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Dean Nodine
November 26, 2021
Dean Nodine, age 89, said “Good-
bye” to his family and friends on No-
vember 26, 2021, at Blue Mt. Hospital
in John Day. A celebration of his life will
be held at a later date.
He was born in Hetland, South Da-
kota to Jack and Ruth Nodine, making
a family of seven brothers and sisters.
He was an identical twin and baby of
the family. The twins were delivered by
their father. Dean had one living sister.
After graduating from high school,
Dean and his twin brother joined the
United States Navy on June 30, 1952.
When he returned home, he enrolled at South Dakota University.
Upon graduating, he was hired over the phone to teach shop and
be vice principle in John Day. He advanced to principle and then
District Superintendent after the consolidation of John Day, Mt.
Vernon, Canyon City, Seneca and Izee schools. He held that posi-
tion for 28 years.
During that time, a lot of progress was made in School Dis-
trict #3. Humbolt school acquired a gym and classrooms, a track
facility was added to Grant Union High School plus a new gym,
cafeteria and four new classrooms. A district office and bus shop
were established. The purchasing land on 7th Street was devel-
oped into a beautiful 7th Street Sports Complex.
Dean was involved with many community activities. He was
a member of the John Day Elks, Grant County Cemetery Board,
Budget Committee, OSHA Board of Control, City Planning Com-
mission, Park and Rec Budget Committee, American Legion, 4-H
Leader and Grant County Shooting Sports Club including Oregon,
Washington, and Idaho.
He was elected Jr. Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year
and in 2019 he had the honor of Grand Marshal of the Grant
County Fair.
Deans’ personal family consists of his wife, Joyce, who he met
during college, and they celebrated their 63rd wedding anniver-
sary. His son, Jeff (Dayma) of Elko, Nevada; two daughters, Jody
of John Day, and Janean of Medford. He has five grandchildren,
Mitch, Mariah, Jordan, Haley and Sierra and one great grandson.
Besides giving 200% to his family, job, and young people,
he loved to hunt, fish, shooting clubs, gardening and being with
friends. We will all miss him in our lives.
Memorial contributions can be made to a charity of one’s
choice through Driskill Memorial Chapel, 241 S. Canyon Blvd.,
John Day, OR 97845. Paid for by the family of Dean Nodine.
S272694-1
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Grant County reports Merc averts foreclosure sale
16th COVID death
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — Grant
County has lost another resident
to COVID-19.
The most recent fatality is
a 71-year-old man who tested
positive for the virus on Nov.
25 and died Nov. 28 at his res-
idence, the Oregon Health
Authority announced on Friday,
Dec. 3.
The presence of underlying
conditions is being confi rmed.
It’s the 16th COVID-related
death for Grant County, which
has now recorded 1,091 cases of
the disease since the start of the
pandemic in early 2020.
Oregon has a cumulative
total of 394,569 cases and 5,243
deaths from COVID-19, OHA
data show.
The nation as a whole has
seen 787,681 COVID-related
deaths and just under 49 mil-
lion cases, according to records
compiled by Johns Hopkins
University.
OBITUARIES
Dean Nodine
Ace Robbins
Dean Nodine, age 89, of John Day passed away Nov. 26. A
Sept. 21, 1936 — Nov. 24, 2021
Ace Robbins of Monument died Nov. 24. No services will be
celebration of his life will be announced at a later date. Arrange-
held. Tip a cold beer in his honor and shed no tears.
ments have been entrusted to Driskill Memorial Chapel.
“A man of action and few words.”
Anna L. Pearson Alegria
Anna L. Pearson Alegria, 97, of Boise, formerly of John Day,
died on Dec. 1 in a Boise assisted living home. Arrangements are
by Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel, Boise.
Blanche Lundbom
Donald R. Tuter
December 28,1934 - October 27, 2021
next 46 years. Blanche was a vital part of the busi-
ness, helping out customers and doing all the books
for the store. She also helped other new franchise
owners set up their accounting practices. They were
committed business owners and active members of
their community. Every year they supported the kids
in 4-H by buying their livestock and donating it back,
sponsoring local sports for the youth and donating
dinners at the senior center, just to name a few. One
of their biggest accomplishments was their partici-
pation in the heritage foundation, which funded the
Grant County fairground barn renovation.
