Blue Mountain Eagle
Rodeo runs in the family
OBITUARIES
Leslie ‘Les’ Guttu
Leslie “Les” Guttu, 76, of John Day died at his home
Wednesday, April 17. A celebration of life will be held at a
later date. Arrangements are under the direction of Tami’s Pine
Valley Funeral Home and Cremation Services. Online condo-
lences can be shared at tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
Katheryn E. Maley
Katheryn E. Maley, 73, died on April 15 at her home in
Burns surrounded by her family. A memorial service will be
held at a later date with burial at the Fox Cemetery.
Joan Marie Howell
Dec. 13, 1947 — Feb. 17, 2019
Joan Marie Howell, 71, of Monument, Oregon, passed
away Feb. 17 at her home. A celebration of life and potluck
will be held on Saturday, April 27, at 1 p.m. at the Monu-
ment City Park.
She was born Dec. 13, 1947, in St. Louis, Missouri, to
Lewis and Gertrude Miller; she was the fourth out of fi ve
siblings. The family moved from Missouri to Long Beach,
California; then, in 1962, they made the move to Grant
County, Oregon, to the W4 Ranch.
Joan attended Monument School where she met Sam
Howell, and they married in 1964. Sam and Joan had two
children, Sandy in 1965 and Sammy in 1968.
She was a jack of many trades. She worked in the mint
fi elds planting mint for Paul Jewell, cooked at the school,
and then in 1993 she went to work for Thomas Orchards. She
did everything from staking, planting and fertilizing trees to
working the fruit stand, sorting, working in the kitchen dry-
ing and canning fruit, making jams, pie fi ling and pies.
Joan was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved
husband, Sam Howell; a brother; sisters, Dorothy Richards
and Carol Williamson.
She is survived by his daughter, Sandy McKinney, of
Prineville, Oregon; a son, Sammy Howell, of Monument;
grandsons, James Jewell of Prairie City, Oregon, and DJ
Howell of Monument; granddaughter, Jessica Hemphill, of
Powell Butte, Oregon; and four great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Monument
EMTs, 50214 Highway 402, Monument, OR 97864.
You may sign the online condolence book at sweeney-
mortuary.com.
Allen E. Chappell
Sept. 18, 1950 — April 14, 2019
Allen E. Chappell, 68, passed
away peacefully at his home in Fox,
Oregon, on April 14. A celebra-
tion of his life will be planned and
announced in the coming months.
Allen was born and raised in the
valley and had just recently moved
to Fox with his wife, Kelly, to enjoy
the rest of his retirement.
He was a member of the National Guard from 1970-
1975. Allen also was a long-time log hauler (both owner
and operator) and worked as a driver/dispatcher for Siletz
Trucking in Independence, Oregon.
He was preceded in death by his parents, John Rex and
Lilia Lu (Eubanks) Chappell; and his two brothers, Jack J.
Chappell and Kenneth W. Chappell.
He is survived by his wife, Kelly McGirr; stepdaugh-
ter, Amanda Born, and her partner Nolan Riis of Seneca,
Oregon; brothers, Bill Chappell of Salem, Oregon, John
(Shirien) Chappell of Christmas Valley, Oregon, Leroy
(Sonia) Chappell of Redmond, Oregon, and Jim Chappell
and his partner Nancy Lenig of Gresham, Oregon; daugh-
ter, Brook, of Salem, Oregon; and many nieces and neph-
ews and prior (step) family members.
Memorial contributions may be made to Powerland
Heritage Park through Driskill Memorial Chapel, 241 S.
Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845. To leave an online
condolence for the family, please visit driskillmemorial-
chapel.com.
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Chris and Shannon
Bravos named
grand marshals of
Spray Rodeo
By Jody Foss
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
“A lot of people don’t
like peacocks because they
are noisy,” Chris Bravos
explained. “But they sure
take care of the rattlesnakes.”
When the Bravos’ fi rst
moved into their place years
ago, it was a common sight:
rattlesnakes curled up com-
fortably in the sun by the
front door. Once they came
home with peacocks, the rat-
tlesnakes disappeared.
“We have a real Heinz
57 bunch around here,” said
Chris.
Happy dogs wag their
tails. A donkey and minia-
ture horse graze the back
hillside along with the goats.
Barn cats keep the mice
population at bay. Coming
up the drive, one is greeted
by two gentle giant work
horses.
“I saw them on the inter-
net, and they were in the
feed lot without much time
left,” Shannon said as she
stepped up on the edge of
the feed bin and slides onto
Bob’s back. “I called Lisa
Neuberger of Silent Wave
Horse Rescue, and she went
with me to get them.”
Silent Wave paid for the
cost of the trip, and Shannon
paid for the horses and their
care. Dixie is blind in her
left eye and so has to be on
Bob’s right side in a hitch.
The couple are honored
to have been chosen to serve
as grand marshals of the
72nd annual Spray Rodeo
on Memorial Day weekend
and are still discussing their
chosen mode of transporta-
tion for the parade.
“He wants to ride my
horse,” said Shannon with a
smile.
For many years, Chris
and Shannon have donated
all the hay to feed the stock
at the Spray Rodeo.
Chris Bravos was raised
541-575-1895 or
541-968-9865
office@
johndaynazarene.
com
113568
A boy, Cody Kenneth Kraft,
9 pounds, 5 ounces, was born to
parents Brian and Spring Kraft
of Fillmore, California, April 8.
He joins siblings Gregory, Adam,
Luke, Gideon, Titus and Annie
Mae. Grandparents are Mar-
ion Holladay of Fillmore, Kevin
Kraft of Camarillo, Califor-
nia, and Cheryl Hoefl er of Prai-
rie City. Great-grandmother is
Audrey Martinson of Santa Bar-
bara, California.
