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FAMILY
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
June colder than normal in John Day
Rural fire district to meet
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Eagle
Temperatures in John Day averaged
colder than normal during the month
of June, according to preliminary data
received by NOAA’s National Weather
Service in Pendleton.
The average temperature was 59.4
degrees, which was 2.1 degrees below
normal. High temperatures averaged
74.1 degrees, which was 3.5 degrees
below normal. The highest was 91
degrees on June 24. Low temperatures
averaged 44.6 degrees, which was 0.8
degrees below normal. The lowest was
39 degrees on June 4.
On one day, the temperature exceeded
90 degrees.
Precipitation totaled 1.79 inches
during June, which was 0.36 inches
above normal. Measurable precipitation
was received on 13 days with the heavi-
est, 0.57 inches, reported on June 16.
Precipitation this year has reached
8.86 inches, which is 1.14 inches above
The Mt. Vernon Rural Fire Protection District will hold a
board meeting at 6 p.m. July 15 at Mt. Vernon Community Hall.
The meeting is open to the public.
Wyllie earns academic honors
Blue Mountain Eagle
Contributed image
John Day was colder than normal in June. Below-normal temperatures near-normal
precipitation are expected in July.
normal. Since October, the water year
precipitation at John Day has been 9.60
inches, which is 1.70 inches below
normal.
The outlook for July from NOAA’s
Climate Prediction Center calls for
below-normal
temperatures
and
near-normal precipitation. Normal
highs for John Day during July are
88.2 degrees and normal lows are 49.6
degrees. The 30-year normal precipita-
tion is 0.60 inches.
Clinton J Gray
Paid for by the family of Clinton Gray
March 24, 1945 – June 11, 2020
Clinton J Gray, of Cottonwood Creek Ranch, passed away peacefully in his home of 40 years at the age of 75, with family
at his side. Clint was born March 23rd, 1945, to Newton Danial Gray and Betty Jean Zinkner near Burns, OR.
Clint enlisted in the Army at age 17. While Stationed at Fort Meade, he met his first wife Antoinette (Toni) Bastinianelli.
They had three children together, Lisa Marie, Gregory Scott and Bryan Anthony. Later in life, Clint would have two more
girls, Anna Lainya and Elizabeth Ann, and then acquire two sons by marriage, Benjimen Nathaniel and Charles Jackson.
He is preceded in death by his parents, his sister,“K”, and his sons, Gregory and Bryan. He is survived by three daugh-
ters, two step-sons, and three grandchildren.
Clint’s youngest years were spent with this older sister, “K”, in a very rural area of the SE Oregon desert. They later
moved to the Portland/Vernonia area. Some of Clint’s fondest childhood memories were the summers he spent logging
with his grandad in the Oregon coastal mountains.
Clint was a unique spirit and would wear many hats in life: Husband and Father, Friend, Logger, Businessman, Trucker, College Student, Goldminer, Long-
haired Banjo-playing Hippy, Cowboy, Rancher, Intellectual, Creator of Twigbeads Jewelry, Leader in Responsible Range Management, Writer and Speaker,
Key Lobbyist Leading to the Implementation of Preference for Landowner Hunting Tags, Computer Programmer, Creator of Merriam-Webster Website and
most recently, his last gift, Creator of the Malheur Field Station Website.
One of Clint’s most notable traits was that he was a Great Friend. To those who made their way to share in his peaceful solitude on Cottonwood Ranch,
it was an oasis from the world. A place you could come to listen to good stories, get advice, have philosophical discussions, delite in a home-cooked meal
together, consume immeasurable amounts of coffee, share a smoke, and always, always have a good laugh.
A memorial service for close friends and family will be held at noon Saturday, July 11th, at Cottonwood Ranch. Please email Eliza at eliza.cartergray@
gmail.com with any questions.
Grant Union graduate Reitta Wyllie has again earned aca-
demic accolades at Northwest Nazarene University.
Wyllie was one of 13 members of the NNU women’s track
and field team named to the Great Northwest Athletic Confer-
ence 2020 Women’s Track and Field All-Academic Team. This
is the second year in a row she earned the distinction.
Wyllie was also named to the dean’s list.
White graduates from Oregon
Connections Academy
Blue Mountain Eagle
Oregon
Connections
Academy, the state’s lon-
gest-running
tuition-free
online public charter school,
recently honored nearly 500
seniors with a virtual gradu-
ation ceremony.
