A6
COMMUNITY/OREGON
East Oregonian
Saturday, January 8, 2022
Art show features talents of BMCC staff , faculty Oregon could ration
medical care as largest
wave of pandemic hits
Exhibit continues
through Feb. 3
East Oregonian
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
PENDLETON — Blue
Mountain Community College
is shining the spotlight on the
talents of some of its staff and
faculty.
Kicking off the new year,
the Betty Feves Memo-
rial Gallery is featuring the
artwork of nine artists who are
employed by the college. The
exhibition, which highlights
the diverse range of talents on
campus, opened Thursday,
Jan. 6 on Blue Mountain’s
Pendleton campus. It runs
through Feb. 3.
Those featured include
Nika Blasser, adjunct art
instructor, who also serves
as gallery director. She is
exhibiting abstract landscape
paintings, drawings and a
large-scale cyanotype.
Jason Hogge, a mechanic,
is exhibiting an oil painting
and a ceramic wall instal-
lation with surrealist influ-
ences. Carole Mace-Edwards
Jones, early childhood educa-
tion instructor, is sharing a
Betty Feves Memorial Gallery/Contributed Photo
The exhibition featuring the work of Blue Mountain Community College faculty and staff
opened Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, at the Betty Feves Memorial Gallery at BMCC, Pendleton, and
is available for view through Feb. 3.
landscape painting. Biology
instructor Michelle Miller is
sharing three colorful abstract
portraits of loved ones.
Science instructor Kris-
ten Oja is showcasing several
types of printmaking, as well
as watercolor and a mixed
media painting. Tami Pelles,
early college credit coordi-
nator, is sharing a crocheted
blanket she calls a “study of
textured confetti.” Academic
department specialist Jean
Reiher is featuring her jewelry,
including a necklace with an
Oregon swallowtail butterfl y.
Librarian and learning
support specialist Adam Sims
is exhibiting four landscape
photographs printed on metal.
And adjunct art instructor
David Stump is sharing several
panoramic photo collages that
are studies in abstraction and
texture.
A nonprofi t exhibit space,
the Betty Feves Memorial
Gallery’s mission is to connect
emerging and established
artists and their work with
BMCC students and staff , as
well as the general public. The
gallery is in BMCC’s Pioneer
Hall, 2411 N.W. Carden Ave.,
Pendleton. Regular hours are
Monday through Thursday,
9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Admis-
sion is free.
For more information, visit
www.bluecc.edu/commu-
nity/feves-art-gallery. For
questions, contact Blasser at
541-278-5952 or nblasser@
bluecc.edu.
COMMUNITY BRIEFING
Webinar
promotes brain
health, longevity
PENDLETON — A series
of free webinars will provide
information about an inno-
vative brain fi tness program.
Prestige Senior Living is
presenting “Ageless Grace”
beginning Wednesday, Jan.
12, 11 a.m. The following
two webinars will be Jan. 19
and 26, also at 11 a.m.
The virtual live event
is designed for seniors and
their loved ones to promote
the healthy longevity of
the body and mind. Denise
Medved, creator of “Ageless
Grace,” will highlight how
the program activates all
fi ve areas of the brain and
addresses aging factors of
the body. She also will share
some simple everyday exer-
cises that can be done at
home.
For more information or to
register for the webinar, visit
www.PrestigeCanHelp.com.
For questions, call 541-276-
1987.
Josephy Center
Brown Bag hosts
geologist, artist
JOSEPH — The Josephy
Center for Arts and Culture,
Joseph, is showcasing geolo-
gist and photographer Ellen
Bishop at its brown bag
discussion Tuesday, Jan. 18,
noon to 1 p.m.
Bishop is one of many
artists exhibiting work in the
show at the Josephy Center.
Her presentation, “Nature in
the Abstract: Rocks!” is on
her exhibit.
