Obituaries for April 9, 2009

Leonard Baker

Leonard Charles Baker, 81, died Oct. 25, 2008, at his home in McMinnville.

His graveside memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Mount Hope Cemetery. Bishop Ernie Collard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will officiate. Friends are invited to join the family for a luncheon at the LDS meeting house after the service.

He was born at Arlington, Calif., to Edward Andrew Baker and Lorraine Lucinda Dennis Baker on Aug. 25, 1927. He was the eighth of nine children.

In 1950 he married his first wife, Nancy Watts. They had two children, Diane Painter of Oregevale, Calif., and a son who died at birth.

Leonard worked on a ranch at Lancaster, Calif., until he moved to Washington in the mid 1960s with his sister, Doris, and her family.

He served as a police officer in Washington for a couple of years. During this time he met his wife, Mary. After they were married they relocated to Baker City.

His real passion was for driving trucks, which he did for much of his adult life. He retired in 1996 to take care of his ailing wife until her death on Sept. 6, 1999.

After Mary’s death, Leonard started driving a water truck for a mining company, a job he continued  until 2006.

In his younger years he enjoyed riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He always loved being around family and friends. His favorite pastime was teasing and joking with people.

He enjoyed camping, fishing, traveling, old Western movies and classic country music. He was a great storyteller and liked tinkering around in his workshop.

Leonard was a joy to be around and was loved very much by all who knew him, family members said.

“We look forward to the wonderful time when we are all reunited; until then he will be deeply missed,” they added.

Survivors include a daughter, Diane; three stepchildren, Sherry, Jim and Bud; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; one brother, Kenneth; and many nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to the LDS Family History Center through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.

Phyllis Smith

Phyllis B. Morris Smith, 74, of North Powder, died April 5, 2009, at Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande.

Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Loveland Funeral Home in La Grande with a graveside service afterward at the North Powder Cemetery. A dinner will be served in the multipurpose room of Powder Valley Elementary School at North Powder.

Phyllis was born on Jan. 17, 1935, at Cove to Elmer and Agnes Morris. She was the youngest of the family with six siblings. She attended school at La Grande and Cove, where she eventually graduated.

Soon after graduation, she met and married Merlin W. Smith of North Powder. They were married for 48 years before his death on April 6, 2003.

She began work as the deputy clerk for the North Powder School District in 1964. After 26 years with the school, a stroke in 1990 forced her to leave that position and spend her remaining years at home.

Survivors include her sons, Sherwood, and his wife, Kerri, and children, Breanne, Dylan and Kelsey; Gareld and his wife, Stephanie, and their children, Jeremy, Brandon and Morgan; sister, Della Ehrenburg; one great-granddaughter, Lireal Fifield; and numerous in-laws, nieces and nephews and friends whom she dearly loved.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the North Powder Community Partners or a charity of one’s choice through Loveland Funeral Chapel, 1508 Fourth St., La Grande, OR 97850.