Connor White of Mt.
Vernon was among the
graduates.
The Oregon Connections
Academy’s Class of 2020
is the largest class in the
school’s history.
Although the commence-
ment was moved online
due to social distancing,
the school created a mem-
orable event that included
many of the traditional
elements of a graduation
ceremony.
OBITUARIES
Richard ‘Dick’ and Evelyn Ray
A double memorial service will be held for Richard “Dick”
and Evelyn Ray at 1 p.m. Friday, July 10, at the Fox Cemetery
in Fox, Oregon.
S197382-1
Benjamin Stephens
Gary
M. Kuykendall
July 11, 1941 ~ June 26, 2020
Paid for by the family of Gary Kuykendall
Gary Marx Kuykendall, 78, of Canby, Oregon, died peacefully with his family at his side after a long battle with cancer
on Friday, June 26, 2020. Gary was born July 11, 1941, in Eager, Arizona.
Beloved husband of Margaret Gay (Oliver) for 52 wonderful years. Loving father of Gregory (Jill) and dear Baba of Aidan
(15) and Makayla (12). Gary is preceded in death by his parents, Marx Paul and Norma Lee (Whale) Kuykendall. Gary is
survived by many loving family members, remarkable friends and neighbors, and colleagues.
Gary attended schools in Utah, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho before graduating from Mt. Vernon High School in
Eastern Oregon in 1959. He grew up in a very close-knit extended family environment. Gary was the first in his family
to attend high school. He went on to Eastern Oregon College in La Grande, Oregon, where he played basketball from 1959-1963 and graduated with a
degree in general studies.
Benjamin Stephens, 80, of Prairie City died Friday, July 3, at
his home with his family at his side. Arrangements are under the
direction of Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home & Cremation Ser-
vices. Online condolences may be shared at tamispinevalleyfu-
neralhome.com.
About Obituaries
News obituaries of 300 words or less 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 memorials.
Obituaries longer than 300 words may be published as paid memorials. Send obituaries by email,
office@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.
Gary’s wonderful sense of humor and willingness to help others made him an exceptional teacher and coach. He never considered what he did to be a job,
He taught high school in Long Creek, Oregon from 1963-1968. After moving to Canby, Oregon, he taught junior high school in North Clackamas School
District from 1968-1997. Gary enjoyed traveling to The East Coast educating students on American history every summer from 1987-1997.
Gary was a devoted husband. He and Gay married at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Canyon City, Oregon on August 12, 1967. They traveled consistently
and enjoyed regular trips. In later years trips they traveled to Arizona to watch Spring Training where he especially enjoyed watching his Dodgers. He was
always willing to lend a helping hand. Gary excelled at being a dad and grandfather. He enjoyed spending time with his son, Greg, fishing and camping
along the Crooked River, hunting in Eastern Oregon, and traveling, He was a true prankster and jokester, a funny, loyal, and good man with a big heart.
If you ever had the pleasure of meeting him, you’d be an instant friend. He’d show you photos for hours and just when you thought he was done with the
physical prints, he’d pull out his phone and show you more. He loved being a grandpa more than anything in the world and was always so tender and fun
with his grandchildren.
A Memorial Service was held for immediate family members on Thursday, July 2nd at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church in Wilsonville, Oregon. In lieu
of flowers, please consider a donation to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at www.Dana-Farber.org or St. Jude Children’s Hospital at https://www.stjude.
org/.
~ Lovingly written by the family.
S197399-1
Robert Ernest Kimberling
Paid for by the family of Robert Kimberling
July 19, 1925 – June 26, 2020
Robert Ernest Kimberling was born July 19, 1925, at his parent’s home ranch, six miles east of Prairie City, Oregon. His
parents were Ernest Wilbur Kimberling and Clara Inez Kimberling. He had two brothers and two sisters. All have preceded
him in death, including his wife Donna and his eldest son Jim.
He attended school from grades 1 - 8 at the nearby Riverside School in which all students were taught in the same
classroom by one teacher. After that, and until he was old enough to get his driver’s license, he caught rides to and from
school, to Prairie City High School six miles away, from older high school students living nearby.