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Grade 7
Macy Carter
Parents: Mat
and Jennifer
Carter
Grade 8
Jack Strong
Parents: Mike
Strong and
Katie Bruzas
Grade 9
Paige Weaver
Parents: Jarrod
and Janine
Weaver
Grade 10
Madison Spencer
Parents:
John Spencer
and Cindy
Dougharity-
Spencer
Grade 11
Emily Springer
Parents: Mike
and Shannon
Springer
Grade 12
Marissa Smith
Parents: Brent
and Kim Smith
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Last Week’s Temps
John Day
HI/LO
Tuesday ........................................................... 56/38
Wednesday ..................................................... 62/40
Thursday .......................................................... 74/40
Friday ............................................................... 76/42
Saturday .......................................................... 50/43
Sunday ............................................................. 61/40
Monday............................................................ 69/35
You can go to college all
you want and learn about
agriculture, but you’ve got
to be out there and be hands
on to really learn.”
He credits the area locals
for teaching him “the ropes”
when it came to raising cows
and growing hay.
“When I moved up here,
I learned a lot of stuff from
the older ranchers. I am a lit-
tle shy and I just listened to
how they did it. I listened to
old Tom Campbell and Bud
and Gary Engels, and Ellis
Hunt — all those guys that
have been here forever.”
Shannon was born and
raised in John Day and spent
a great deal of her childhood
in Dayville with her aunt
and uncle and cousins. The
Greggs owned and ran the
Dayville Mercantile and had
horses.
“We would ride all
over,” Shannon remembers,
“even swim the river on our
horses. I have gone to the
Spray Rodeo with my fam-
ily my whole life. I like the
rough stock events. Chris
likes the timed events.”
Her mom and dad, Gary
and LoLieta Gregg, still live
in John Day. At 87 and 80,
they have a lifetime of rodeo
and parade memories. Her
dad and Uncle Gibb were in
rodeos. Shannon’s brother
Mitch was a bronc rider.
Her dad, a wagon and buggy
builder, restored wagons for
Oxbow Trading Company
in Canyon City.
“Dad bought a driving
mare from the Amish,” said
Shannon. “He drove her in a
lot of parades when she was
younger.”
His beautifully restored
surrey and a ranch wagon
are stored in his workshop.
Chris’ son Dusty and
grandson Kolby are com-
ing to Spray to compete
in the Spray Rodeo. They
team rope, do tie down rop-
ing and steer wrestling and
compete in rodeos in Cali-
fornia. The younger attends
Feather River College and
team ropes on the college
rodeo circuit. Dusty Bra-
vos recently won the No. 15
Western States Team Rop-
ing Qualifer with his roping
partner James Ferraeri.
Chris’ son Jason is a veter-
inarian in Dixon, California,
and comes up to help Shan-
non and Chris preg test and
check out the herd. Cassie,
who graduated from Mon-
ument, is a teacher in Cot-
tonwood, California. Shan-
non’s daughter Amanda
rode in the Spray Rodeo and
Parade on the Rodeo Ban-
dit drill team, and this year,
her 12-year-old daughter
Jenna will ride her horse in
the parade. Whitney’s aunt,
Nellie Miller, is 2019 World
Champion Barrel Racer.
Shannon has driven the
Monument school bus for
the past 23 years and is retir-
ing after this year.
“I am really gonna miss
the kids,” she said. “I have
watched a lot of kids grow
up. I drove their parents
too.”
She works as a parapro-
fessional and assists with
the Video tel Spanish Class
and in the grade school as
well.
“I help any teacher who
needs help,” she said.
Chris and Shannon lease
property for their summer
pasture and sell their calves
in October and Novem-
ber when they bring the
herd down off the summer
pasture.
“I really enjoy the cat-
tle,” said Chris. “If I didn’t
enjoy it, I wouldn’t be doing
it. When you are out there
at 2 o’clock in the morn-
ing with a calf? You have to
enjoy it!”
GRANT UNION STUDENTS
OF THE MONTH — MARCH
Cody Kenneth Kraft
MOVIE SCHEDULE APRIL 26 - MAY 2
521 E Main Street
John Day
in Sonoma County, Califor-
nia. Chris helped out with
the high school rodeo team
and worked for Diamond
Lumber for 20 years. He
moved to Oregon in 1987.
“Everyone said you’ll
be back in a year. You’ll
go broke,” he said. “I went
down to Long Creek and got
hired at the mill.”
Chris met Shannon, who
was working at the store in
Long Creek and raising her
daughter Amanda and son
Jeffrey.
“He’d come in and buy
a loaf of bread and a cou-
ple beers,” she says. “That’s
how we got to know each
other.”
They were married in
1994. Chris and Shannon
have fi ve children: Jason,
Dusty, Cassie, Amanda
and Jeffrey. They also have
seven grandchildren: Jess,
Kolby, Rio, Whitney, Jenna,
Shelby and Ryan.
After working for Cross
D Ranch raising hay and cat-
tle for 25 years, Chris greatly
values his life around live-
stock and agriculture and all
that he has learned. Amanda
and Jeffrey both worked for
Chris on the Cross D grow-
ing up.
“I always hired kids on
the ranch. They have gone
and done real well and have
good jobs as doctors and
teachers,” he said. “Every
young person should have
at least one summer work-
ing on a hay ranch or a cat-
tle ranch. You learn how to
do things that you wouldn’t
know how to do otherwise.
BIRTHS
AVENGERS: ENDGAME (PG-13)
SONSHINE
CHRISTIAN
SCHOOL
Contributed photo
The grand marshals for the 2019 Spray Rodeo are Chris and
Shannon Bravos, longtime residents of Grant County.
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