When Blanche wasn’t working down at NAPA you
could find her hosting regular bridge parties, cheer-
ing on her grandchildren at their sporting events,
traveling with their NAPA friends to such places as
the Grand Cayman Islands, Panama Canal, London
and Paris, France as they aged, spending the winters
in sunny Surprise, Arizona at Happy Trails resort
community.
Blanche was blessed with 16 grandchildren (nat-
ural, adopted through marriage) as well as 26 great
grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren. She
will be greatly missed and lovingly remembered.
Memorial contributions in her honor can be
made to the Grant County Senior Center, The Her-
itage Foundation, or the Charity of one’s choice
through Driskill Memorial Chapel, 241 S. Canyon
Blvd., John Day, OR 97845. To leave an online con-
dolence for the family visit, www.driskillmemorial-
chapel.com.
Paid for by the family of Blanche Lundbom.
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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, offi ce@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.
S272696-1
Blanche Irene Lundbom was born on June 26,
1931 in Boring, Oregon to Pete and Lillian Pack-
ard. She was the middle child of three; her sister
Bernice was the oldest and her brother Eugene was
the youngest. They lived on a farm in Kelso, Oregon
where they raised 40 acres of strawberries.
Blanche attended Sandy High School where she
met Don Lundbom and they courted throughout
her junior and senior year. She graduated in the
spring of 1949, and in the fall, Blanche attended
Binky Walker Business College in downtown Port-
land. Don spent his weekends driving to and from
his families' farm in order to see her and on Novem-
ber 10, 1950, they married at Gresham Lutheran
Church. They honeymooned in Lake Tahoe, but be-
ing 19 and 20, there wasn't much more to do than
see the sights!
They returned to Kelso and together they worked
as the camp house manager of the berry pickers
on Blanche's parents' Marshall Strawberry farm.
In 1954 Ron, their son was born and in 1955 their
daughter Tootie was born. In their spare time they
built a home and raised 5 acres of roses, however
after a particularly harsh winter in 1958, all their
crops froze and they lost everything. For a short
time Don considered homesteading in Australia. At
the time the country was leasing 600-acre parcels
to those who would farm it. However, Blanche in-
formed him he would be going alone and that was
the end of that.
In 1959 they moved to downtown Sandy on the
main street Blanche began working for
McRobert Ford in Gresham as a bookkeeper and
they bought a service station, Don's Mobile Ser-
vice. Blanche kept books for the service station at
night after her day job was done, In 1963 Don was
involved in a car accident, which resulted in them
selling the service station and Don went to work for
Fancher's NAPA Auto Parts next door. Three years
later they decided to buy into the NAPA franchise.
At the time there were 5 locations in the state of
Oregon available and John Day was one of them. It
looked to be the most promising since competition
was limited in the county, and they had been com-
ing to this area to hunt for many years!
On June 26, 1966, Blanche's 35th birthday, Don
moved the family to John Day to open the NAPA
John Day Auto Parts store. With the help of Maurice
Lundgren, Blanche's brother-in-law, they built their
house on Charolais Heights. The first house in the
neighborhood and they would call it home for the
DAYVILLE — The Day-
ville Mercantile was not sold
at auction on the steps of the
Grant County Courthouse on
Friday, Dec. 3, as a foreclosure
notice declared it would be.
The historic general store’s
owner, Scott Knapp, fi led
Chapter 13 bankruptcy to
protect the business after the
property’s previous owners
declared him in default of his
purchase agreement.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy is
a “wage earner’s plan” that
allows debtors to repay all or
part of what they owe. Under
this chapter of the U.S. Bank-
ruptcy Code, debtors pro-
pose a payment plan to make
installments to creditors over
three to fi ve years.
Knapp, the Merc’s owner
since the start of 2020, was
facing the prospect of closing
up shop after representatives
of the Graves Family Trust,
the store’s previous owners,
implemented foreclosure pro-
ceedings in July.
The Grant County Health
Department issued a press
release asking for residents to
be respectful as the man’s fam-
ily grieves.
Grant County Health Depart-
ment Administrator Kimberly
Lindsay said she couldn’t dis-
close the man’s vaccination sta-
tus for medical privacy reasons.
She added that her staff
has recorded no new cases in
the past several days, but she
expects the case counts to start
to rise again with the arrival of a
new variant in the United States.
She also noted that cases and
hospitalizations are once more
on the rise in other parts of Ore-
gon and around the country.
