LOCAL
A6 — THE OBSERVER
SaTuRday, MaRcH 12, 2022
VOICES
Loss of a lifesaver leaves a hole in our hearts
By MELANIE MOONEY
ANYONE CAN WRITE
Special to The Observer
A beloved member of our family died
today.
I am shocked at how much pain I feel.
My husband and I are sitting in our
family room crying and staring at his empty
bed with disbelief.
Until we adopted Logan, I didn’t under-
stand how much a person could love a dog.
Logan was 10 years old but had only
been part of our family for three years.
Two weeks ago, he was healthy, strong,
and walking the grandchildren all over
the neighborhood. A week later, Logan
started having seizures, and our vet said he
wouldn’t recover.
My husband and I had to lift our “Big
Boy” into the car to go to the animal hos-
pital. I signed the papers, paid the fee,
hugged Logan and sat next to him on the
carpet. Suddenly, my husband stood up and
said, “I can’t do this today; we’ll take him
home to see if he can get better.”
I could not believe it! We had talked
about putting Logan down the night before
and had agreed that we didn’t want him to
suffer more seizures. Logan couldn’t stand
up without swaying. His back end would
fall, and then he’d go down also.
What was my husband thinking?
So, we took him home. I drove because
my husband was crying. We carried him
into the house and tucked him into his bed
in the family room. I went into the dining
room, closed the door and phoned my sister.
I told her how angry I was with my hus-
band, how I thought we’d made up our
minds and that I’d been ready.
All she said was, “Be respectful of his
sorrow. He also loves Logan and doesn’t
want to lose him. Give them both a couple
more days together.”
So, I did. My husband and I cuddled
Logan, helped him outside, and tucked him
Nearly 40 years in the business have taught me that readers are bombarded and overwhelmed with facts. What we
long for, though, is meaning and a connection at a deeper and more universal level.
And that’s why The Observer will be running, from time to time, stories from students who are in my writing class,
which I’ve been teaching for the past 10 years in Portland.
I take great satisfaction in helping so-called nonwriters find and write stories from their lives and experiences. They
walk into my room believing they don’t have what it takes to be a writer. I remind them if they follow their hearts,
they will discover they are storytellers.
As we all are at our core.
Some of these stories have nothing to do with La Grande or Union County. They do, however, have everything to do
with life.
If you are interested in contacting me to tell me your story, I’d like to hear from you.
Tom Hallman Jr.
tbhbook@aol.com
Tom Hallman Jr. is a Pulitzer Prize-winning feature writer for The Oregonian.
He’s also a writing coach and has an affinity for Union County.
in at night. I slept on the downstairs couch
with Logan in his doggy bed on the floor
next to me. I kept my hand on his back, pat-
ting him whenever he whined.
Before I went to bed that first night, I
sat up thinking about the day Logan had
joined our family. He had jumped out of the
dog rescue van and stretched himself out.
I had found him on the website Rescueme.
org. The small face picture and description
seemed perfect.
My granddaughters and I had gasped
when we first saw him. The dog in front
of us was not the 25-pound Australian
Shepherd we’d driven 100 miles to claim.
Instead, he was a large, 60-pound Red
Meryl with liver-colored spots all over him.
This animal did not look like the doggy in
the window of my computer screen.
Logan was friendly with the girls and
attentive to the handler. The girls said we
should adopt him.
After our granddaughters went home, my
husband asked if our revolving grandchil-
dren’s door could swing open again to admit
Tyler. Since Tyler has Down syndrome, he
requires a lot of supervision. Since Don is
82, I’m the one who ends up chasing Tyler.
I said, “No, we have a new dog and don’t
know his history with small children.”
But giving respite for his son and daugh-
ter-in-law won out.
Although Logan wasn’t the dog we’d
requested, he turned out to be the dog we
needed.
On Tyler and Logan’s first afternoon
together, they allowed us to dress them up
in red, white, and blue colors for the annual
July 4th neighborhood parade. Once we got
down to the common area near the marina,
Tyler did a runner and tore off down the
gravel path toward the Columbia River. I
started after him when pain engulfed my
bad knee.
I looked down at our new dog, leashed
firmly to my husband’s hand. I undid the leash
and commanded, “Logan, get Tyler.” The dog
straightened up, looked me in the eyes, fol-
lowed my pointing finger, and took off.