When World War II began for the United States, December 7, 1941, Robert Ernest Kimberling was a 16 year old high
school sophomore. When not in school he was living and working on his father’s ranch some 6 miles East of Prairie City,
Oregon.
During part of the year after he finished high school (as senior class valedictorian), he served as secretary to his father at the Oregon State Legislature.
The next year he enlisted in the Navy on September 20, 1944, at age 19. He had previously chosen an agriculture deferment from serving in the military for
one year. But, like some of his friends had done, he chose to enlist in the war effort.
For his military basic training, he was sent to Farragut, Idaho. After basic training, he was sent to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, where he took intensive training
for 22 weeks to become a qualified radio operator fully proficient in morse code and also plane identification, both American planes and Japanese planes.
After this training, he was shipped to an Air Control Support Unit (ACSU) based on Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. At this location, the ACSU was comprised
of about 50 enlisted men and 10 - 12 officers.
And not training as any ordinary radio operator, but as a forward control radio operator, who, as part of a small team, went into enemy territory ahead
of ground troops to spy on enemy positions and coordinate air strikes and naval bombardment. He was trained for a high risk - high reward job: high risk
because he would be high on the enemy’s elimination list; high reward because of potential American lives saved when he did his job.
In 1945, he was on a military troop ship that was headed for Japan from Hawaii as part of the invasion fleet when he first heard news that the war was over.
He never made it into combat, but he was fully trained and committed. He received an honorable discharge from the Navy on July 5, 1946, in Bremerton,
Washington. He went back to working on his father’s ranch, soon to turn age 22 on July 19, 1946.
While attending Oregon State University in 1948, he met Donna Lee Fleming, then a resident of Monument, Ore. They were married in September of 1948
in John Day, Ore. They had two sons, Jim and Kim. Until Donna passed away January 31, 2013, they were married for 64 years.
He lived at the home ranch site until 1980 when he and his wife, Donna, sold the main ranch and moved across the river some 4 miles to the present
home site, 29713 North River Road. During the earlier years at the new location, he was involved in excavation work as well as logging of his private timber.
Besides managing the ranch and current home site, over the years he found time to serve in various and sometimes consecutive capacities as a basketball
referee for several years in and around Grant County during the early 1960s; Prairie City schools board member for several years in the 1960s; a Grant County
Reserve Deputy Sheriff for 22 years from the early 1960s to the early 1980s as a State of Oregon Brand Inspector for 23 years from 1977 to 2001; as a Grant
County Commissioner for 12 years from 1989 to 2001; and as a member of the American Legion for the past 68 years.
He died Friday, June 26, 2020 at the age of 94, 23 days short of his 95 birthday from complications from a heart attack he had suffered on June 25, 2020.
He is survived by one son, Kim Kimberling of Prairie City; a daughter-in-law, Laurie Kimberling of Vale, Ore.; a granddaughter, Katie Perez of Crestwell, Ore.;
a granddaughter, Heidi Ellis of Eugene, Ore.; 4 great grand-daughters; one great-grandson and numerous nieces and nephews. By his direction, he will have a
cremation burial at the Prairie City Cemetery, with a Navy Honor Guard from the American Legion presiding at the burial. After the Honor Guard has finished
(21 gun salute, presentation of the flag, and the playing of taps), the interment is complete. No service will be given. His interment is open to the public. It
will be held at Prairie City Cemetery Saturday July 18, 2020 @ 2pm. Service will be short, and if you are planning on attending please bring your own chair.
Donations can be made to Driskill Memorial Chapel in the name of Robert Kimberling for the good of American Legion, Post # 106, Prairie City, Oregon.
Maurice Lloyd
“Mac” McKinnis
Maurice Lloyd “Mac” McKinnis, long
time Baker City resident, passed away at his
home on June 14th after a long illness. He
was 86 years old. A private family service
will be held Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at Coles
Tribute Center with vault interment to follow
at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Baker City. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at a
later date at the United Methodist Church in Baker City for family and friends of Mac.
He was born on October 17th, 1933 in Halfway, Oregon to Ralph and Hazel
(Gowey) McKinnis at the home of his maternal grandparents, Harper and Suzie (Deck)
Gowey. He was delivered by his Grandma Gowey who was a midwife and attended at
the birth of many of her grandchildren.
