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News Obituaries Obituaries for the day of November 18, 2009
Obituaries for the day of November 18, 2009
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Downing, Fisk, Graham, Jarvis, Smith, Didion, Stubblefield Maxine Downing, 88, of La Grande, died Nov. 18 at her home. A full obituary will be available later. Loveland Funeral Chapel and Crematory is in charge of arrangements. Arlie Fisk, 77, of La Grande, died Nov. 16 at a Boise hospital. A graveside service will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday at Island City Cemetery. A full obituary will be available later. Loveland Funeral Chapel and Crematory is in charge of arrangements. Ruth Mae Graham, 90, longtime La Grande resident, died Nov. 6 at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Meridian, Idaho. A private family burial was held Nov. 13 at Grandview Cemetery in La Grande. Memorial contributions may be made to any charity in care of Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center, 1502 Seventh St., La Grande 97850. A service for former La Grande resident Joseph Wesley Jarvis will begin at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 26 at Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center, 1502 Seventh St., La Grande. Jarvis, the son of Joseph Woodell Jarvis of Cove and the late Carole Joyce (Hedin) Jarvis, died Oct. 29 at his home in Austin, Texas, at the age of 39. A complete obituary will available later. Rebecca A. Smith, 62, of Elgin, died unexpectedly the morning of Nov. 17 at Grande Ronde Hospital. A full obituary will be available later. Loveland Funeral Chapel and Crematory is in charge of arrangements. Joellen Clark Didion, 61, of Milton-Freewater and formerly of Elgin, died Nov. 8 in Walla Walla. A Rosary will be said at 7 p.m. Thursday at Munselle Rhodes Funeral Home at 902 S Main St. in Milton-Freewater. A service will begin at 2 p.m. Friday at Pioneer Posse Grounds, 84585 Highway 11 in Milton-Freewater. Joellen was born April 27, 1948, to Clinton and Mary (Johnson) Clark in La Grande. She was raised in Elgin and attended schools there. She graduated from Elgin High School in 1966. She married Edward Didion Nov. 2, 1967, in Milton-Freewater. She owned a custom meat-cutting business in Milton-Freewater with her husband for 31 years. She retired in 2008 due to illness. She enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and her family and friends. Survivors include her husband, Edward Didion; children, Jon and his wife, Brandie Didion, of Corvallis and Jodi Didion of Lebanon; father, Clinton Clark of Walla Walla; siblings, Shirley and Kenneth Kirk of Elgin, Susan and Michael Rutherford of Elgin and Marilyn and Douglas Smyres of Salem; six grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her mother, Mary Clark; nephews, Odene Kirk and Dustin Coulter; in-laws, Page and Molly Didion and Jim Didion. Orland Oscar Rudd, 71, of Cove, died Nov 12 at St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla. Services will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Loveland Chapel. Burial will be at Hillcrest Cemetery in La Grande. A luncheon will follow at the Methodist Church in Cove. He was born Oct. 4, 1938, to Lewis Oscar Rudd and Marie Elizabeth Haggerty Rudd in Ontario. In 1942 the family moved to La Grande where Orland grew up and went to school. He graduated in 1957 from La Grande High School and joined the Navy where he served as radarman on the USS Hancock until his enlistment ended in 1961. In December 1957 he married Mary Ann Evers, and they had two children — Steven Orland born July 6, 1959, and Julie Ann born Feb. 28, 1962. Orland and Mary Ann later divorced. On April 15, 1972, he married Deborah Mickelsen in Reno. They were together 37 years until his death. He worked for his father-in-law, Joe Evers, in the family excavation business where he learned to operate heavy equipment. He also worked at the Boise Cascade Particleboard Plant in Island City and while employed there launched his own septic tank service with a friend. Later they formed R&W Construction. After his divorce he wanted a change and became a real estate agent. Later he teamed up with a friend and they built several houses together in the La Grande area. In 1978 his son Steve was killed in a motorcycle crash at the age of 19. It was a tragedy those who knew him say he never recovered from although he continued to live his life successfully. Shortly after Steve’s death he and Deb moved to Salem where they built and sold homes together. Orland said he was happiest building houses and it was with regret that he was forced to quit when the economic crisis of the early 1980s hit. In 1983 he and Deb bought an Oregonian dealership in Pendleton and they ran it until they retired. They also bought a 50-acre farm in Stanfield and ran a herd of 75 mother cows with a friend. In 2004, Orland wanted to move back home to the mountains so they settled on a small acreage in Cove. He loved breeding and racing Thoroughbred horses; trapshooting; playing poker; fishing and cutting firewood with his brother Wallace; going for Jeep rides in the mountains with Deb and his two Jack Russells, Rikki and Mitch; and looking at sunsets in the Grande Ronde Valley. When he won at trapshooting or poker, his family and friends say he probably should have been fined for excessive celebrations, but he was also gracious in defeat. He is survived by his wife, Deb Rudd of Cove; daughter, Julie Wray of Bend; sisters, Marjorie Birchmier of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Virginia Cassingham of Redding, Calif.; brothers, Wallace and his wife, Marilyn, of Cove, Raymond and his wife, Rita, of Coeur d’Alene, and Jack and his wife, Patty, of La Grande; sister-in-law, Jerry Rudd of La Grande; three grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Oscar and Marie Rudd; son, Steve; and his brother Lee Rudd. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cove Sportsmen’s Club, Blue Mountain Humane Association or Cove Methodist Church. Virginia Mae Snuffer Stubblefield, 88, of Joseph, died Oct. 23 in Enterprise. Funeral services were held Oct. 30 at Bollman Funeral Home in Enterprise. Burial was at the Enterprise Cemetery. Virginia was born July 22, 1922, in West Virginia, and she grew up in Wallowa. Her parents were John and Alberta Snuffer. On Oct. 1, 1940, she married James Robert “Bob” Stubblefield in Lewiston, Idaho. Virginia assisted her husband in running their farm on Upper Prairie Creek from 1948 to 1988 and raising their three sons. Virginia lived in Joseph since moving from the farm. Survivors include her sons, D. Robert “Bob” of Richland, Wash., David G. Stubblefield, and his wife, Karen, of Oregon City and Bruce K. Stubblefield of Joseph; two granddaughters; and three great-grandsons. Virginia was a member of the Joseph United Methodist Church the entire time she lived in Joseph.
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