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.
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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;