Logan circled Tyler, brought him to a
halt and herded him back to my side. As our
new dog sat at attention by my feet, I swear
he grinned up at me. The neighbors went
crazy. They clapped and laughed at Logan’s
skillful retrieval.
Don looked at me and said, “I wasn’t
crazy about this dog when you brought him
home yesterday; however, I think I like him
already.”
So, we kept him, and then we saved him.
While we needed Logan to keep us com-
pany in our old age, it turned out that Logan
also needed us. Shortly after his arrival, I
took him in for a quick physical exam. Our
veterinarian examined Logan, looked at me
with concern, and said, “This dog has an
unusual condition and requires surgery for
cancer.” It was a rare surgery, and it took
our vet a week to find technical information
about how to do the procedure. He discov-
ered it in a British veterinarian journal.
Logan recovered completely.
Then Logan saved my husband’s life by
barking and alerting me to a life-threatening
emergency. Logan doesn’t usually bark, so
his sudden noisy woofs made me run to my
husband’s side and call an ambulance.
When I had a knee replacement last
year, my neighbor walked Logan each day.
At other times Logan would walk him-
self. Several times a day, he’d jump up, look
around for his large orange bone, and hap-
pily run figure-eight laps around the inside
of our house. If we clapped our hands,
Logan would straighten up and run faster.
He’d prance past us with his bone dangling
out of his mouth, looking like Humphrey
Bogart in a late-night movie with a cigarette
hanging from the corner of his mouth. We
adored our “Big Boy.”
Over the years, I’ve learned that pets are
somewhat like leaves on a tree. They come
for a season to add color and texture to the
canopy of life. They leave an empty space
in the air around us when they leave.
Logan saved a life while he was with us.
He kept us occupied and entertained during
the extended shutdown of the COVID-19
pandemic.
After our hearts recover, we may once
again search for a fantastic old dog to love
us during the coming winters of our lives.
Local artist earns statewide recognition
Susan Murrell
receives fellowship
from Oregon Arts
Commission
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — For
hardworking local artists,
recognition is sometimes
few and far between.
In the case of Susan
Murrell, the La Grande
based artist recently
earned
acknowledg-
ment for her
recent work
on a state-
wide level.
The Eastern
Oregon Uni-
Murrell
versity art
professor was one of
10 visual artists recog-
nized by the Oregon Arts
Commission, receiving a
$5,000 fellowship.
“It’s definitely an
honor,” Murrell said. “I’m
in great company with my
fellow cohort of 2022. It’s
nice to be selected and
honored by the selection
committee.”
Murrell earned the fel-
lowship primarily for her
work last year on “if water
had its way,” an exhibit
focused on the idea of
water serving as a symbol
of birth, life and death. It
also pointed out the role of
human beings as the land-
scape shifts in the midst of
climate change.
The fellowship review
process involved a panel
of arts professionals from
across Oregon who took
into account outstanding
talent, demonstrated
ability and commitment to
the creation of new works.
This year’s program
received 103 applications.
“Sometimes it can feel
like you’re working really
hard and kind of spinning
your wheels,” Murrell said.
“Every once in a while
when something like this
comes through and you
realize that you’ve gained
the respect of your peers, it
is very satisfying.”
The fellowship funding
serves as a vote of con-
fidence from the Oregon
Arts Commission, giving
Murrell an open door for
further projects.
The artist, who has
lived in La Grande for the
past 12 years, has sev-
MURRELL FEATURED
IN FREE ONLINE TALK
Susan Murrell is set to host an
open discussion about her work
in the Tuesday, March 15, Brown
Bag hosted by the Josephy
Center, Joseph, and held online
on noon.
Learn more and access the link
at www.josephy.org/event/
virtual-brown-bag-with-susan-
murrell.
eral projects in the works.
Murrell has an upcoming
group exhibition in Port-
land with Sator Projects
in June and a solo project
with Carnation Contempo-
rary in Portland. She also
has a forthcoming show at
the Whatcom Museum in
Bellingham, Washington.
“Getting support and
funding like this will help
me think about more ambi-
tious projects and take
creative risks for my next
steps, without necessarily
having to secure funding
or think about the com-
mercial implications,”
Murrell said.
She noted that her proj-
ects often encapsulate a
large space, which can
be difficult in terms of
funding.
“My work is larger in
terms of square footage
and is not super commer-
cial work. It’s not the type
of stuff that people hang
in their living room,” she
said. “It’s a lot more exper-
imental, so an award like
this could really help put
things together for me.”
