Obituaries for Nov. 4, 2009

Elva Nichols

Elva Mae Nichols, 92, died Oct. 31, 2009, at Baker City, just two days short of her 93rd birthday.

Friends and relatives gathered at Haines Monday to say goodbye and to celebrate her birthday. They released 93 balloons, plus a happy birthday and smiley face balloon with a birthday card signed by friends and family.

Elva Mae Nichols was born on Nov. 2, 1916, at Roseburg to George and Zerita McKay Ollivant. She grew up with her brothers, Elijah “Lije” and Bill, and her sister, Bonnie.

She married Frank Nichols on April 30, 1935. Together they raised five children: sons, Edward, Leslie, Terry and Frank; and a daughter, Rowena. Elva worked in nursing homes and restaurants throughout her life.

The family moved to Haines in 1950. Elva and Frank traveled all over the country, from the Mississippi River to the West Coast and north to Alaska. The familiar question was “wonder where that road goes?” her family said. That love of travel and adventure continued after Frank died in 1987.

Elva was very active and independent, living on her own with her little dog, Mickey, and still driving her own pickup truck, although there were a few more dings in it every year, her family members said.

She was known to take spur-of-the-moment mushroom picking and fishing trips or a trip to visit friends or family as the mood struck her, sometimes informing family at home that she was leaving on a trip when she was half way there.

She seemed to have the belief that it was “easier to apologize later than to ask for permission first,” her family members said. Elva was set in her ways, did things the way she wanted and would argue a point to death if she thought she was right.

“That sounds like she was aggravating (and at times she was) but that was also part of what made her the Grandma we all loved so much,” her family said. “Grandma loved life and just about everything in it.”

She was a member of the Anthony Lakes Veterans of Foreign Wars, No. 3048, Ladies Auxiliary, was active in the Blue Mountain Old-Time Fiddlers and was an avid pinochle player. She was also a founding member of the “Kitchen Band” group, women who played odd but fun instruments such as kazoos or “bed-pan guitars.”

She was preceded in death by her parents, George and Zerita Ollivant; brother, Lije Ollivant; sister, Bonnie Bates; her husband of nearly 52 years, Frank; son, Terry Nichols; daughter, Rowena Wendt; and daughter-in-law, Margaret Nichols.

Survivors include her brother and his spouse, Bill and Roberta “Bert” Ollivant; sons and their spouses, Edward and Sherry, Leslie and Norma and Frank and Dawn Nichols, widow of Terry; Cheryl Nichols and widower of Rowena, Monty Wendt; 16 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews and other friends and relatives.

“Life for Elva was a great adventure,” her family members said. “She is continuing that adventure with her loved ones who went before her.

“At the hospital she had said she was ‘going home and would miss us.’ We will miss you too, Grandma. Keep on cruising, keep the adventures going and we will see you on the other side!” they said.

Mildred Gale

Mildred Emily Gale, 92, a former longtime Baker City resident, died July 17, 2009, at Baker City.

For the past six years she had been with her daughter, Pam Murphy, and family in Boulder City, Nev. Several of the family members had returned with her the night before to her big yellow house on the corner of College and B streets in Baker City. Her service was on July 24, 2009, at Gray’s West & Co. Burial was at Mount Hope Cemetery with a reception afterward at the Methodist Church.

Mildred Emily Griffith was born on Nov. 9, 1916, at Dixie to Glen and Gladys Griffith.  She was the fifth of seven children.

She was a 1935 Huntington High School graduate and graduated from Eastern Oregon Normal School at La Grande in 1937. She taught for two years in a one-room schoolhouse.

She was wooed by Henry Gale, president of the local grange, and the couple were married on July 10, 1939. They took a honeymoon trip to the San Francisco World Fair.

For nearly 40 of their 50 years of marriage they owned and operated Gale’s Grocery on Broadway across from Baker Middle School.

Mildred, who both worked and played hard, enjoyed many pastimes, including croquet, snow skiing and backpacking. For several winters she and Henry flooded their own vacant lot, turning it into an ice skating ring for the neighborhood.

After their daughter, Pam, graduated from high school, the Gales began filling their home with foster children — more than 50 in all. The Gale house bustled with these and the soon-to-follow grandchildren.

Mildred always cherished her Methodist Church and dear friends within it. Then in the late 1960s, she embraced the “Born Again” movement that swept through Baker City and became even more involved with a wider array of friends, Bible studies and Christian outreaches.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Henry; her son, Byron; and her six brothers and sisters.

Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law, Pam and Jim Murphy of Boulder City, Nev.; daughter-in-law, Sheri Caldwell of Pendleton; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Baker Methodist Church or The Salvation Army in Baker City.