City resident, died April 8, 2003, at St. Elizabeth Health Services.

Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Pastor Ian Fisher of Calvary Chapel in Ontario will officiate. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will be Monday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the funeral home.

Lillie was born at Clovis, Calif., to Hubert and Lucy Van Cleave Carroll on Jan. 4, 1903. She moved with her parents at the age of 3 to Brady, Neb., where she lived until she was grown.

She worked hard all her life in the fields, milking cows and doing many chores outside and helping her mother with her younger brothers and sisters. She was the second of 13 children.

She lived in a sod house until she was 15 and assisted her mother in making mattresses for the beds, which were filled with corn shucks or clean straw. She was up early every morning to help outside and then did the chores inside before fixing a lunch and then walking to school, a distance of 1 miles, and she made sure the younger ones got there on time.

In 1917, her father moved the family to Kelly, Wyo., and she soon moved to La Grande where she worked at odd jobs until 1922, when she met and married Ed Lovelace.

They bought a ranch at Durkee and moved there in 1926, where she resided until 1950. She worked hard raising a huge garden each year, and canning many jars of fruit and vegetables to carry them over the winter. They always had others to room and board whether a friend or a stray prospector. One man, a Mr. Gray, wished to stay for four or five days to prospect a gold mine and he lived with them for more than 30 years.

Lillie worked at the Portland Cement plant, which was then at Lime during World War II and was a rural mail carrier for 13 years from Durkee to Bridgeport. She also cooked for Chris Lee’s sheep shearing crew for seven years.

She and her husband raised a herd of registered Hereford cattle the last years on their ranch and in 1950 they sold everything and moved to Baker City.

They then moved to their home on Elm Street. Mr. Lovelace died on July 23, 1973, and Lillie lived alone at her home for more than 13 years. She was a very active person, and loved hobbies and creative crafts.

She liked to make something with such items as seeds from her flowers or anything she could gather from the waysides, beads, fish scales, etc. She was a rock hound and made lovely pieces of beautiful jewelry out of her many agates and petrified woods.

She did lapidary work and made custom jewelry for many of her friends and relatives. In later years, she spent many hours china painting dishes for her sisters and friends. She loved to fish and to be outdoors.

She married Ralph Ells at American Falls, Idaho, on Nov. 4, 1985. They had known each other for many years and were very, very happy in the short time they had together. Ralph owned and operated his own chimney and furnace cleaning business for 38 years until he was forced to retire due to ill health in 1987 at the age of 87. He died on March 7, 1990.

Lillie was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a charter member of the World War I Auxiliary, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, American Legion Auxiliary, and the Durkee Grange.

She was preceded in death by her two husbands; her parents; her grandparents; four brothers, Hubert, Joe, Patrick and Warren Carroll; and four sisters, Daisy Suitter, Bertha Klien, Pearl McClary and Ada Talley.

Survivors include her sisters, Violet Graham of Baker City and Lois Music of Yelm, Wash.; and brothers, Omar M. Carroll and George W. Carroll Sr., both of Baker City; many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews and great-great-grandchildren; and her longtime friends and neighbors.

Memorial contributions may be made to Cancer Research or the V.F.W. through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.

Maj. Johnnie Robinson

Maj. Johnnie Grover Robinson, 83, a longtime Baker City resident of Baker City died April 5, 2003, at Valley View Retirement Center in Boise.

His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Baker City Salvation Army Church on Estes Street. Maj. Daniel Hudson of The Salvation Army Midland Divisional Headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., will conduct the service. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery

Visitations for Major Robinson will be until 7 o’clock tonight at Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St.

Maj. Robinson was born on Sept. 12, 1919, at Fort Mill, S.C., a son of John and Flonnie Reed Yandle Robinson. He was raised at South Carolina and after his schooling served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

While still serving in the Marine Corps he met his bride-to-be, Irene, and brought her to his church home: The Salvation Army at Rock Hill, S.C. They were married on June 27, 1944.

Together, they felt God’s call on their lives to serve him as officers in The Salvation Army. They both attended The Salvation Army’s School for Officers Training in Atlanta, Ga., and were commissioned as lieutenants, and ordained as Salvation Army officers (ministers) on June 4, 1951.

