Marjorie Buxton

Baker City, 1922-2019

Marjorie Florence (Bowman) Buxton, 96, died Sept. 14, 2019, at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Nampa, Idaho.

A graveside service for both her husband, Dale (with military honors) and Marjorie will take place at the Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland when the weather is warm in 2020. The time and date will be announced.

Marjorie was born on Dec. 8, 1922, to Jack and Agnes (Woodcock) Bowman at Sturgill Creek on the Idaho side of the Snake River, near Robinette, Oregon. She had one older brother, Mervin, and one older sister, Nadine. They had many good times riding their horses in the hills around their home. Crossing the river to the Oregon side was accomplished from a ferry boat or row boat. When winter came and Snake River was covered with ice the only way to cross was riding in a cage that was hung from a cable across the river.

Marjorie started school at five years old, riding horseback behind her brother to Robinette Grade School which was six miles from their home. In the winter, their mother, Agnes, stayed in Robinette during the week so they didn’t have to travel. In later years she stayed with her aunt and uncle, Carl and Eva Miller, while attending grade school and later high school in Richland. She graduated high school in 1940 and later attended Superior Beauty School in Nampa. After graduation, she worked several years at Saratoga Beauty Shop in Caldwell, Idaho, and then later at her own shop in Vale.

While attending a dance in New Bridge, Oregon, she ran into her high school sweetheart, Dale Buxton, who she hadn’t seen in nine years, and the romance started all over again. They were engaged Christmas 1948 and married at Winnemucca, Nevada, on her birthday, Dec. 8, 1949. They moved into their home (which Dale helped build) on a farm in Richland.

On Dec. 20, 1950, a baby boy named Glen Dale, and on April 30, 1953, a baby girl named Judie Bernice, were born. Many wonderful years were spent in Eagle Valley. She was a Cub Scout den mother for several years while Glen was involved in the scouting program.

In 1968 they moved into Baker so the children could attend Baker High School, and Dale pursued his trucking business.

When the children left home, she worked at Dan’s Jewelry in Baker, which she dearly loved. She worked there off and on for the next 20 years and when Dan decided to retire, she helped close the store. The customers called her the “diamond lady” because she loved to sell diamonds and all kinds of jewelry. She and Dale celebrated their 68th anniversary on Dec. 8, 2018.

Marjorie was a member of the Baker United Methodist Church and loved the Lord. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were the pride of her life. To them she was always known as “Grams.”

Marjorie is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Glen and Peggy Buxton of Pasco, Washington; her son-in-law, Robert Schock of Klamath Falls, Oregon; four grandchildren, Rick (Samantha) Buxton and Brian Buxton, and Dondi and Christopher (Chelsea) Schock; four great-grandchildren, Caleb, Bailey and Sydnee Buxton and Emma Schock; one step-great-grandson, Rylee Oak; and several nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Jack and Agnes Bowman; her husband, Dale, her daughter, Judie; her grandson, Travis; her brother, Mervin; her sister, Nadine; her niece, Sylvia; and her nephew, Jack.

Those who would like to make a donation in memory of Marge may do so to the Baker United Methodist Church through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home & Cremation Services, P.O. Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834. Online condolences can be made at www.tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.

Marjorie Miller

North Powder, 1948-2019

Marjorie Ann Miller, 70, of North Powder, died Sept. 16, 2019, at Baker City.

Her memorial service will take place at a later date.

Marjorie was born on Dec. 25, 1948, at Baker City to Francis and Dorothy (Calloway) Phillips. She attended Baker Senior High and graduated in 1967. She worked as a caregiver at many places caring for the elderly and as a desk clerk at the Sunridge and El Dorado.

Marjorie enjoyed puzzles, sewing, home improvements and spending time with her grandchildren. She raised five children by herself and was proud to have received her CNA and med aid status.

Survivors include her son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Cindy of Baker City; her daughters, Jodi of Baker City and Shelly of North Powder; her son, Bryce of Boise; her sisters, Gloria of Baker City, Marie of La Grande and Patty of North Powder; 10 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Francis and Dorothy Phillips; and her daughter, Cassie Miller.

Contributions in memory of Marjorie can be made to Heart ’N’ Home Hospice through Gray’s West & Company, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.

To light a candle in memory of Marjorie, or to leave a condolence for her family, go to www.grayswestco.com.

