2A | SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
On The Record
OBITUARIES
WALTON—Leona Mae
Miller Walton passed away
Aug. 23, 2019, in her home
in Mapleton two days shy of
her 94th birthday.
Born Aug. 25, 1925, in
Brainerd, Minn., to Earl
Miller and Mary Ringering
Leona Walton
Miller, she moved to Had-
sall Creek at the age of four
and continued to live on the
same piece of property for
over 90 years.
Leona went to school on
the school boat in Mapleton
— until World War II and
Dwight Walton interrupted
her life. Dwight was in the
Navy at that time. His ship
was torpedoed and, as it was
being repaired in Bremer-
ton, the crew was sent to San
Diego, Calif., for shore duty.
He hitchhiked to Ma-
pleton and talked her into
getting married. They were
wed in Springfield in Jan-
uary 1944. Leona left her
senior year of high school
in April and moved to San
Diego, where Dwight had
found housing. She imme-
diately found a job as “Ros-
ie the Riveter” working on
bomb bay doors on B-24s
and B-25s for Consolidated
Aircraft.
When Dwight was re-sta-
tioned to Browns Field, Ca-
lif., further south, she could
no longer commute to the
job and had to quit. Their
daughter Bobbi was born in
San Diego during this time.
After Dwight’s discharge,
they returned to live on
Hadsall Creek, where they
built their own home. Their
son Greg was born four
years after their return to
Oregon. Leona continued to
live in the same house until
June 2019.
After she and Dwight di-
vorced, she married Ernie
Grand, Walter Beers and
Manuel (Tim) Basham.
At the age of 81, she and
Tim drove to his summer
home in Alaska towing a
travel trailer carrying her
cat, Benny, and her dog, Per-
ry. She was very homesick as
she had never been ‘off the
creek’ for any length of time
since returning after WWII.
Leona loved her God (life-
long member of the SDA
Church), her family, her
animals, and to cook for
anyone who entered her
home. She loved working
at McKnight Veterinary
Clinic for over 25 years.
Leona
gardened,
canned and knew more
ways to use plastic but-
ter dishes and plastic
jugs than anyone else on
Earth. She shot bears in her
yard with a single shot shot-
gun when they molested
her apples and raspberries
and shot rats in the chicken
house with a .22 pistol.
She hated spiders and
loved her grandkids and all
the extra “grandkids” who
came to play rummy, eat
toasted cheese sandwiches
and tomato soup with her.
Nothing was ever terri-
ble — it was TERRRRIble;
nothing was ever awful —
it was AWWWWful; and
nothing was ever beautiful
— it was BE-UUUUU-TI-
ful.
As her health began to
fail, she moved to Greg’s and
Connie’s property where
hospice was provided by
family (especially three of
her grandsons and their
wives) and friends until her
passing.
She is survived by daugh-
ter Bobbi Sue (Oley) Nel-
son, and son Greg (Con-
nie) Walton; grandchildren:
Les (DeeAnn) Nelson, Eric
(Kim) Nelson, Debi (Jason)
Free, Jeff (Kati) Walton, and
Mike (Amber) Walton; and
11 great-grandkids whom
she greatly loved: Kara,
Sean, Haley, Megan, Zach,
Sarah, Lindsay, Christopher,
Kjerste, Dane and Kendall.
Leona was buried beside
her parents at the Mapleton
Cemetery on Wednesday,
Aug. 28.
A memorial service will
be held for her on Saturday,
Sept. 7, at 1:30 p.m. at the
Florence SDA Church, 4445
Highway 101.
A potluck will follow the
service.
Burns’s Riverside Chapel
Get Results...List With Amy.
Amy Johnson
Broker, CSA
541 999-7875
Florence Funeral Home is in
charge of arrangements.
SHOPE —Roxanna
Shope, or “Roxy” as she was
known to
everyone,
passed
a w a y
peacefully
at home
in Flor-
ence on
Aug. 8,
Roxanna
2019, af-
Shope
ter a sev-
eral-year
battle with Alzheimer’s Dis-
ease.
