Obituaries for the day of July 27, 2011

LOCAL FUNERALS AND VISITATIONS

July 28 — Eileen Sage, memorial service, 11 a.m., Union United Methodist Church

July 30 — Gerald Hinze, memorial service and dinner, 2 to 6 p.m., Tom McDowell Park, Elgin

Aug. 1 — Cecile Lay, service, 2 p.m., Joseph Cemetery

Aug. 13 — Theodore Hooey, celebration of life, 3 p.m., American Legion Post 43, La Grande

John J. ‘Jack’ Gregory

Formerly of La Grande

John J. “Jack” Gregory, 97, formerly of La Grande, died July 19 at Wallowa Valley Care Center. A memorial service will be held in mid-August. A full obituary will be available prior to the service. Bollman Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Cecile A. Lay

Enterprise

Cecile A. Lay, 87, of Enterprise, died July 25. A service will begin at 2 p.m. Monday at Joseph Cemetery. A full obituary will be available later.

Bollman Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Calvin A. Smith

Echo

1924-2011

Calvin Arthur Smith, 87, of Echo, died July 21. He had been in Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston because of a broken leg. He had fallen on the morning of his 87th birthday, July 4. He died of complications, though, relating to his heart surgery in February 2010.

Memorial services with military honors were held this morning at Burns Mortuary Chapel in Hermiston. Burial of cremains will take place at the Cove Cemetery at a later date.

Sign the condolence book at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com.

Calvin was one of five children born to Arthur Bryan Smith and Mary Elizabeth Pool in 1924 in Los Angeles.

About 1927, his family returned to his grandparents’ farm south of Childress, Texas. The family also lived in Colorado and New Mexico. His parents divorced in the late 1930s and his father remarried in Albuquerque in 1940. He had four more sons.

From there the family moved to Silver City where Cal left high school in 1941 and joined the Navy on Dec. 5, just before the attacks on Pearl Harbor. He served on three ships in both theaters of war, ending with the USS Springfield. At the end of the war, he became a carpenter. He did general construction in all the western states over the next 40 years. He married Martha Selzler in his 50s and settled in Echo in the late 1970s.

His last 20-odd years was one of summering in Echo and wintering in Quartzite, Ariz., where he loved to use a metal detector to search for gold.

Cal was never a parent but enjoyed being an uncle and a father figure to his younger siblings. During his last years, he met a woman, Marion Howarth, who was his close companion, always at his side during his hospitalizations and caring for him.

He is survived by his sister, Vera Estele “Peggy” of Missoula, Mont.; one half-brother, Clayton of Pasadena, Calif.; as well as a sister-in-law; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Martha Selzler; and siblings, Chester, Charles, Clarence, Cecil, Donald “Clyde” and Carroll.

Memorial contributions may be made to any local charity.

The Observer publishes free obituaries as a community service. Obituaries are edited to fit news guidelines. Photos are encouraged. Paid space is available for families who would like to include more information.