“At all scales, the patterns
of a landscape, whether fence
lines that have mellowed
with age, patterns woven
in reeds and grasses, the
stacked symmetry of basalt
columns, and so much
more, reveal much about its
history and can help defi ne
its composition,” Bishop
said in a press release about
the brown bag. “Capturing
those patterns in images
helps engage the viewer in
the landscape’s story and
mysteries.”
The exhibit is up until
Feb. 22. The Brown Bag is
from noon until 1 p.m. Tues-
day, Jan. 18.
Bishop is well-known
locally as a writer and
photographer, and highly
regarded across the region
for her work and her books
on Northwest geology. Her
latest book is “Living With
Thunder.”
The free event will be via
Zoom. Visit josephy.org, or
email rich.wandschneider@
gmail.com to get a link to
attend.
Republican
women host U.S.
Senate candidate
PENDLETON — Jo Rae
Perkins, Republican candi-
date for U.S. Senate, who
hopes to unseat Democrat
Sen. Ron Wyden in Novem-
ber, is the guest speaker for
the upcoming meeting of
the Roundup Republican
Women.
The no-host gathering is
Thursday Jan. 13, 5 p.m. at
Roosters Country Kitchen,
1515 Southgate Place, Pend-
leton. The soup and salad
dinner is $12.99. To RSVP,
email lynnevansrrw@gmail.
com.
— EO Media Group
SALEM — Oregon is on
a “red alert” of the growing
wave of the omicron variant
of COVID-19 that pushed
the daily new case count to
10,451 Friday, Jan. 7, eclips-
ing the records set during
the past four days.
“Once again, COVID-
19 has regrouped and is
marching across Oregon,”
said Dr. Dean Sidelinger,
the state chief epidemiolo-
gist, in a press call Jan. 7.
With the new wave fore-
cast to peak on Jan. 27 with
1,650 people in the hospital,
the Oregon Health Author-
ity issued a “crisis care”
protocol to guide doctors on
prioritizing possibly life-or-
death care.
Based on a model
already used by Washing-
ton and other states, patients
who would not survive if
discharged have top prior-
ity. Patients already under
care take precedence over
newly arriving cases of the
same level. If a choice needs
to be made between two
patients in identical medical
situations, the choice will
be made at random using a
system on OHA’s website.
“This is a very diffi cult
topic to consider and work
on,” said Dana Hargunani,
Oregon Health Authority
chief medical offi cer.
Omicron spreads twice
as fast as the delta vari-
ant that swamped Oregon
hospitals, peaking in
September.
Early studies show
omicron more easily
infects fully vaccinated
people compared to earlier
versions of COVID-19. But
people who have received
the two-shot Pfizer or
Moderna vaccine and also
had the recently added
booster shot are unlikely to
suff er the worst outcomes.
In so-called “break-
through” cases, people
who have had the maxi-
mum number of shots make
up about 4% of those need-
ing hospital care and 1% of
deaths. The average age of
death for that group is 81.
Sidelinger said omicron
was a “red alert” for unvac-
cinated people, who make
up the vast majority of
severe cases requiring
hospitalization, intensive
care unit beds, ventilators
and whose infections prove
fatal.
But the severity of
omicron will be largely
off set by the sheer number
of people who will be
infected.
“That doesn’t help with
the kind of all-at-once
impact on hospital capacity
that we’re going to see here,
and hopefully prevent,” said
Peter Graven, the chief
medical forecaster for
Oregon Health & Science
University.
The unvaccinated who
fall severely ill will require
high levels of care that will
make it more diffi cult for
already overstretched and
exhausted medical person-
nel to care for people with
heart attacks, strokes, and
injuries from vehicle acci-
dents.
Gov. K ate Brow n
also ordered the Oregon
National Guard to deploy
what Sidelinger called 500
“non-clinically trained”
members to help relieve
hospital staff around
the state whose staff are
depleted by infections
among their own ranks.
