Danny Gullett

Danny Gullett, 61, of Prineville died Sept. 7, 2006, at his home.

His graveside service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland.

Danny Dale was born on March 13, 1945, at Prairie City to Maurice E. and Wilma M. Holland Gullett. He was raised at New Bridge and Richland and was a 1963 graduate of Eagle Valley High School at Richland. He married Jeannie Greener on May 28, 1966, at Halfway.

Danny worked for the Oregon Department of Transportation for more than 30 years, retiring in 1995. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, riding in his Jeep, barbecues, and spending time with his family and pets.

Survivors include his wife Jeannie; a son, Don Gullett of Prineville; a daughter Lisa andquot;Cissyandquot; Quinlan of Prineville; a brother, Earl, and his wife, Rita Gullett, of Sierra Vista, Ariz.; five grandchildren all of Prineville; Uncle Bill and Donita Holland of New Bridge; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and a brother, Kenneth, who died in 1970 while serving in Vietnam.

Memorial contributions may be made to a local hospice or Pioneer Memorial Hospice at Prineville through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home, P.O. Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834.

‘Irv’ Mahugh

G. Irvin andquot;Irvandquot; Mahugh, 73, of Baker City, died Sept. 18, 2006, at his home.

His celebration of life will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Haines United Methodist Church.

Irv was born on May 7, 1933, at Glasgow, Mont., to Arley and Mary Mahugh. He was the third of six children.

During his youth, he developed a love for model airplanes, which led him to a hobby and career in aviation.

He received his solo pilot’s license at the age of 16 at Fort Peck, Mont. During high school he was active in the Civil Air Patrol. He went on to Aircraft and Engineer Mechanics School at Helena, Mont. He then spent four years in the U.S. Air Force where he met and married his wife, Florance.

Upon discharge from the service, he enrolled in the mechanical engineering program at Montana State College at Bozeman, Mont. His employment took him and his family from the East Coast to the West Coast. He worked for various aircraft engineering companies, ending with Boeing at Seattle, Wash.

He was a flight-test engineer on the first 737. In the early 1970s, his position was eliminated in the big employment reduction at Boeing. One of his favorite sayings for that time was andquot;Would the last one out of Seattle, please turn out the lights?andquot;

His final employment led him to Baker City where he worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a civil engineer. One phase of his job was designing and inspecting road and trail bridges in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

He often said, andquot;I do for a living what most people do for a vacation.andquot; He retired at an early age and enjoyed many years of traveling, flying his Bonanza and his home-built Ramsey flying bathtub, hunting, playing the harmonica and visiting with friends and family.

Survivors include his wife of more than 50 years, Florance; his children and their spouses, Debbie and Pat Lantz of Anchorage, Alaska, Margie and Steve Fulton of Pendleton, Janice Mahugh of Baker City, Alice and Bill Durflinger of Baker City and Jim and Beth Mahugh of Selah, Wash.; six grandchildren, Jackie Fulton, Jon Fulton, Beth Durflinger, Justin Durflinger, Jacob Mahugh and Lucas Mahugh; his sister, Lorna Gaither; and brothers, Vernon and Lowell Mahugh.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Haines United Methodist Church or Pathway Hospice through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.

‘Rollie’ Rioux

Edmond Rollie Rioux, 73, died Sept. 14, 2006, at his home in Baker City.

The rosary will be said at 6 o’clock tonight at Gray’s West andamp; Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 4 p.m. Thursday at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral, First and Church streets. Father Camillus Fernando will officiate. Friends are invited to join the family for a reception after the memorial in the Parish Hall.

Rollie was born on Feb. 19, 1933, at Rapid City, S.D., to Oscar J. and Zetta M. Allen Rioux. He was the eighth of nine children.

He married Caroline Ehli on June 22, 1953, at Rapid City.

He joined the U.S. Army Engineers in 1952 and was honorably discharged in 1957. During this time he served in the Korean conflict.

Rollie worked most of his life with the Labors Union doing construction in South Dakota, California and Oregon doing construction.

Rollie was a devoted and supportive husband, father and grandfather. He was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and enjoyed spending his free time fishing, woodworking and traveling.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Jasper, Ralph and Max; and four sisters, Florence, Lucielle, Rebecca and Rozie.