In addition to her indi-
vidual artistic endeavors,
Murrell is a full-time
art professor at Eastern
Oregon University. Her
classes recently displayed
a series of pieces at Cook
Memorial Library, which
is on display through
March 29.
Murrell noted that the
balance of teaching and
focusing on individual
work can be a challenge,
but that the schedule of
semesters is often bene-
ficial. She is able to work
on larger pieces during the
summer months and winter
break, while working from
home on a smaller scale
during the school year.
As a mentor to aspiring
artists, Murrell’s experi-
ence in the field is often a
helpful tool.
“Being an artist that is
active and producing work I
think is definitely a benefit
to my students in that they
Mario Gallucci/Contributed photo
Susan Murrell’s “If water had its way” stands on display in the spring of 2021. Murrell, an art professor at Eastern Oregon University, was
recently recognized for her work with a $5,000 fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission.
see me being honest about
the struggles and accom-
plishments,” she said. “I’m
in it with them, so they get
to really see how all that is
working, whether it is pro-
fessional practices or cre-
ative struggles.”
Murrell was the only
artist selected out of the
Eastern Oregon region for
a 2022 Oregon Arts Com-
mission fellowship. With
added funding secured,
she will have the oppor-
tunity to continue cre-
ating unique pieces in the
coming years.
“I think that it’s great
for people to know that
there are contemporary art
practices out here and that
there are people who are
practicing their craft and
working in various ways,”
Murrell said. “It also helps
Jeffery L. Hardy
August 25, 1955 – March 6, 2022
Jeffery “Jeff” Lewis Hardy,
66, of Elgin, passed away on
Sunday, March 6, 2022, at his
residence. A memorial service
will be held at a later time.
Jeff was born on Aug. 25,
1955, in La Grande, Oregon,
to Albertus and Eloine (Evers)
Hardy. He was a lifelong resident
of Cricket Flat and graduated
from Elgin High School in 1973.
Jeff was a self-employed
rancher/farmer and also worked for other farmers in
the area. He enjoyed the outdoors, hunting, long drives,
operating big equipment, and especially enjoyed driving
the D6 Cat he recently acquired. Jeff was a member of
the NRA.
Jeff is survived by his brothers, Don Hardy, David
Hardy and Steven Hardy, all of Elgin; sister, Alice
Hardy, of Elgin; aunt, Necia DeWitt of Vernonia,
Oregon; two nieces and nephews; two great-nieces
and great-nephews; and numerous cousins. He was
preceded in death by his parents, Albertus and Eloine
Hardy.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be
made to a charity of your choice.
Online condolences may be made to the family at
www.lovelandfuneralchapel.com.
other people realize that,
perhaps, they could take
a second look at your art
practice and that maybe
you’re doing something
important.”
Helen B. (Forrest) Cochrane
March 16, 1924 - February 19, 2022
Helen Cochrane, 98, died
Saturday, February 19, 2022, in La
Grande. A celebration of her life
will be announced in the spring by
Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation
& Life Celebration Center of La
Grande. Private interment will be at
the Grandview Cemetery.
Helen Berniece was born
on March 16, 1924, in Snyder,
Colorado, the daughter of Fern and Mary (Miller)
Forrest. She started her education in Snyder before she
moved to Salinas, California, where Helen graduated
from high school with the class of 1942. The following
Sept. 10 she married James “Jim” Cochrane at Fort Ord.
They were married for 55 years prior to his death in
1997.
Helen was primarily a homemaker and mother
but she was a very accomplished seamstress, sewing
before there were even patterns. She worked for Craig’s
Cleaners and when her son Patrick was stationed in
Hawaii, she would visit once a year and spend time
tailoring uniforms for the soldiers under his command.
Helen had a very active life in addition to her home and
sewing. She held life memberships in both the Order of
Eastern Star and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary.
She was a member of the Pythian Sisters and the
Umbrella Girls. She loved to dance and was a member
of the Star Promenaders and later enjoyed dancing at the
senior center, especially to the music of the live bands.
Surviving relatives include her children and their
spouses, Louise and Gary Jones of Chubbuck, Idaho,
and Arizona, Robert of Florida, and Patrick and Victoria
of La Grande; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren
and six great-great-grandchildren; other relatives and
friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband; a son,
Michael; her parents and siblings; and a grandson.