They served in the following appointments in the Southern Territory: Lubbock, Littlefield, Houston, Harlingen, Lufkin, Freeport and Texarkana, Texas. After transferring to the Western Territory in June of 1977, they served in Pocatello, Idaho and Baker City.

Also during their length of service they had a great love for children, and because they saw the great need, shared their home and family and became foster parents to more than 27 children. Even after retirement in Baker City, their service to the Lord did not end.

They served as interim officers in the Central Territory at Cape Girardeau and Kirksville, Mo., and at International Falls, Minn. They also served with a Work and Witness team from the Baker City Church of the Nazarene in building and repairing schools and churches. The traveled twice to Nicaragua and once to Guatemala.

Maj. Robinson was a member of the Baker Rotary Club.

Survivors include his children, Elzena Robinson-Gray of Boise, Eugene A. Farrar of Porter, Texas, William W. Farrar of Pocahontas, Ark., Rolland L. Farrar of Porter, Texas, and Maj. Martha A. Hudson of St. Louis, Mo.; sisters, Ella Mae West of Rock Hill, S.C., and Ola Bell Rich of Corpus Christi, Texas; a brother, Jimmie Robinson of Rock Hill, S.C.; 14 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Irene Robinson; his parents; and three brothers and one sister.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Salvation Army through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.

Betty Roumpf

Betty Chadsey Roumpf, 87, a former longtime Baker City resident and community volunteer, died April 7, 2003, after suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease for more than a decade.

She was lovingly cared for by many compassionate caregivers at St. Aidan’s Place in Portland and by Sandy and Dave Renfrow of Hammond.

At her request, there will be no service. Arrangements are under the direction of Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary at Astoria.

She was born on April 10, 1915, at Los Angeles to Orville and Amy Chadsey. She was one of four children.

She attended elementary school and high school at Beaumont, Calif., graduating in 1933. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Redlands at Redlands, Calif., in 1937 and her master’s of arts from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1943.

As an ordained elder of the Presbyterian Church, she was the first woman to offer prayer at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA. She served in mission fields of the Presbyterian Church from 1943 to 1947 at Tonopah, Nev., and Bryce, Calif., and San Francisco.

In 1947, she married the Rev. Larry Roumpf of Stanford, Mont. Together from 1947 to 1971 they served churches at Stanford and Hamilton, Mont.; Quincy, Wash.; and Baker City. They raised two daughters, Margaret and Judy.

She was a secretary for a circuit court judge, a home health agency, and Presbyterian and Episcopal churches. She was an active community volunteer for the American Association of University Women, League of Women Voters, PEO, Community Concerts, Laubach Literacy and Meals on Wheels. She hosted an American Field Service Peruvian exchange student, Sonia Perez-Leon.

Survivors include two daughters and sons-in-law, Margaret and Wayne Blake of Astoria, and Judy Roumpf and Jerry Powell of Portland; a grandson, Chad Powell of Portland; a sister and brother-in-law, Lois and Franz Wichman of Medford; and nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to any local hospice, Alzheimer’s care center or Presbyterian Church.

Merlin Smith

Merlin W. Smith, 74, of North Powder, died April 5, 2003, in a Boise hospital.

His funeral will be Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Loveland Funeral Chapel, 1508 Fourth St., in La Grande. Visitations will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the Loveland Funeral Chapel.

Vault interment will be at the North Powder Cemetery. Friends are invited to join the family at the North Powder Grange Hall afterward for a time of sharing and refreshments.

Mr. Smith was born Jan. 21, 1929, at Wolf Creek. He was the son of Elias S. and Unice S. Simonis Smith. He was raised and educated in the North Powder area. In 1946, he entered the U.S. Navy and served his country during World War II.

He married Phyllis B. Morris on Aug. 15, 1954, at Cove. After their marriage, the Smith’s made their home at North Powder.

Mr. Smith had worked at operating heavy equipment for the Union County Road Department until his retirement in 1990.

He was a charter member of the North Powder Lions Club. He greatly enjoyed hunting, fishing, working in his shop and reading.

Survivors include his wife, Phyllis Smith of North Powder; two sons and their wives, Sherwood and Kerri Smith of North Powder and Gareld and Stephanie Smith of La Grande; two sisters, Verna Hill of La Grande and Jeannine Weaver of Estacada; and six grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one sister, Delpha Picker; and a brother, Robert Smith.