Survivors include his wife, Caroline M. Rioux; five children, DelRey A. Stone of Baker City, David A. Rioux of Baker City, Deborah C. Connors and her husband, John, of Brandon, Vt., Jerry E. Rioux and his wife, Terresa, of Winterhaven, Fla., and Rollie E. Rioux II and his wife, Mona, of St. James, Miss.; 13 grandchildren, Daniela Stone, David A. Stone, Jolynn M. Mendez and her husband, Aminto, Ashley R. Connors, Krista M. Connors, David A. Rioux, Robert E. Rioux, Krystle M. Rioux, Stephen D. Patten, Michael V. Patten, Kathrine R. Patten, John J. Rioux and David Molonderg; four great-grandchildren, Cody D. Hanson, Christopher M. Hanson, Jessica LeAnn Rioux and Rosalia K Mendez; brother, Jerry Joe Rioux of Rapid City, S.D.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or Disabled American Veterans through Gray’s West andamp; Co., 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.

Wreatha Hudson

Wreatha Nell Hudson, 92, a former longtime Baker City resident, died Sept. 6, 2006, at her daughter’s home in Wilder, Idaho.

There will be a celebration of life service at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 42171 Chico Road. Pastor Tony Brandon of the church will officiate.

The oldest of three children born to Charles Fred and Ethel Cole, Wreatha was born on Nov. 14, 1913, at Camp Crook, S.D. Being the daughter of an evangelist meant Wreatha called many places home during her childhood, a fact she did not look back on with fondness.

Many childhood pictures show the big evangelistic tent in the back ground as she stands soberly beside her dark-suited preacher dad. One of the family’s moves brought the disappearance of a much-loved teddy bear and a rocking chair. Her sorrow as a small child stayed fresh in Wreatha’s mind for many years.

She lived in the Dakotas, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and California. Perhaps her childhood travels are why she so treasured the 50-plus years she was able to spend in the big old white house on Valley Avenue with its kitchen and dining room windows framing her beloved Blue Mountains, her family said.

Some of Wreatha’s grade-school years and her high-school years were spent at Yakima, Wash. She was a graduate of Yakima Valley Academy and went on to major in English at Walla Walla College.

The college was a conservative Christian school where dancing was prohibited. Wreatha was delighted when a couple of her much-adored male cousins sneaked her out and taught her the Charleston.

In 1935, a chance stop in Baker for car repairs led Wreatha’s family to accept an invitation to the Hudson ranch for dinner. There she met the family’s son, Albert, who was home from college for the weekend. An afternoon hike in the Pine Creek area ended with Wreatha commenting, andquot;Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful to live in a place like this!andquot; As fate would have it, she became Mrs. Al Hudson on June 4, 1938.

Wreatha taught shorthand when she and her new husband answered a call to Enterprise Academy in Kansas. She worked as an assistant postmaster while Albert attended Walla Walla College. And around 1950, she greatly enjoyed a stint as city editor of the Baker Democrat-Herald (today’s Baker City Herald). She assisted Albert in running Hudson Printing Co. as long as they owned the business.

Writing, working in her yard and being involved with her church family were Wreatha’s greatest joys. She shared her writing talents with many by compiling creative biographies, family and local history, memorial folders and holiday plays.

She authored a devotional book, andquot;Psalm 23, The Sheepherder, You and Me!andquot; and a book on Baker County history, andquot;Baker County with Sheep on a Thousand Hills.andquot; She loved planning and decorating for any special occasion at the church: weddings, showers, birthday celebrations or just potlucks.

Wreatha was a lifelong member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and had a special love for working with the church’s young people. She was renowned among that group for her school plays, Sabbath school programs, teaching the books of the Bible and conniving creative outings to her favorite Baker County sites.

Her family said that as her life’s final chapter has reached its end, she joins Paul in saying, andquot;I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.andquot;

Survivors include her son, Larry Hudson of College Place, Wash.; her daughter and son-in-law, LaVelle and Dick Ernest of Wilder, Idaho; six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; her brother and sisters-in-law, Duane and Lucile Cole of Sequim, Wash.; and her sisters and brother-in-law, Charlotte and Carl Loewen of Merced, Calif.

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Lyndell; and her husband, Albert.