“I hope Grant County resi-
dents continue to be thoughtful
about keeping their distance and
wearing masks,” Lindsay said.
“People who are vaccinated
are still coming down with
COVID, although they don’t get
as sick, and it’s hammering the
unvaccinated.”
According to Knapp, he
had been making interest-only
payments to the Graves fam-
ily in an arrangement they had
worked out after his restaurant
hood-cleaning business —
which he was using to subsi-
dize the Merc — was forced to
shut down for a time because
of COVID-19.
Knapp said the Graves
family did not renew the inter-
est-only payment plan and
instead off ered him $50,000 to
take the Merc back.
Graves Family Trust attor-
ney Douglas J. Raab did not
immediately respond to the
Eagle’s request for comment.
Jay Graves declined to
comment on pending lit-
igation but said he would
once the legal process has
concluded.
The trust published a
paid advertisement in the
Blue Mountain Eagle as part
of the foreclosure process.
The ad stated that Knapp still
owed $489,258.58 on the
property, plus interest and
past-due payments dating
back to February.
“Good Mornin’ Lord,” he said, in the
early morning hours of October 27th, 2021.
Don went to be with his Savior and friend in
the comfort of his home, surrounded by his
loving wife and children.
Don was born on December 28, 1934, in
Brookline, Missouri to Edward and Hildred
Tuter. After graduating high school in 1953,
he went to work for the Union Pacific Rail-
road and joined the Kansas Army National
Guard. In 1956, he enlisted in the United
States Air Force. 
While enlisted in the Air Force, Don, a tremendously talent-
ed vocalist and instrumentalist, joined a country music band and
began playing the fiddle and mandolin professionally. His perfor-
mances included the Tokyo Grand Ole Opry, while on deployment.
Don and long-time friend, Joyce Jones, wed February 16,
1961. Don and Joyce welcomed son Russ in 1964, and son Paul
in 1967.
In 1968, the family moved from Bashor, Kansas to John Day,
Oregon, where Don worked for Hines Lumber Company in Bates,
Oregon, and the U.S. Forest Service as a core driller. Don pursued
his career in country music with his new band, Wild Country. It
was with Wild Country that Don recorded his first professional
country music album. 
Don accepted Christ as a child, and in 1975 when he became a
Spirit-filled Christian, he decided to stop playing in honkey tonks
to begin pursuing a career in country gospel music and ministry.
In 1973, Don and Joyce completed their family with the addi-
tion of Carrie Jo.
The family moved to Prineville in 1978, where Don worked for
the Ochoco Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service and also
started a Christian band; “The Average Jesus Band.” Don medi-
cally retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 1979.
In 1988, along with the evangelism, the couple opened a soup
kitchen in downtown Prineville where Don would lead Bible study
and Joyce made soup for those in need. In the last 20 years of
their traveling ministry, the couple traveled to Mexico with donat-
ed items such as building supplies, tools, rice, beans and seeds
for gardening. Together, Don and Joyce spread the joy of the Lord
all around the world.
In 2013, Don became a member of the Oregon Band of Broth-
ers Prineville chapter, later joining the Honor Guard. In January
2018, Don was elected as Chaplain. It was with The Band of
Brothers that Don’s heart’s desire was met - he remained in min-
istry, spreading the love of Jesus, through his final days.  
Don never knew a stranger - he will long be remembered for
his ability to make others know they were important to him, and
they belonged. His motto was, “EVERYBODY is SOMEBODY, in
this place.”  He fully lived out this motto... To know Don Tuter was
to have a friend.
Don is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Joyce; son,
Russ (Lori) Tuter, son, Paul (Shani) Tuter, daughter, Carrie (Ja-
son) Bauer; grandchildren; Jessica (Shawn) Tuter, Dale (Sammi)
Tuter, Zach (Danielle) Tuter, Kylie (Chase) Cole, Andy Tuter, Kolton
Collins, Brittney Taylor, Dustin Collins, Hannah (Jason) Burgess;
eight great-grandchildren, four brothers and, five sisters. 
A celebration of life will be held December 11, 2021, at 11 a.m.,
Eastside Foursquare Church, 3174 N.E. Main Street, Prineville,
Oregon. The service can be viewed online at: https://www.face-
book.com/carrie.bauer3
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that charitable donations
be made to: Christians At Work, PO Box 272, Prineville, Oregon,
97754. Paid for by the family of Don Tuter.
S272342-1
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