Which hospitals will
receive aid from the
National Guard is under
consideration and won’t
likely be announced until
Jan. 10, according to Brown
Press Secretary Liz Merah.
Under recent state guide-
lines following recommen-
dations by the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention, anyone vacci-
nated who tests positive for
COVID-19 should isolate
for five days, then wear
a mask in all places for
another fi ve days.
Mildred Lucille Miller Baker
September 30, 1930-December 30, 2021
Ron Saager
December 18, 1951 - December 25, 2021
Ron passed peacefully in his home on
the morning of December 25th, both his
daughters by his side. He spent the most
beautiful Christmas Eve Day surround-
ed by family, sharing all of
his love, support and final
words. He made the most of
every minute, and left us all
with the gift of his abundant
joy.
Ronald Linn Saager was
born on December 18th,
1951 to Herb and Wanda
Saager. He was a Mac-Hi
graduate and studied biol-
ogy at both Southern Ore-
gon University and Oregon
State University. Ron had a
deep love and reverence for
the natural world, spending
much of his childhood ex-
ploring the hills around his
home. In his early twenties,
he left college and headed
to Alaska, where he worked
as a commercial fisherman.
Those long nights on the
Bering Sea lent perspec-
tive that he’d pass on to his
children and grandchildren.
During the off-season, he
spent years traveling around
the West in his pickup camp-
er, good ol’ Alfred the dog by his side. He
had the best stories.
When Ron met Julie Hardin in the
summer of 1980, he decided it was time
to give up the dangerous seasonal work
and move back home to Milton-Freewa-
ter. Ron and Julie married in 1982 and
Ron started working again at his family’s
shoe shop. They bought a true fixer-upper
on Perkins Street and he spent many hours
transforming the early 20th century house
into a home suitable for his growing fam-
ily. Deidre Marie was born in 1986, Kayla
Kristine in 1990. Every day off was spent
with his girls, introducing them to favorite
fishing holes, the best mushroom hunting
grounds, and eventually, to horses. When
his eldest daughter fell hard for horses, he
was plain tickled pink.
Working at the family’s shoe store
brought Ron great joy. He loved his cus-
tomers and crew, many of whom became
family. He was so proud of the store, and
always grateful to serve such
a beautiful community.
Ron was a romantic. He
was a talented poet and pho-
tographer, a patient observ-
er, and lover of nature. His
passion for horses led him
to pursue a training and rac-
ing program for a time. Ron
loved to fish and did a bucket
list fishing trip to Belize with
his youngest brother, Rick.
He always said he found his
true calling when he became
a father. He later recanted
and explained that being a
grandfather was his actual
life purpose. When his el-
dest daughter and her partner
bought a place in the country
with a separate apartment
for him, he moved in to ‘the
grandpa quarters.’ He felt no
greater joy than to be present
with his family.
He was the best dad. He
knew how to love uncondi-
tionally and support his fam-
ily any way they needed. He was always
where he needed to be, and would have
done anything for his family.
Ron is survived by his daughters,
Deidre Nyburg (Keith Payne) and Kayla
Saager, his grandchildren, Trevor, Bailee
and Ruby, his youngest brother and one
of his best friends, Rick Saager and fam-
ily, his oldest brother, Norm Saager and
family, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and
nephews.
Per Ron’s wishes, no public service will
be held, but friends and family are wel-
comed to share memories and photos on
the Munselle-Rhodes funeral page.
To leave a condolence visit:
www.munsellerhodes.com
Mildred Lucile Miller Baker was born
on September 20, 1930 in Ione, Oregon to
Russell Kenneth and Hazel Akers Miller.
She was the first of their 5 children. At the
age of 5 they moved from
Ione to Boardman where
she met Harold Baker. When
Harold was asked when
he met Mildred, he would
always say, he couldn’t re-
member, she was always just
there. They dated through
high school and were mar-
ried after she graduated from
Eastern State College, now
known as Eastern Oregon
University in La Grande, Or-
egon. Jokingly his story was
that he wouldn’t marry her
until she graduated so she
could support him. They were married in
Boardman on December 21, 1952.
