>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Moore, Wilcox

Simone Celene Moore, 85, formerly of La Grande, died Aug. 4 at a care center in Baker City.

Recitation of the holy rosary will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center, 1502 Seventh St. in La Grande. Mass of Christian burial will be held at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church at 11 a.m. Friday. Burial will follow at Mount Hope Cemetery in Baker City.

Simone was born Aug. 24, 1922, to Camiel and Germaine Corteville DeBel, immigrants from Belgium, in Baker. At the age of 7 she learned to play the violin. She was educated in Baker and from grade five until graduation she played in the Cecilian Quartet at St. Francis Academy.

On April 5, 1942, she married James Kelly Moore in Baker. They moved to La Grande and in 1947 she began playing the viola with the Grande Ronde Symphony. She played with the symphony for 51 years until her health forced her to stop.

She was an active member of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church and the Elks Emblem Club while living in La Grande. She obtained a teaching certificate from EOU and was a

substitute teacher in the La Grande area for several years. She enjoyed crafts, china painting, painting with water colors, mushrooming and picking huckleberries. She was an avid reader and especially loved historical novels about early America.

Survivors include her daughter, Monique Hendrix of Halfway; two grandchildren; and other relatives. She was preceded in death by her husband of 43 years; her parents; and her son-in-law, Jim Hendrix.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra or Pathway Hospice.

Mary Ellen (Ware) Wilcox, 97, of La Grande, died Aug. 1.

A funeral service will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday at Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center. Burial will follow at the Summerville Cemetery. A reception begins at 3:30 p.m. at the La Grande Retirement Center, 1612 Seventh Street.

Mary Ellen was born March 18, 1911, in Rathdrum, Idaho. She married Raymond Wilcox Feb. 2, 1954. They retired to the La Grande area. Raymond preceded her in death.

Mary loved to paint landscape pictures of places around the La Grande area. She started painting at the age of 66 and painted until she could no longer see.

Survivors include son, John Leslie Hays of Portland; daughters, Donna Mae Eimstad of Eugene and Carol Marie Earle of Oakdale, Calif.; daughter-in-law, Jacquie Hays of La Grande; 15 grandchildren; 39 great-grandchildren; and seven great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son, William Thomas Hays, who died in January 2008.