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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2019)
A2 ANNOUNCEMENTS Wallowa County Chieftain Wednesday, March 13, 2019 OBITUARIES Harry E. Kennison Feb. 12, 1926 — Feb. 23, 2019 Ruth M. Tuski Nov. 18, 1931 — Dec. 17, 2018 Daniel McGourty Sept. 5, 1983 — Feb. 12, 2019 Harry E. Kennison died peacefully on February 23, 2019, at the age of 93. He was born and raised in Wal- lowa, Ore., where his ancestors homesteaded in 1872 after traveling on the Oregon Trail. A child of the Great Depression, he joined the Marines as soon as he turned 18 and participated in battles at Oki- nawa and Iwo Jima, where he was one of the last lines of defense against kamikaze pilots. After the war, he returned to the Wallowa Valley, where he became a saw fi ler at the local lumber mill, and, in 1949, married another Wallowa resident, Mary Eliz- abeth Jackson Kennison. They were happily married for 68 years until her death in 2017. At the mill, Harry steadily worked his way up to a management role, Harry E. Kennison eventually becoming general man- ager of the Kinzua Corporation and holding patents on hydraulic lumber mill machinery. He was so recog- nized in his fi eld that the Oregon Board of Education consulted with him regarding vocational training. After many job-related moves to small towns across Oregon and Washington (including Pilot Rock, Baker City, Hep- pner and Omak), Harry and Mary settled down in Salem, Ore., for their retirement. Many happy hours were spent golfi ng at the Santiam golf course, visiting grandchildren, and exploring exotic locales such as Fiji and Tahiti. Harry was always passionate about sports, whether it was receiving a football scholarship to Linfi eld College (which he turned down in favor of serving our country), coaching Little League and Babe Ruth baseball in adult- hood, or ardently following Oregon State University foot- ball, baseball and women’s basketball until his last few days. He was preceded in death by Mary, their daughter Janine Kennison, and son Kyle Kennison. He is survived and greatly missed by his daughter Kara Kennison (and husband James Baumberger), son Gary Miller (and wife Jolene), six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, as well as countless other family members and friends. He is remembered for his intelligence, good advice, sense of humor, always doing the right thing, and for being one of the best men we ever met. A memorial ser- vice will be held in celebration of his life on Saturday, June 8, at 3 p.m. at the Church of the Good Shepherd, 800 Ellsworth Rd., Vancouver, Wash. Memorial dona- tions in memory of Harry can be made to the KyleKenni- son Scholarship c/o The University of Idaho Foundation, 875 Perimeter Dr., MS 3143, Moscow, ID, 83844. Ruth Margaret Tuski passed away peacefully on Dec. 17, 2018, in Enterprise, Ore. Ruth was born on Nov. 18, 1931, in Baker City, Ore., to George Peter Murphy and Len- nis Ruth (Wolfe) Murphy. Sadly, Ruth’s mother died shortly after giving birth to Ruth and, as a result, Ruth’s early years were spent with her paternal grandmother, Mary Murphy of Wallowa, Ore. Her older sister, Pat, in turn lived with her maternal grand- mother, Cora Wolfe of Wallowa. Even- tually, the two young girls joined their father who had moved to Portland, Ore. Upon graduation from high school, Ruth returned to Wallowa, marrying Buddy Dale Thomason in 1952. Ruth and Buddy had two children, Dovey Jo (1953) and Mark Kelly (1956). A tragic logging accident out of Wallowa took Ruth M. Tuski Buddy’s life in 1957 at the age of 26. In 1959 Ruth married Robert (Bob) Nystrom and the couple moved to Milton-Freewater. Their son Robert Eric was born in 1961. After their divorce, Ruth again returned to Wallowa County where she purchased Stockman’s Bar in Enterprise, owning it from 1969-1973. Ruth always remembered her Stockman’s days with fond- ness and enjoyed telling stories to friends and family about that time. In 1972 Ruth married Tom Long from Wallowa and Tom became her sidekick at Stockman’s. They divorced in 1977, and then in 1979, Ruth moved to Bend, Ore. where she enjoyed working as a caregiver for the elderly. In 1986 she married Jon Tuski and continued to reside in Bend until retiring in 1999 and moving to La Grande, Ore. She enjoyed her time in La Grande with many friends and was actively involved in the Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church. She especially appreciated the priests of Our Lady of the Valley. All during her life she remained close to her aunt, Margaret McClain, and cherished the time she could spend with Margaret until Margaret’s death. As Ruth’s health declined, and she sensed the end of her life drawing near, her wish was to spend her fi nal days back in Wallowa County, the home she loved so much. Her fam- ily made this move possible, and she spent her remaining days content and receiving exemplary care at the Wallowa County Senior Living Center in Enterprise. Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, husbands, Buddy Thomason and Bob Nystrom and her son, Kelly Thomason. She is survived by her daughter, Dovey Jo Col- lins and son, Rob Nystrom, fi ve grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren and numerous great great grandchildren. Ruth loved to be around people and had many friends of all ages. She enjoyed telling and hearing a saucy joke, was a mean poker player, an excellent home decorator and a sharp dresser. Her lively, fun and funny personality will be dearly missed by those who were fortunate to know her. Funeral services will be held at St. Katherine’s Catholic Church in Enterprise, beginning at 10 a.m. on March 23. A graveside service will follow at the Wallowa Cemetery. At 2 p.m. friends and family are invited to gather for a celebra- tion of life and dinner at the VFW Hall in Enterprise. Those wishing to make a donation in honor of Ruth can do so to the Wallowa Valley Senior Living Center. Lieutenant Daniel “FEY” McGourty, 35, died peace- fully, after a three-year battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma, sur- rounded by family and friends in his Atlantic Beach home on February 12, 2019. Daniel was born on September 5, 1983, in Nampa, Idaho. He is the beloved son to Ron and Celene Gay of Wallowa, Oregon where Dan later grew up and graduated high school. Daniel enlisted in the United States Navy in 2003 and became an Aircrewman, Rescue Swim- mer. After being accepted to an Offi cer Commissioning program, he graduated from Old Dominion University in 2010 with a degree in Mechanical Engineer- ing. Additionally, Dan received his Wings of Gold in 2012 after complet- ing Flight School and became an E2 Hawkeye Pilot. He married Alexandra Daniel McGourty Ulrich McGourty, the love of his life, who he met while deployed in Camp Buehring, Kuwait in 2007. The Navy took the couple all over the world, from Guam, to the East Coast and to the West Coast, until they settled back in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Along the way, they added three beautiful children, Randall Emma McGourty (9), Molli Brown McGourty (7), and Gage Martell McGourty (1). Dan was a cherished son, hell of a friend, the greatest father, fi nest husband, and one damn good golfer and pilot! A Military Memorial Service is scheduled for 11a.m. at Atlantic Beach Country Club, Atlantic Beach, Florida, with a Celebration of Life to follow later in the evening at Atlantic Beach Brewing Company at 6 p.m. All are wel- come to attend and celebrate Dan’s life. In lieu of fl owers, Dan has requested that people donate on his behalf to fi nd a cure for Ewing’s Sarcoma, the devastating disease that took his life. Donations can be made at the following link: https://www.curesarcoma.org/daniel-mcgourty/. ABOUT OBITUARIES News obituaries are a free service of the Wallowa County Chieftain. Obitu- aries are accepted from family members or a funeral home. No handwrit- ten obituaries will be accepted. Information submitted is subject to editing. Obituaries that exceed 400 words will be referred to the advertising depart- ment for paid memorials. Send obituaries by email to editor@wallowa.com; fax to 541-426-3921 or mail to P.O. Box 338, Enterprise, OR 97828. Dead- line to submit an obituary is 10 a.m. Monday for publication the same week. Obituaries submitted after deadline will be queued for publication in the next edition. Info: 541-426-4567. IN BRIEF Wild-land fi re refresher class The Eastern Oregon Training Group will hold the RT-130 Wild-land Fire Refresher on April 13, 2019. It will be at the 5J School District Build- ing, 2090 4th St., Baker City. This is a required class for all federal and state contractors. Class will begin at 8 a.m. and the cost is $100 in advanced