Obituaries for May 31, 2010

Deborah Sue Summers, 58, of Richland, died May 22, 2010, at her home due to kidney cancer.

Her memorial service will be Friday, June 4 at 2 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church in Halfway. Everyone is invited to a reception following the service at the Presbyterian Fellowship Hall.

Deborah was born July 4, 1951, in San Diego, one of three daughters born to Barbara and Ralph D'Adamo.

She was raised and educated in San Diego before moving to Portland in the early 1970s. After working for a time at St. Vincent Hospital in Portland she started work in September 1973 as a medical assistant in the office of Dr. Gordon W. Summers. She ultimately became the office manager for this medical/surgical practice which grew to three physicians and eight employees.

On Oct. 15, 1984, Deborah and Gordon were married on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. They continued with their medical practice at Providence Medical Center in Portland until July 1996 when they retired and moved back to the ranch in Halfway.

Deborah always had a flair for interior decorating and thus designed and supervised the extensive remodeling process at the Gover-Barton house which they purchased in 1987. She also designed and supervised the remodeling of the home on the Densley ranch in Richland which they purchased in 1995.

In recent years she became a director of the Pine Valley Cemetery District and helped establish a memorial fund. She was instrumental in the building of a gazebo to provide a location map to help people find the gravesites of relatives and loved ones. She was dedicated to further beautify the cemetery with appropriate trees and shrubs.

Her other passion was her own yard, garden and flowers. She spent many hours working in her flower gardens and her greenhouse.  She always took great pride in exhibiting her best flowers at the annual Baker County Fair in Halfway and always brought home many blue ribbons. She was the Sweepstakes winner for the Floriculture Division for a number of years.

Deborah possessed a very strong sense of family. She was extremely fond of all her nieces and her nephew. She never hesitated to offer financial help to each one who wanted to go to college. Deborah was always very generous. She was a very special person and will be greatly missed.

Deborah is survived by her husband, Gordon; sister, Julie, and her husband, Jerry Hamilton, nieces: Dina and her husband, Randy Takemoto, Shannon Teagle and her daughters, Brianna and Ravenna, Eden and her husband, Jake Walker and son, Teagle, Erin and her husband, Justin King, Kathi and her husband, Dan Gates and daughters, Lauren and Veronica, Angela and her husband, Michael Taylor; and nephew, Philip Hamilton and son Elijah. Her extended family includes stepsisters Frances Yaggie and Dale Laskowitz, step-dad Jack Yaggie, mother-in-law Estella Summers, stepchildren Jill and her husband, Jim Crutcher and their children, Ellie, Billie and John; Jon Summers and children Charlie and Amanda, and numerous cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents and older sister, Donna.

The family requests memorial contributions in memory of Deborah be made to the Pine Valley Cemetery District Memorial Fund through Tami's Pine Valley Funeral Home P.O. Box 543 Halfway, OR 97834.

Laura Denise Layton, 51, of Baker City, died May 14, 2010.

Her private funeral took place earlier this month.

Laura was born Jan. 24, 1959, in Los Angeles to Donald and Diane (Young) Layton. She was a 1976 graduate of LaSierra  High School. She serve in the U.S. Army for one year and later worked in hotel management.

Laura enjoyed crocheting, music, football — she was a big Redskins fan — and NASCAR.

She was a member of the American Cancer Society.

Laura is survived by her father, Donald Layton of Riverside, Calif.; her daughters, Kristal Hackett of Baker City, and Michele Rowan of Hemet, Calif.; her sister, Shelia Layton of Riverside; her brothers, Kevin Layton of Baker City and Dan Layton of Akron, Ohio; and her grandchildren, Selena, Michael, Gabriel and Dianna.

Laura was preceded in death by her mother, Diane Layton.

The family asks that memorial contributions be made through Coles Tribute Center, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.