Obituaries: ‘Gradnpa Joe’ Byrne, Roy Borden, John Weeks

Published 12:00 am Thursday, September 21, 2006

‘Grandpa Joe’ Byrne

Joseph Earl andquot;Grandpa Joeandquot; Byrne, 78, of Kennewick, Wash., a former Baker County resident, died Sept. 17, 2006, at his home surrounded by those he loved.

His funeral will be at 1 p.m. Friday at the Tri-Cites Funeral Home, 1401 S. Union St. at Kennewick, Wash.

Joe was born on Dec. 6, 1927, at New Bridge to Ralph Lafayette Byrne and Effie Gladys Garrett Byrne. He spent his youth at Sparta until 1934 when his parents bought a ranch in the Lower Powder River Valley.

He was a 1946 Baker High School graduate. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the 1st Cavalry in occupied Japan from 1946 to 1948, when he was honorably discharged. While serving in the Army, Joe was honored with the award of andquot;Soldier of the Month.andquot;

A family man always, Joe’s family came first. He will be remembered for many things, among them his twinkling blue eyes, a love for his family, farm animals, kitties, peppermint gum, andquot;tastiesandquot; and tractor rides. Joe loved old trucks and tractors and especially enjoyed talking about trucks and tractors with his family and his many friends.

A jack-of-all-trades and master-of-all, Joe was a self-employed rancher, trucker, mechanic and equipment trader. For a number of years, he and his family did custom combining. He also hauled farm products and grapes for the wineries in his later years.

Joe loved designing and engineering his own tools and equipment. When it came to math, he was a whiz with numbers. His family can recall giving him number problems and square-root problems. Joe had the amazing ability to solve the problems quickly in his mind.

andquot;By the time we punched the numbers into a calculator, he had the answer, and it was always correct and carried to many decimal places,andquot; his family said.

Throughout his life’s journey, Joe lived in Eastern Oregon, briefly in western Montana and in eastern Washington. Much of his life was spent at Kennewick with his best friend and wife of 35 years, Marion.

He was loved by all and will be greatly missed, his family said.

He was preceded in death by his mother and father and his sister, Freda.

Survivors include his wife, Marion, of Kennewick; his sisters and brothers; his children; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Tri-Cities Chaplaincy Hospice House, 2108 W. Entiat St., Kennewick, WA 99337.

Roy Borden

Vernon Roy Borden, 77, of Baker City, died Sept. 17, 2006, at St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise.

He was born on July 30, 1929, at Cogswell, N.D., to Howard L. and Mary M. Seth Borden.

Vernon was devoted to his family. He loved them all and they all loved him very much. Vern was an absolute gentleman and always enjoyed a good game of cribbage.

He owned the River Road Dairy Queen at Eugene and the bowling alley at Sutherlin.

He was preceded in death by his brothers, James and Perry; and by his sister, Bonnie.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Jo Borden of Baker City; children, Linda Hanson of Lago Vista, Texas, Laura Clevenger of Dexter, La Vonn Snider and her husband, Marc, of Winchester, Eric Borden and his wife, Mary, of Eugene, and Lari Ann Gaioni and her husband, Steve, of Spotsylvania, Va.; stepchildren, Mark DeLong and his wife, Stacy, of Baker City, Scott DeLong and his wife, Cindy Jo, of La Grande, Craig McEnroe of Alameda, Calif., and Clay McEnroe and his wife, Tammie, of Baker City; grandchildren, Beth Thrall and her husband, Corey, of Lago Vista, Texas, Scott Hanson and his wife, Becky, of Veneta, Casey Giles and her husband, Robert, of Eugene, Ryan Borden of Eugene, Davis Clevenger and his wife of Dexter, Andrea Clevenger of Eugene, Kendra Groves of La Grande, Ethan and Dillon DeLong of Baker City, Haley and Taylor Joe McEnroe of Baker City, and Jeffrey and Kelsey Gaioni of Spotsylvania, Va.; great-grandchildren, Brittany, Rylee, Levi, Denum, Maranda and Veronica; sisters, Florence Casler of Marysville, Wash., and LaVerle Severson and her husband, Mark, of Glyndon, Minn.; sister-in-law, Janice Ladley, and her husband, Tom, of Idaho; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Gray’s West andamp; Co. Pioneer Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

John Weeks

John Oliver Weeks, 83, of Baker City, died Sept. 19, 2006.

His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Elkhorn Community Church.

John was born on July 11, 1923, at Baker City to Anderson and Mildred Mode Weeks. At the age of 10, he moved with his family to Boring. He was a graduate of Sandy High School. After graduating, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

He married Peggie Marie Burghardt on Feb. 22, 1946. After retiring in 1988, John and Peggie returned to Northeastern Oregon, living in the Medical Springs/Pondosa area.

Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Peggie; a son, Michael Weeks and his wife, Kathy, of Portland; daughters, Pam Benjamin and her husband, Verl, of Gresham and Bev Mason and her husband, Al, of Baker City; 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.