Obituaries for the day of December 18, 2009

Jarvis, Gray, Hopkins

LOCAL FUNERALS AND VISITATIONS

Dec. 26 — Joseph Wesley Jarvis, service, 1:30 p.m., Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation and Life Celebration Center

Eunice C. Gray, 99, of Union, died Wednesday at a local care center. A memorial service is being planned for Jan. 16 at the United Methodist Church. A full obituary will be available later. Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center is in charge of arrangements.

Phyllis Nadine Hopkins, 97, of Summerville, died Dec. 12 at Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande. Funeral services will begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Elgin Methodist Church in Elgin. Graveside services will follow at the Summerville Cemetery as will a reception at the Methodist Church in Elgin. Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation and Life Celebration Center is in charge of arrangements.

Phyllis was born Sept. 4, 1912, to Orrin Lee Munn and Anna Hobson Munn from Baker City while they were temporarily farming near Buhl, Idaho. For the first two years of her life, she lived in a covered wagon while the family worked farm crops in Idaho and Washington. After returning to Baker County, the family homesteaded near Hereford, where her father drove a horse-drawn stage between Hereford and Baker City.

Phyllis entered what is now Eastern Oregon University in La Grande after graduation from Hereford High School. She earned her teaching certificate and began teaching at a rural school in Baker County immediately upon reaching her 18th birthday.

She married Albert Benjamin Hopkins May 7, 1932, in Baker City. Phyllis taught school for 45 years in Baker and Malheur counties, Imbler, Union and Eugene. Her later years of teaching were in Havre and Billings, Mont. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Eastern Oregon University and her master’s degree from the University of Montana-Billings.

Upon her retirement, she returned to their farm near Summerville, which the couple had purchased during WWII.

Phyllis enjoyed working in her garden and walking in the woods. She was a world traveler who made three trips around the world and visited some 30 countries including living two years in Thailand. At the age of 87, she made a three-week trip to China and traveled up the Yangtze River. She was active in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the FCE Two Rock Study Group and various drama groups. She was also an active member of the Elgin Methodist Church.

Survivors include her two sons and their spouses, Doran and Francele Hopkins of Summerville and Gerald and Mary Hopkins of Summerville; four grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert; two brothers; and two sisters.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Elgin United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 7, Elgin 97827.

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Obituaries are edited to fit news guidelines. Photos are encouraged. Paid space is available for families who would like to include more information. Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center posts unedited obituaries at www.danielsknopp.com, and Loveland Funeral Chapel & Crematory posts obituaries at www.lovelandfuneralchapel.com.