He attended school in the Grant County, graduating from grammar school at John
Day Grade School and then Grant Union High School in John Day, Oregon, where he
lettered in football, basketball and track and went to state in track in his senior year in
1952. He earned his Bachelors Degree and teaching certificate at Eastern Oregon Col-
lege of Education in La Grande, Oregon. During his time in college, he married Beverly
Jean Comini. They were married on October 15, 1954 in Pendleton, Oregon. “Because
deer season was over and elk season hadn’t started yet.”
Mac, as he was known to many, started his working career at a young age, having
worked as a hay hand, farm hand and equipment driver by the time of his eighth grade
graduation. After obtaining his teaching degree at La Grande, he was hired for his first
teaching assignment in 1956 at John Day Grade School. In 1961, he moved his family to
Baker and was hired as a grade school teacher at School District 5-J. During his time at
North Baker Elementary, he taught 4th, 5th and 6th grade, as well as coaching basketball.
During the summer break, Mac worked for the US Forest Service in Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest. He worked road crew, brush management, trail maintenance, firefighting
and Fire Security for the Whitman Ranger District in Baker. He also managed the camp
grounds at Phillips Reservoir and spent a number of years as the Guard at the Anthony Lake
Guard Station. He retired from the Forest Service after 33 years as a “seasonal worker.”
After 36 years of teaching and 33 years of forestry work, perhaps the job he en-
joyed the most was working at Cashway Lumber Company. What started as a means
of supporting his building supply needs for their home improvement projects became
a regular opportunity to meet with friends, neighbors and former students for their
project needs and catch up on the news of the day. One home improvement project
also resulted in an archeological dig conducted by the University of Idaho in their back
yard. The property had once been part of the farm land of Baker’s Chinatown and
many artifacts were found and archived as a result.
Maurice was an avid outdoorsman, enjoying hunting, fishing, camping and hiking.
He not only enjoyed the activities with his own wife and children, but also with the
members of the scouting troop at his church. He acted as Assistant Scout Master for
Troop 444 which met at the Baker Methodist Church where he and his family were
members. While he was with the troop, they completed 4 50-mile hikes through the
Eagle Cap Wilderness.
He was a Master Gardner through the exchange office, kept an extensive backyard
garden, managed their fruit trees and enjoyed canning their own fruits and vegetables.
He enjoyed oil painting and completed projects on canvas, as well as on old saws. He
was a UL Certified electrical inspector and among his projects completed the inspec-
tions for the wagon wheel light fixtures in the Grizzly Bear Pizza parlors.
He also very much enjoyed getting together with family members at various family
reunions throughout the state. He was involved with the yearly Harris Family Reunion
which celebrated two of the pioneers families of Union County (Joseph Harris and
J.L. McKinnis) to which he belonged. He also attended the Gowey Family Reunions
throughout the years for his mother’s family who were early settlers in Oregon.
Maurice is survived by his wife of 65 years, Beverly of Baker City, his son Glen of
Baker City; his son and daughter-in-law Ron and Jennifer, of Hermiston; his daughter
and son-in-law Cheryl and Mike of Portland; and his daughter and son-in-law Teresa
and James Millwood of Baker City. He is also survived by his two grandchildren and
five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph and Hazel
Gowey, His brothers Myron, Harold and Wayne McKinnis and his sister, Shirley Klecker.
Memorial contributions in memory of Maurice can be made to Heart ‘N’ Home
Hospice, Baker United Methodist Church or the charity of your choice through Coles
Tribute Center at 1950 Place Street, Baker City, OR 97814.
To leave an online condolence for the family, visit: www.colestributecenter.com.
Paid for by the family of Mac McKinnis.
S196940-1
Last Week’s Temps
John Day ...........................................................HI/LO
Tuesday ........................................................... 74/48
Wednesday ..................................................... 71/43
Thursday .......................................................... 78/42
Friday ............................................................... 83/50
Saturday .......................................................... 82/49
Sunday ............................................................. 83/48
Monday............................................................ 87/48
24/7 F ORECAST
A UTOMATED : 541-575-1122
R OAD CONDITIONS : 511; TRIPCHECK . COM
NOAA W EATHER R ADIO FOR J OHN D AY
162.500 MHz
S197096-1
W EATHER F ORECAST FOR THE WEEK OF J ULY 8 - 14
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
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Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Sunny
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Sunny
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79
84
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51
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