Roxy was born in Water-
town, SD., but spent most
of her childhood in Scotts
Bluff, Neb., and attended
high school in Davenport,
Iowa. In 1958, she received
a B.A. degree from Iowa
State Teachers College,
where she majored in phys-
ical education and minored
in English.
She began her long teach-
ing career in Iowa but soon
migrated to Lewistown,
Mont., following her heart
west. She continued her
western migration to Den-
ver, Colo., in the 1960s when
she accepted an elementary
school teaching position
with Denver Public Schools,
which she held for the next
35 years; she taught grades 1
through 6.
Although she lived in
Colorado, her heart re-
mained in Montana where
her family had established
roots in the late 1890s and
early 1900s. Her passion for
Western American history
and culture led her to begin
researching her family tree
in the 1970s.
Her endeavor led her to
make several trips to Boul-
der, Mont., and as far as
Pennsylvania to visit old
homesteads,
cemeteries,
libraries, courthouses and
museums, as well as to speak
with local historians and any
long-lost relatives she could
locate.
Roxy was able to trace her
roots to Europe and Scot-
land, which enabled her to
identify her clan tartan. She
had always had an affinity
for bagpipe music, and now
she understood why.
In the 1980s, she began
compiling and organiz-
ing her research findings,
adding, editing, writing,
re-searching, working long
into the night on her com-
puter. The fruit of all this
matured at long last in the
mid-90s into a 15-chapter,
280-page, 170-photograph,
hardbound, self-published
labor of love.
The book is entitled,
“Bratwurst, Bagpipes and
Tea — A Family History
of...”
Her family, now extended
family of newly discovered
relatives, and close friends
shared her sense of accom-
plishment and relief. It was
probably the singular most
satisfying,
self-fulfilling
time in her life.
Roxy was not defined,
however, by one thing. As
an elementary physical ed-
ucation teacher for her “day
job,” Roxy was passionate as
well. She loved her students
and they her. She could
connect with most of her
students, but she did have
her favorites. She made gym
class fun for them, regard-
less of their innate physical
abilities or athleticism.
She never tired of the
daily challenge to teach not
only sports and gymnastics,
but life skills such as sports-
manship and perseverance
to children, some of whom
came from disadvantaged
homes where the rules
weren’t always clear and
encouragement was some-
times lacking.
Roxy would talk about
her “first-grade puppies”
who were so innocent and
lovable. They would come
up to her tugging on her
shirt to get her attention or
putting their arms around
her knees to give her a hug.
Roxy shared her passion
for all things Western and
outdoors with her long-time
friend and soulmate, Juel
Ann North. Together, they
owned several properties in
Colorado, probably the fa-
vorites being two condos in
the Rocky Mountains above
Denver and a two-story log
house on 5 acres in the horse
country outside Denver in
Elizabeth, Colo.
They owned a total of
three horses and two wild
burros, along with an un-
told number of dogs and
cats. Mountain trail rides,
horse shows, downhill and
cross-country skiing, boat-
ing and traveling rounded
out their life until they both
retired, finally settling in
Florence.
Following their settling in
Florence, Roxy became in-
volved with the local chapter
of the DAR (Daughters of
the American Revolution.)
With her passion for tracing
family history rekindled, she
established the existence of
an ancestor who had partic-
ipated in the American Rev-
olution. She continued her
activities through the DAR
until her illness made this
impossible.
Although
Alzheimer’s
whittled away at Roxy’s
mind and body, she never
lost heart and held on with
determination to her in-
herent “Roxy-ness” — her
ability to make others laugh
without even trying.
Roxy is survived by Juel
Ann; her brother David
(Robbie) Shope and his
family in Iowa; and several
cousins around Washington
State and Montana.
A celebration of her life
will held at St. Andrews
Episcopal Church on Sept.
13, at 11 a.m.
If you wish, in lieu of
flowers, please donate to the
Alzheimer’s Association in
Roxy’s name.
Burns’s Riverside Chapel
Florence Funeral Home and
Siuslaw Valley Crematory
is in charge of all arrange-
ments.
CERIDONO—Linda D.
Ceridono, 70, of Florence,
passed away Aug. 17, 2019.
Arrangements are being
held by Burns’s Riverside
Chapel Florence Funeral
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(541) 997-8460
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