Obituaries: Glenn Fleming, Florestine Bowman

Glenn Fleming

Glenn Martin Fleming, 85, died Sept. 15, 2006, at his home in Baker City after a 15-year battle with Parkinson's disease.

His memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 42171 Chico Road. There will be a dinner afterward.

After the dinner, weather permitting, all who would like to are invited to join the family in a horseback ride or hike at the Virtue Flat Ranch to spread his ashes on top of a hill where he wants to wake up on Resurrection Morning. The hike/ride will be abut one mile and a 600-foot gain over some rough ground.

Glenn was born on June 14, 1921, at Brawley, Calif. to John Martin Fleming and Dollie Irmatrude Callarman Fleming. He was raised with an older half-sister, four older sisters and a younger brother. He graduated from Sweetwater High School at the age of 21 after attending night school while working for Consolidated Aircraft Corp. in San Diego as a tool and die maker.

He began active service in the U.S. Marine Corps on Oct. 19, 1942. In 1943, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Radio Training Program at Texas A&M College. While there he met Barbara Joy Chapman, whom he married on Feb. 11, 1945.

He served in the American Theatre Area and the Southwest Pacific Area from June 1943 to December 1945 as a radio operator and tail gunner in Douglas Dauntless dive bombers. His unit was preparing B-25s for low-level strafing as part of an invasion of the main islands of Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped and Japan surrendered.

After his military discharge in 1946, he attended San Jose State in California where he was awarded a bachelor of arts degree with distinction in 1950 with an industrial arts major and his teaching certificate. He taught school for 21 years.

Always a lover of the land, Glenn bought property on Potem Creek in northern California in 1956, part of which the family still holds. In 1971, the Flemings moved to Baker City where they bought the Widman Ranch on Virtue Flat, fulfilling a lifelong dream to be a cattle rancher.

Glen worked various jobs in Baker City, including teaching at the Adventist School for three years, working at Baker Union Tractor, working at a mine in Mormon Basin, building fence and for the Oregon Highway Department, where he was the oldest engineering aid and kept up with younger workers.

He retired at the age of 70fi. The first signs of Parkinson's disease appeared shortly after that.

Glenn served his church and community by designing the Baker City church school complex and the new Richland Adventist Church after a fire. He also served in various offices through the years. He was always willing to help anyone in need.

Survivors include his wife of 61fi years, Barbara Fleming; three sons and a daughter, Glen Martin Fleming Jr., John Richard Fleming, Jo Ann Fleming and Quentin Jeffery Fleming; daughter-in-law, Hali Fleming; four grandchildren, Monte Fleming, Bethany Fleming Coelho, Jason Fleming and Zayda Fleming; two sisters, Bertha Ingram of Grace, Idaho, and Alene Zakarian of Aptos, Calif.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Florestine Bowman

Florestine Lavelle Bowman, 79, of La Grande, a former Baker City resident, died Sept. 21, 2006, at her home.

There will be a celebration of her life at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Loveland Funeral Chapel in La Grande. Private family interment will be afterward at the Summerville Cemetery.

She was born in Baker City on Oct. 24, 1926, to Ray and Ida Rich Taylor. She was raised and educated at Baker City where she lived until her marriage to Arnol "Tuffy" Bowman, on March 20, 1948.

The couple moved to Pondosa where Mr. Bowman worked at the mill. They lived there until 1958 when they moved into the house that she occupied until her death across from Riveria School in La Grande. She was noted for her beautiful yard and roses.

One of her greatest attributes was her sense of humor, which made her a joy to be around. She was an excellent seamstress and artist and a devoted mother and grandmother. She will be greatly missed.

Survivors include her son and daughter-in-law, Kim and Gloria Bowman of La Grande; daughters and son-in-law, Melody and Terry Haney of Arlington and Shannon Griffin of La Grande; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a brother and his wife, Duane and Janet Taylor of Salem.

She was preceded in death by her husband, who died in 1992; her parents; a brother; and an infant daughter.

Memorial contributions may be made to a local hospice program or the American Cancer Society.