A2 Family Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, October 7, 2015 O BITUARIES Ardell June Ashton June 12, 1934 – Sept. 27, 2015 Donald Nelson Cates Oct. 14, 1923 – Oct. 1, 2015 Natalie Cresta Robinson Slayton March 18, 1972 – Sept. 28, 2015 MILWAUKIE – Ardell June Ashton, 81, formerly of John Day, died Sept. 27 in Milwaukie, after a long bout with multiple myeloma, surrounded by loved ones. A Cele- bration of Life will be at 1 p.m. Sat- urday, Oct. 10, at Driskill Memorial Chapel, 241 S. Canyon Blvd., John Day. Interment will be at Canyon City Cemetery followed by a dessert buffet at the Outpost in John Day. Mrs. Ashton was born June 12, 1934, in Ogden, Utah, to Anna and Lawrence Ables. She enjoyed golf and contract bridge, toile painting, home decor, gardening, dancing, travel, relaxing at home, crossword puzzles, family and friends. She was fun-loving and left her mark on the world. Survivors include her daughters, Teresa Ashton of Mil- waukie, Paula (Hart) Culp of Gresham and Kathleen (Russell) Weaver of Lake Oswego; siblings, Donna (Craig) Smith of Bend and Paul (Cheryl) Ables of Oregon City; grandchildren, Will (Tiffany) Huffman, Christopher (Kilee) Culp, Maxwell Weaver and Spencer Weaver; six great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and extended family. She was preceded in death by her husband, William “Bill” P. Ashton; and granddaughter, Tami Huffman. In lieu of À owers, memorial contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice through Driskill Memorial Chapel. Donald Nelson Cates, 91, of Mt. Vernon, died Oct. 1. A memorial ser- vice will be at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at the Mt. Vernon Community Hall. A potluck will follow. Mr. Cates was born Oct. 14, 1923, in Park Place, the ¿ rst child of John Nel- son Cates and Violetta (Fulford) Cates. The family moved to his father’s home in Missouri during the Great Depres- sion, then returned to Oregon where his father worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps build- ing Silver Falls State Park. Times were tough and the family eventually migrated to Omak, Wash., where he started working in apple orchards when he was 13 and fell timber the summer he was 14. In 1941, he met Evelyn Lois Leese while he was falling tim- ber near the Leese ranch in Aeneas, Wash. They were married in Omak on Aug. 22,1942. Their ¿ rst home was in Disautel, a small logging community in Washington. In 1944, he joined the U.S. Navy and served in World War II on a gunnery crew on the oil tanker J. H. Tuttle in the South Paci¿ c. After the war, they returned to Omak, where their son, Roy, and daughter, Linda, were born. The family moved to Mt. Vernon in 1951 where he worked for many years as a logger. They later owned Crossroads Ser- vice Station and Crossroads Cafe in Mt. Vernon. He worked with his son, Roy, in Cates Logging, and then with AAA Thun- derbolt Fire Services with his son, daughter-in-law, grandchil- dren and great-grandchildren. He was still active in Thunder- bolt at the time of his death. He was involved in the Mt. Vernon community: He led a Boy Scout troop, was commander of the American Legion when the Legion hall, now the Mt. Vernon Community Center, was built. One spring break-up from logging, he worked fulltime on the Legion hall which was built with volunteer labor, much of it his. He was especially proud of the À oor and rafters. He served as mayor of Mt. Vernon and was on the school board. He and his wife were grand marshals of the Cinnabar Mountain Rendezvous in 1996. He loved the woods and enjoyed any activity that took him to the hills – hunting, huckleberry picking, or just a long drive. Known by everyone as “Granddad,” he was full of energy and urgency. He liked to get things done. At age 76 he was still working with the Thunderbolt crew on forest ¿ res and he piled brush with them into his eighties. He took good care of his yard and garden, and particularly his fruit trees. He enjoyed good food, most especially his wife’s cooking. He loved dogs and they loved him. He liked to build houses; he built six houses in Mt. Vernon, one on the coast, plus several post of¿ ce buildings. Survivors include son, Roy (Evelyn) Cates of Mt Vernon; daughter, Linda (Tom Murray) Cates of Nelson, N.H.; grand- daughter, Chris (Ken) Phillips of Fruitland, Idaho; grandsons, Mike (DeAnne) Cates of Filer, Idaho, Bryan Cates of Mt. Ver- non, Brad (Krystal) Cates of Mt. Vernon, and Will Murray of New York City; many great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren; his sister, Bertha Wells of Tumwater, Wash., and brother, Jesse Cates of Canyon City. He was preceded in death earlier this year by his wife of 72 years, Evelyn Cates. Arrangements are under the care of Driskill Memorial Chap- el, 241 S. