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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2016)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2016 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 9 Local & Entertainment Bebe’s word search — Obituaries — CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 Connie Youngblood On the acreage she and Charles shared near Crane, Connie blossomed into a sheepherder – she knew “nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ no babies”, but she immersed herself in learning about breeding ewes, pulling lambs, bottle-feeding or- phans, and she was known to haul a sheep in the back of her car, when it was nec- essary. At the same time, she developed her talents in crocheting and often made gifts for friends or the new babies of friends. She expanded her big heart to include babysitting for friends and neighbors, and that took her into a career of serving as a state- certifi ed foster parent for DHS. The kids she cared for in the Crane-Buchanan neighborhood were always in her heart, and all these years later, she knew ex- actly what the Kovach and Bentz kids were doing and where they were. Through- out the years, even sepa- rated by time and space, she could tell you all about the status of her friend Becky Hite, and Becky’s kids, and their kids, and their kids. The offspring of her three brothers and her sister were also part of her repertoire, and she could tell you all about their specialties, from sports to rodeo to dog breeding. After her children were grown, and Connie and Charles divorced, Connie started a successful adult foster home in Burns, called Tundra Place, where she cared for fi ve mental health clients. She was delighted last year to run into one of her former cli- ents, who remembered her immediately. From Tundra Place, she moved to a coastal home in Lincoln City, but felt too far away from her kids. She chose to move to Redding CA, where Cassity and her hus- band Ty were living. Con- nie found employment in a mental health facility for adults, and with hard work and learning, was pro- moted to a counselor there. She made friends with a co-worker Louise, and the relationship lasted beyond The the workplace, adding joy to Connie’s life. Once again, Connie decided to serve her com- munity as a state-certifi ed foster parent for children and took in multiple siblings from one family, in particular. With her own health failing, and ap- proaching 60, Connie had to give up that service, but cared enough to adopt one of her foster kids, a pre- teen girl she nicknamed Chey, whom she delighted in helping develop. When Connie had to have hip surgery, her good friend Louise drove her back and forth; her faithful com- panion Harvey took time off from work to stay with her; and they took turns providing for her needs until her strength returned. Unfortunately, her overall health was declining, and she felt no longer able to provide for Chey, so she was grateful when Cassity and her husband Ty were able to fold Chey in as Trigg’s new sister. At that point, Connie decided to come home to Oregon. She spent a couple of months in Burns with her old friend Joanie, then three or four months in Oregon City with Christi and her daughter Justis, enabling Connie to be a part of Justis’s high school graduation. Soon, she circled back around to northeastern Oregon and found a home near her son Craig and his wife, Elisha, joining in the fun of shar- ing time with their kids. Raised in the team roping and rodeo community of Harney County, Connie always identifi ed with the country lifestyle, regard- less of where she lived, and she was proud of her son and grandkids, broth- ers and their kids, who pursued those horse-ori- ented activities. Becoming a Facebook fanatic in the past few years helped her maintain her encyclopedic knowledge of whose kids were doing what. Connie had battled breast cancer and won, back in her days on the little ranch at Crane, and remarked on Charles’s attentiveness to her during that medical scare. A doctor had told her friend Joanie that after the extensive chemo and radia- tion she endured, Connie wouldn’t last another 10 years, but Joanie never told her that, and she sailed past that prediction. But in this past year, two more kinds of cancer invaded her body and she was just not at a level of health to be able to beat them off. She took daily bus trips from Baker City to Fruitland for treat- ment, without complaint, and her last trip there, she still had the rosy cheeks of her youth, but she was so tired. She was glad to have her son’s family around her at that time and although she no longer had her trusty steed Patches, she took great joy in her tiny canine companion London, who traveled in her purse, and was with her at the end, on August 14, 2016. Connie is survived by her father Louis Armstrong of Elko NV; son Craig and wife Elisha, children Reata, Riley and Tyler, of North Powder OR; daughter Christi of Red- ding CA, and her daughter Justis of King City OR; daughter Cassity and her husband Ty, children Trigg and Chey, of Redding CA; sister Renae Yelton and husband Steve of Steam- boat Springs CO, children Mandy, Wade and Bodie; brother Steve and wife Marion of Spring Creek NV; brother Darwin and wife Amy of Carlin NV, and children Clay, Chance, Whitney and Kade; and brother Mike and wife Dixie, of Caldwell ID and children Melissa and Dixon; numerous foster children and neighbor- hood kids; her good friends Joanie of Yachats OR; Louise of Redding CA; and Harvey of Las Vegas NV, and so many others that her big heart touched. She was preceded in death by her mother, Becky. There will not be a service but for those who would like to make a me- morial donation in mem- ory of Connie, the family suggests Heart n Home Hospice through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home & Cremation Services PO Box 543 Halfway, Oregon 97834. Baker County Press Subscribe Today! Name: Address: City, State, Zip: Email address: Phone: E-Only $29.95/yr. Print (Delivery) $39.95/yr. Print (Mail) $49.95/yr. Inside Baker City City Limits Only Outside Baker City City Limits Only 1. Make check payable to: Black Lyon Publishing, LLC 2. Mail the check with this completed form to: PO Box 567, Baker City, Ore. 97814 To pay by credit card, please visit www.Th eBakerCountyPress.com The Littles’ crossword puzzle Across 1- ___ man with seven wives; 6- Contributes; 10- By means of; 13- Country singer Gibbs; 14- Kind of ticket; 15- Polite address; 16- Assert; 17- Dissenter; 18- View from Catania; 19- One of the Cart- wrights; 20- Tums, e.g.; 22- Required; 24- Thrills; 28- Greenish yellow fi nch; 31- Grassy plain; 32- ___ Dame; 34- Shoe width; 36- ___ Fein; 37- Male turkey; 38- Abilities; 41- Never, in Nurem- berg; 42- Loretta of “M*A*S*H”; 44- Barrett of Pink Floyd; 45- Floating platforms; 47- Fall guy; 49- Executor’s concern; 51- Method; 53- Standards of perfec- tion; 56- Underground stem; 59- Implement; 61- “Betsy’s Wedding” star; 64- Spelunking site; 65- Young rabbit; 66- Leak slowly; 67- Blue dye source; 68- Neighborhoods; 69- Sportage maker; 70- Delilah portrayer; 71- ___ Haute; Down 1- Need a scratch; 2- Breakfast fruit; 3- Clear the slate; 4- Divide into three parts; 5- Goal; 6- Actress Plummer; 7- Fender bender; 8- Group of individual facts; 9- Pizzeria order; 10- Large container; 11- Actor Holm; 12- Doc bloc; 15- Military decorations; 20- Trojan War hero; 21- Unwell; 23- Move suddenly; 25- Spoil; 26- Bandleader Skinnay ___; 27- Unit of loudness; 29- Orchestra section; 30- Monetary unit of Japan; 32- Forget it!; 33- Leaves out; 35- Online brokerage; 37- Cookbook amts.; 39- Soap-making ingre- dient; 40- Fill to the gills; 43- Woman’s shoe style; 46- Any part of the face; 48- Slangy assent; 50- Opportune; 52- Book after Jonah; 54- Hermit; 55- Echolocation; 57- Writer Grey; 58- “Metamorphoses” poet; 60- Dissolve, as cells; 61- Inquire of; 62- Kauai keepsake; 63- Narc’s employer; 65- Cave dweller;