Obituaries for April 12, 2010

Lela Fordice

Lela Fordice

Lela Mae Fordice, 92, of Baker City, died April 6, 2010, at Settler’s Park Assisted Living Facility in Baker City.

Her graveside service was Saturday at the North Powder Cemetery.

Lela was born on Oct. 12, 1917, at Elgin to John and Erma Scott Gray. She attended school in the area. She married Willard D. Fordice on Feb. 23, 1934, at the Methodist Church parsonage in Wallowa.

The couple homesteaded in the Lost Prairie area then moved to a ranch on the Grande Ronde River near Troy. They moved to North Powder in 1948. They had been married for 62 years when Willard died in 1997.

Lela was a member of the Wolf Creek Grange and the Red Hat Club. She gave many years of service to her community.

She enjoyed quilting and loved to work in her garden and flowers. Lela was a homemaker, seamstress and an excellent cook. She was well-known for her apple pies and enjoyed having big family dinners.

Survivors include her son, Keith, of Hermiston; daughters, Myrna Hale of Dillon, Mont., and Sandra Sanders of Burns; eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren; brothers, Gerald Gray and Clark Gray; sisters, Leona Scott, Beulah Tally, Lillian Newton and Marilyn McIntyre.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Willard; son, Kenneth Fordice; daughter, Donna Crabill; and grandson Mike Fordice.

Memorial contributions may be made to Heart ‘n’ Home Hospice or the Wolf Creek Grange through Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.