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845. NYSSA– Natalie Cresta Robinson Slayton, 44, formerly of John Day, died Sept. 28. A memorial service was held Oct. 3, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Heppner, with in- urnment at Heppner Masonic Cemetery. Mrs. Slayton was born March 18, 1972, in La Grande, to Dean and Florene Kygar Robinson. She was raised and attended school in Heppner. She studied anthropology and business at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton and Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. She enjoyed reading, baking, gardening and sewing. Her greatest enjoyment came from spending time with her chil- dren, grandchildren and her many animals. Survivors include her parents, Dean and Florene Robin- son of Heppner; sons, Josh Slayton and Corey Slayton, both of John Day; sister, Jacklyn Robinson of Pasco, Wash.; and grandchildren, Aiden Slayton of McMinnville and Sydney Slayton of John Day. Memorial contributions may be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Fund, 1500 S.W. 1st Ave. #270, Portland, OR 97201, or All Saints Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 246, Heppner, OR 97836. Arrangements are under the care of Sweeney Mortuary of Heppner, 320 E Matlock St., Heppner, OR 97836. About Obituaries News obituaries are a free service of the Blue Mountain Eagle. The paper accepts obituaries from the family or funeral home. Information submitted is subject to editing. Obituaries submitted to the Eagle with incorrect information may be corrected and republished as paid notices. Send obituaries by e-mail, cheryl@bmeagle.com; fax, 541- 575-1244; or mail, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845. For more information, or to inquire about a paid memorial, call 541-575-0710. FACEBOOKERS: Become an Eagle fan today! Go to: facebook.com/MyEagleNews Canada’s acoustic Bluegrass/ Celtic power trio. Cindy’s Grooming PRAIRIE CITY COMMUNITY CENTER 211 W 6th St., Prairie City Saturday, Oct. 10th - 7:00 pm Doors open at 6:00 pm, show at 7:00, all ages. Tickets are $20 per person, proceeds go to Community Center renovations and improvements. Advance ticket outlets: Roan Outwest Coffee, Norm DeJong DDS, Bar WB, Prairie Trading Post, Station 62 & Naturally Yours. Call Melanie DeJong at 541-620-1492 for more information. Hours Mon. 10-2 Tues. 9-5 Wed. 10-2 Other times available by appointment only 150 Dayton, John Day Call or text Cindy Legg for more details 541.620.0187 www.tillersfolly.com W EDDINGS Fairchild – King Laina Fairchild and Darren King were married on Aug. 8. The bride, a 2014 graduate of Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, is the daughter of Kate and Bob Fairchild of Athena. The groom, a 2013 graduate of Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, is the son of Pam and Everett King of Canyon City. The couple have made their home in Enterprise. A CADEMIC REPORT FOREST GROVE – Rayce and Rayne Houser of Canyon City have been named to the dean’s list at Paci¿ c University in Forest Grove for the 2015 fall semester. Local Red Cross encourages involvement By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle CANYON CITY – The American Red Cross is look- ing for a few good volunteers. A training meeting to learn more about becoming a Red Cross volunteer will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Grant School District No. 3 meeting room, located south of the Grant Union ath- letic ¿ eld at 401 N. Canyon City Blvd. in Canyon City. Disaster Action Team (DAT) captain Joan Bowl- ing of Canyon City said that when a shelter opened for the Canyon Creek Complex ¿ re, DAT team members came to help, but more were needed to cover all the shifts. “Shelters are open 24 hours a day,” Bowling said. “We need more people on our DAT team.” Other volunteer oppor- tunities are also available with Red Cross, including preparedness presenter, ¿ re prevention team (installing smoke alarms), ¿ re preven- tion team educator, disaster mental health volunteer, event planner and more. Part of the organization’s mission and vision statement reads: “American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emer- gencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers” and Red Cross aspires to “turn com- passion into action so that our communities are ready and prepared for disasters.” Those interested in the training are encouraged to RSVP by emailing lisa. stroup@redcross.org or call- ing 541-306-1238. )DPLO\SKDUPDFLHVVHUYLQJ(DVWHUQ2UHJRQRYHU\HDUV ,WKLQNRI\RXDQGPLVV\RXHYHU\GD\ &OD\WRQ