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Linda Pifher, J. Merle Cummings

Linda “Umaw” Pifher, 58, of Baker City, died Aug. 19, 2008 at her home.

At the family’s request, there will be no service.

Linda was born July 17, 1950, at Prairie City to Opal Dee Davis and Norma Jean Davis. Linda was “Umaw” to her grandkids and friends. She was their No. 1 fan and loved to watch them play sports.

She loved to shoot traps with her son, Shea, and her grandson, Derek, and Geoff White. She also loved to fish on the Snake River with granddaughter, Sierra, and her daughter, Nicole.

Linda was the life of any family gathering with her keen wit and humor. She loved the television shows, “Forensic Files,” “Detective Stories” and “Court Case TV” and she loved to read. She was a great mother and a loving grandmother to many, her family said.

Linda worked at St. Elizabeth Care Center for many years. She attended Treasure Valley Community College at Ontario in pursuit of her nursing degree.

She finished her working career as an in-home health care provider. Linda relieved many families with her tender care, love and compassion.

Survivors include her daughter, Nicole Howerton, and her husband, Jim; son, Shea Maliwanki; step-daughter, Tammy Hunt; and grandchildren, Derek, Sierra, Matt, Melissa and Deana; great-grandson, Hunter James Howerton; brother, Rick Davis; brother-in-law, Jim Edison; and numerous nieces, nephews and their families.

She was preceded in death by her father Opal Davis and mother Norma Davis, brother Roger Davis and sister Della Edison.

Memorial contributions may be made to the family to help with expenses in care of Gray’s West and Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.

J. Merle Cummings, 90, of Unity, died Aug. 24, 2008, at Baker City.

His funeral will be at 10 a.m. PDT Saturday at the Vale Christian Church. Pastor Roger Scovil of the Baker City Christian Church will officiate. Visitations will precede the service at 9 a.m. PDT. Interment will be at Valley View Cemetery. Friends are invited to join the family for dinner at Vale Christian Church after the service.

Merle was born on Jan. 10, 1918, at Burns to Austin and Bessie Cummings. His parents later divorced. He lived at The Dalles during a part of his early elementary years and was a 1937 graduate of Crane High School in Harney County. Even though Merle was a small man, he was very athletic and played high school football and enjoyed the sport of boxing.

Because of his poor eyesight, Merle was ineligible to join the Army during World War II. Instead, he worked for a construction company in Hawaii during the war.

When he returned to the United States, he met Donna Lou Billington. They were married on Jan. 6, 1945. Together they ranched in Harney County and at Westfall and Vale in Malheur County. They raised six children and were married for nearly 50 years when she died in 1994.

Throughout his life, Merle had been very active as a rancher and community leader, serving on school boards and various other committees. He was president of the Malheur County Cattlemen’s Association from 1965 to 1967 and belonged to the Malheur County Sheriff’s Posse for more than 20 years.

For a few years he and Donna owned a dairy. Then he studied and got his realtors license. Shortly afterward, the couple sold the farm and selling real estate became Merle’s new vocation. He really enjoyed those years and was awarded Realtor of the Year in 1976 by the Malheur County Board of Realtors.

As retirement age was approaching, the couple decided to buy property at Unity where Merle had lived for the past 26 years. With this move, he and Donna decided to take up a new sport: snowmobiling. He was active in the Burnt River Snowmobile Club, taking his last snowmobile ride in January 2008 for his 90th birthday.

When he was 85, he married Ruth Goodrum Cummings of Prairie City. They enjoyed traveling between his home at Unity and her home at Prairie City. They never missed a family reunion and had recently attended this year’s reunion at the home of his son, Richard, at Dixie, Wash.

Merle was an active man who enjoyed sports, discussing politics, hiking, and traveling and he especially loved his large family.

Survivors include his wife, Ruth of Prairie City; a sister, Arline Miller of Turlock, Calif.; three sons, Richard and his wife, Kay Cummings, of Dixie, Wash., Jim and his wife, Irma Cummings of Bickleton, Wash., and Mike Cummings, Unity; three daughters, Francise and her husband, Boyd Perry, of Baker City, Larraine Cummings of Culver, and Barbara and her husband, Don Briggs, of Hood River; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Donna; his parents, Austin Cummings and Bessie Gillis; and his sister, Gwen Howard.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Burnt River Snowmobile Club, through Gray’s West and Co., 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.