‘Gene’ Zacharias

Formerly of Haines, 1936-2019

SALEM – Eugene Victor “Gene” Zacharias, Jr., 83, died Sept. 10, 2019, after suffering with polio for much of his life.

A celebration of his life is being planned for March 2020.

Gene was born Aug. 9, 1936, at Freewater, Oregon, to Eugene V. Zacharias, Sr. and Martha (Schindler) Zacharias.

Gene was 3 years old when he contracted polio. He recalled recently that moment of discovering something terribly wrong occurred playing outside with his older brother Robert “Bob” Zacharias; when his mother called the boys into breakfast, “I couldn’t stand up,” Gene said.

The local doctor refused to treat the toddler because the virus was so contagious. He warned Gene’s mother it wouldn’t matter anyway because the boy was likely to die.

The family refused to accept the doctor’s dire prognosis. Gene’s mother and grandmother attended to the disabled toddler, taking care to protect Gene’s siblings from contracting polio, which was raging across the U.S. from that point in the early 1940s to its U.S. peak impact in the 1950s.

The World Health Organization estimated that in addition to the tens of thousands of U.S. victims, during this one decade up to 20 million people worldwide contracted the debilitating disease before a vaccine was developed that has nearly eradicate polio today.

The last recorded case of polio in the U.S. was in 1979. Survivors, like Gene, who have dealt with the aftermath of polio include national leaders like President Franklin D. Roosevelt, actors Alan Alda and Mia Farrow, photojournalist Dorothea Lange, musicians Itzhak Perlman, Judy Collins, Neil Young, and writers Harry Crews and E. W. Swanton, who contracted the disease in a POW camp.

After Gene was left disabled by the disease, a physical therapist at Medical Lake, Washington, rigged up a handmade cart to be pulled by an English Springer Spaniel as a means for the youngster to get around the farm.

Gene eventually got additional medical help from the Shriners Hospital in Portland where he received several operations through his grade-school and into high-school years that enabled him to walk again, albeit with continued physical impairment.

Gene graduated from Enterprise High School in 1954 and attended Eastern Oregon University and, later, Judson Baptist College while it was located in Portland.

On Nov. 24, 1956, Gene married Gwendolyn Thomas, at Ardenwald Congregational Church in Milwaukie, Oregon. The two were introduced by Gene’s mother who worked with Gwen at Wallowa Lake Lodge near Joseph.

Theirs was a love that would last a lifetime and would carry them into the headwaters of the Amazon jungle, where for many years they served the tribal peoples of Ecuador with Wycliffe Bible Translators/Summer Institute of Linguistics.

As support staff, Gene was engaged in teaching indigenous tribes farm and timber management skills in a frantic effort to bridge the chasm between prehistoric culture and the 20th Century with the central goal of preserving their independent livelihoods on their own lands.

In the late 1960s while Gene was working with the “Auca” (now known as Waodani), a polio virus hit the tribe. For the first time Gene reported feeling blessed in being a polio victim, as he was uniquely suited to lead the Woadani victims through all the physical therapy routines he had learned years earlier in his own recovery at Shriners Hospital.

Gene and Gwen continued in their faithful service to the Lord upon their return to Oregon. Gene pastored at Haines Baptist Church of Haines, Oregon, for 15 years before his retirement. He also shared his love of Jesus with 27 different congregations traveling throughout Oregon filling pulpits as a “substituting” minister. Gene could not have a conversation without mentioning God’s boundless love for humanity.  

When he wasn’t preaching, Gene could often be found driving some sort of farm implement or working in the woods somewhere. His most prized possession, next to his Bible, was a John Deere Gator given to him by his brother, Bob.

Gene loved holding grandchildren in his lap and driving them around in that Gator.

Survivors include his beloved wife, Gwen, daughter, Gloria Zacharias Steele, and her husband, Bill Steele, all of Salem; sons, Timothy W., and his wife, Karen, of Redmond, and Mark V. of Baker City; brothers, Bob of Joseph, William “Bill” of Oregon City and John of Salem; and sister, Patricia “Pat” of Salem; 11 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and two more greats ‘en route’ for whom he faithfully prayed for daily.  

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to Shriners or March of Dimes, and that people ensure their children and grandchildren are immunized.

“I would not want anybody to deal with what I have,” Gene said. “It makes me want to cry to see these little ones that are being exposed to things no one would get if they would only be vaccinated.”