She taught school in the Morrow Coun-
ty School district her entire career. She
started out in Irrigon at A.C. Houghton but
stopped teaching when she had her fourth
child. She always planned to go back when
all her kids were school age. When her
youngest was 4, her principal called her
and said that there were too many kids
for a single kindergarten and would she
consider coming back to teach a 2nd class
of that age. Her response was that only if
she could teach it from her home and her
4-year-old come attend. He agreed so the
living room was turned into a classroom,
and she went back to teaching. The next
year her youngest was old enough to go to
kindergarten so Mildred went back into the
classroom at A.C. Houghton. She retired
from A.C. Houghton but a few years later
was asked to come back and teach at the
new Sam Boardman Elementary School in
Boardman so she did. She was very proud
of the fact that she got both her education
and career from the same school district.
Mildred was an accomplished seam-
stress, making most of her own clothes and
those of her children. Halloween costumes,
wedding dresses, curtains, it really didn’t
matter. She developed a passion (some
could call it an obsession) with bears. She
would make them, buy them, buy fabric
with them on it, nothing was out of bounds.
In her later years, she found quilting and
that opened a whole new world for her. She
was one of the founding members of the
Boardman Quilt Group, where they could
discuss anything except their aches and
pains. Whatever she was involved in, she
went into completely. Making sure she had
all the rights tools and supplies to create
the finished product.
She loved her home and would spend
many hours in the yard and garden. Over
the years she and Harold built 3 different
homes, all in Boardman. At the time of
Harold’s death, they had plans for num-
ber 4 already drawn up. She
loved to cook and there were
always leftovers in the fridge
and room for another at the
table. She would can ev-
erything, nothing could go
to waste. She would wake
up many mornings to find a
box of in-season produce at
the back door that someone
dropped off, knowing that
she would put it up.
By the time that she re-
tired, so had Harold and they
spent many years traveling
in their RV. Starting with a
trailer, then a fifth wheel and then finally a
motor home. They would travel with their
RV Club, The Apple Blossoms, out of Wal-
la Walla, Washington or by themselves. If
Harold had something to read and Mildred
had something to sew on, they would go
anywhere. With their RV, they attend-
ed many of the grandchildren’s sporting
events when they were in college. She
died on December 30, 2021 at her home in
Hermiston, Oregon at the age of 91.
Mildred was preceded in death by Har-
old (2018), her husband of over 65 years,
her parents, and one sister, Lola Jane Mill-
er. She leaves behind her children, Ron
(Glaya) Baker, Randy (Kathy) Baker, Kar-
en Purcell, and Kris (R.B.) Dorran. To car-
ry on and continue the family she leaves
behind her grandchildren, Brandi (Mano-
lo) Zavala, Jared (Norma Ayala) Purcell,
Kevin (Bridgette) Baker, Keith (Tess)
Baker, Kenna (Trevor) Colby, and Charles
(Mariah) Baker. At the time of her passing
she had 16 great grandchildren: Breanna,
Moises, Luciano, Yazeli, Jordan, Zander,
Brexton, Emery, Luke, Dezi, Blakely,
Brayden, Jake, Aleah, Israel, and Elliott,
but there will be more to come. She also
leaves behind a brother, Jim (Margret)
Miller, and 2 sisters, Grace Carpenter and
Pat (Charles) Osgood.
A graveside service was held on
Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 1:00 P.M.
at the Riverview Cemetery, Boardman, Or-
egon.
A celebration of life gathering will be
announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers contributions may be
made in Mildred’s memory to Sam Board-
man Elementary for use in the library.
Please share memories of Mildred with
her family at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com
Burns Mortuary of Hermiston, Oregon
is in care of arrangements.