or $120 at the door. Registration can be done at oregonfi retrain- ing.com. Pre-registration is requested. All participants should bring gloves for the prac- tice shelter deployment. Call Laurel Goodrich with any questions at 541- 403-0907 or Jeff Sherman at 541-519-6213. Shed antler fundraiser The Nature Conser- vancy is now taking appli- cations from Wallowa County organizations for the opportunity to partic- ipate in the 2019 shed ant- ler collection fundraiser. Please email Chad Dotson at chad.dotson@ tnc.org for an applica- tion or for more general information. Deadline to apply is March 8, 2019. Joseph students had a chance to get on stage Feb. 8-9 at a drama camp sponsored by Joseph FCCLA. Eleven 4th-6th grad- ers participated in a two day camp put on by Renee Seal, Layla Snyder, Elena Col- lier and Emily Vargas and gave a perfor- mance at the culmination, loosely based on a scene from “Beauty and the Beast.” During the camp, students took part in act- ing lessons, set design and costume mak- ing workshops. Seal and Snyder wrote the script for the play and headed up the acting portion of the camp. Collier and Vargas were in charge of making sets and costumes along with assistance from the camp participants. The four FCCLA members were motivated to give children a chance to experience what it’s like to be a thespian since Joseph no longer has a formal drama program. Jaidyn Zollman, who played Gaston, said “It was fun to learn about acting.” Townsperson, Gwen Bostedt was sur- prised that when on stage “all directions are backwards.” Nicholi Fisher, born May 16, 1963, passed away on Feb. 26, 2019. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 16, at the Nazarene Church on Grant street in Enter- prise at 1:30 p.m. MEMORIAL SERVICES Gayle Schmeck Aug. 28, 1950 — Oct. 25, 2018 A memorial service will be held for Gayle Schmeck on Sat. Mar. 23, at 11 a.m. at the Enterprise Christian Church. Schmeck passed away last fall on Oct. 25, 2018. A memorial service was postponed until Schmeck’s family could attend. FRONT ROW : Kylie Moore (Townsperson), Andy Nichols (Townsperson), Bobby Nichols (Mr. Potts), Bella Herb (Chip) MIDDLE ROW: Jaidyn Zollman (Gaston), Sarah Musia (Fork), Addie Moore (Narrator and Townsperson, Livia De Melo (Belle), Hayden Kissinger (Lumiere), Gwen Bostedt (Townsperson), Eva Moore (Cogsworth) BACK ROW: FCCLA Members Layla Snyder, Elena Collier, Renee Seal Weather Forecast The House of Broken Angels Courtesy of Weather Underground • wunderground.com by Luis Alberto Urrea T HE B OOKLOFT Across from the courthouse in Enterprise 107 E. Main • 541.426.3351 always open at www.bookloftoregon.com • bookloft@eoni.com ATHLETE WEEK This week’s athlete of ball standout, School basket goes to Wallowa High WHS senior filled both the The Christopher Nobles. with his for the Cougars but urt. s le ro g in w d an st po the co fit in any position on exceptional skill can coaches recognized Nobles’ ue league The Old Oregon Leag by voting him as the ar. nt le ta udly Pro onsore d b y player of the ye p OF THE les Christopher th N e o we b ek honor 201 E. Hwy 82, Enterprise • 541-426-0320 www.edstaub.com Nicholi Fisher May 16, 1963 — Feb. 26, 2019 Joseph FCCLA drama camp Now in Paperback S DEATH NOTICES STUDENT EMMA SALMON Alternative Ed of the WEEK Emma joined the Alternative Education Classroom this fall and has shown tremendous growth in academics, self- confidence, leadership and her willingness to try new things! She is a strong writer, amazing game player and positive role model. Emma’s smile is not only infectious, but is a constant encouragement to students, staff and the entire Building Healthy Families community! Proudly sponsored by The Student of the Week is chosen for academic achievement and community involvement. Students are selected by the administrators of their respective schools. Local Money Working For Local People High Low Conditions March 14 35 18 Mostly sunny March 15 39 20 Partly Cloudy March 16 42 26 Cloudy March 17 48 28 Mostly sunny March 18 50 30 Sunny March 19 53 32 Mostly sunny March 20 50 31 Showers Phases of the moon Mar. 14 Mar. 20 Mar. 27 Apr. 5 1st Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter New Moon WALLOWA COUNTY SUNRISE & SUNSET MAR. 14–20 (from the U.S. Naval Observatory) THUR FRI SAT SUN MON TUES WED 7:04 6:54 7:02 6:55 7:00 6:56 6:58 6:58 6:56 6:59 6:54 7:00 6:52 7:01