Memorial contributions can be made to the charity of one’s choice through the Loveland Funeral Chapel, 1508 Fourth St., La Grande, OR 97850.

Charles Pearce

Charles R. Pearce, 89, of Nampa, Idaho, died at his home with his family by his side on April 4, 2003.

His memorial service will be at 2 p.m. at the McEwen Bible Fellowship Hall at 15403 Sumpter Stage Highway near Sumpter. Pastor Bill Cox will perform the service at the Fellowship Hall. Charles and his wife Jeanette were members of this church when they lived in Sumpter. Arrangements are under the direction of Alsip andamp; Persons Funeral Chapel, 404 10th Ave. S. at Nampa.

Charles was born to Clara and David Penn Pearce at Belton, Texas, on Sept. 5, 1913. He grew up in Texas.

During his early adult life, he worked in construction in many parts of Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. He met and married Lucille Broyles at Wichita Falls, Texas, and they had two children, Linda and Jim.

He joined the U.S. Navy in 1941 and served as a chief petty officer in the Navy’s Construction Battalion during the World War II. After the war, he settled at Houston.

Charles and his family moved to California in 1959 where he worked in the Southern California area until his retirement. His wife, Lucille, died in California.

He married his wife, Jeanette, in 1985 and moved to John Day. He and Jeanette moved to Sumpter in 1987. They moved from Oregon to Idaho in 1991, living at both Caldwell and Nampa.

During the time they lived in both Oregon and Idaho, he and Jeanette traveled extensively in the Northwest where they greatly enjoyed the outdoors. Fishing and camping with their dogs were always a big part of their activities throughout each year.

Both he and Jeanette also enjoyed woodworking and other crafts, sharing many of their creations with their family, friends and neighbors. Charles was active in the Masons throughout his adult life.

Charles was the last of his siblings. His older sister, Alva, and brother, Stephen, both died in California.

Survivors include his wife Jeanette; his daughter, Linda Curphey of Baker City; his son, Jim, of Houston; his grandchildren, Margie Cummings, Robbie Stephenson, Becky Savage, David Pearce, Blake Bertram and Sara Pearce; two great-grandchildren, Megan and Samantha; and Jeanette’s children, Penny Adams, Ricky Kaufman, and Kitty Aguilera, 10 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren.

Florence Myhand

Florence Parnell Slaughter Myhand, 84, of Halfway, died March 30, 2003, at St. Elizabeth Health Services.

Her graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso, Texas.

Florence was born on Jan. 30, 1919, at Stonewall, Okla., to James A. and Hattie E. Word Parnell.

In 1936, she married Wayne L. Slaughter. They had three children. In 1948, the family moved to El Paso, Texas, where she would make her home for the next 49 years.

Florence worked and was the manager of the William Beaumont branch of the State National Bank for 15 years, retiring in the early 70s.

In 1967, she married Henry A. andquot;Hankandquot; Myhand. Together they enjoyed gardening, traveling, camping, fishing and hunting until his death in 1985. She was also very talented with crochet and made many lovely afghans for her family.

Florence moved to Halfway in June of 1997 where she continued to enjoy her gardening and began to enjoy all of the different species of birds that would visit her feeders. She really enjoyed the quail that made their rounds through her yard daily.

She derived a great deal of pleasure from her home and her flowers. She also enjoyed the many car trips to visit her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who affectionately called her andquot;grape-grandma.andquot;

She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, two sisters and her husband, Hank.

Survivors include her daughters, Juanita F. Borth of Killeen, Texas, and Lorraine Huff and her husband, David, of Halfway; her son, Donald W. Slaughter, and his wife, Sandra, of El Paso, Texas; grandchildren, Leann Cornutt and her husband, James, of Wellston, Okla., V.W. andquot;Buddyandquot; Barker and his wife, Lisa, of Killeen, Texas, Don Barker and his wife, Donna, of Anchorage, Alaska, Joe Barker and his wife, Sandra, of Wasilla, Alaska, Cheryl Niemeyer and her husband, Mark, Julie Ferneau and her husband, Richard, of Caldwell, Idaho, James Slaughter and his wife, Donna, of Austin, Texas, and Pamela Allen and her husband, Russell, of Houston, Texas; and 13 great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of one’s choice through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home, P.O. Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834.