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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2021)
FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 10, 2021 Obituaries Steven L. “Steve” Myren Steven L. “Steve” was part of an ambulance Myren of Boardman was crew that brought patients born July 23, 1962 in Sil- back from cardiac arrest verton, OR. He died on Feb- on three occasions and ruary 1, 2021 in Hermiston treated literally thousands at the age of 58 years. of patients while “Steve was true working EMS / to form right up to the Law Enforcement. end, doing anything he During the possibly could for Mim time that I was a and everyone else who DARE Officer I loved him so much. He taught that pro- composed the follow- Steven L. gram in every 6 th “Steve” ing just days before he grade c lass in passed which captures Myren Morrow County the heart and spirit of a for many years. truly great man.” This gave me unique ac- Greetings friends, cess and contact with the First, on the subject of youth of the county. To religion, I consider myself this day I still have people a Christian. Some might (now adults) remind me be surprised to hear that, that they were one of my but it is true. I have never DARE students. Having the been near as devout as most rapport with the students people in terms of open ex- kept me involved as they pression, but I have prayed matured into young adults. to God privately in my mo- There are a fair number ments of need and guidance that I was able to help past for many, many years. I do rough spots and they are the believe in heaven and I be- ones I am most proud of. lieve Jesus died for my sins. Even though sometimes my Second, I am so very co-workers would not agree happy with my life. I have with me taking the “extra” very few regrets. I think that time to work with the trou- while I have had some inter- bled ones, I am proud to say esting misadventures over that those kids fought their the years each and every way to a good place and are one of them have formed doing exceptionally well. me into the man I am today. Many are FB friends and I And the good has SO FAR want you to know I am still outweighed the bad I simply proud of you. have no room to complain. Third, my federal work Part of what fuels me with the medical teams. and has fulfilled my life Many years ago, I was has come out of my desire asked to sit on a state disas- to “help people.” I never ter committee. I was later cared what time of the day asked to join the Oregon or night or the circumstanc- Disaster Medical Team. es. If it were in my power This team was part of a to assist I would do my nationwide DMAT (Disas- level best to make it happen. ter Medical Assistance THAT, my friends, is where Team) and plugged me into the reward comes from. a world I never thought I People remember kindness would see. My very first and it has always come team deployment was to back in the form of help and Ground Zero after the ter- support whenever my lovely rorist attacks where I led bride or I needed anything. the team as we helped take I w o u l d n o t h a v e care of the people working achieved near what have the World Trade Center site. had it not been for meeting Over the years I was given Miriam “Mim” Reimer and more duties and eventually convincing her to be my rose to the level of Type-I bride in 1981 in Silverton, Operations Section Chief. OR. She has been by my In that capacity there were side supporting me without (at the time) only four of us fail for 40 years. She is my qualified to that level in the hero. All of my adult life US with our agency and as she has been the rock that I such we were busy. I de- lean on, my sounding board ployed to the Olympics, nu- and best friend. While I was merous hurricanes, torna- gallivanting off on adven- dos, The American Samoa tures she was happy to be tsunami, and many weeks the one at home. While we in New York managing over have had a lot of fabulous 1,500 team members while adventures together she working Superstorm Sandy. was also happy to let me Love you all, “roam” at times and go Steve and Mim on my “walkabouts.” She Steve is survived by his still to this day says, “You wife and partner for over 40 feathered me too nice of a years, Mim Myren; sisters, nest here. I am comfortable Susan (Casper) Lehner and and happy”. Elsie (Tim) Dirlam; numer- I started in public safe- ous nieces and nephews ty 40 years ago when I was as well as countless col- 18 years old as a Fire Dept leagues. volunteer, became an EMT, Arrangements are a dispatcher and eventually pending. Those who wish a police officer. Over the may make contributions last few years, I became less in Steve’s memory to the active in fire and EMS and American Cancer Society. more active in law enforce- Please share memories ment, eventually retiring as of Steve with his family at the Undersheriff and Emer- burnsmortuaryhermiston. gency Manager in Morrow com. Burns Mortuary of County. In my career I have Hermiston is in care of delivered multiple babies, arrangements. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. A View from the Hill By Doris Brosnan There are two new res- idents at Willow Creek Terrace and two months into the new year. Ginger O’Brien, a familiar face in Heppner who had a long ca- reer as a school bus driver, moved in last month. Rita Bowman moved in this month and received many good wishes this week be- cause she has enjoyed many years of making friends in Heppner and celebrated her birthday on Monday. Her new neighbors viewed her choice of chicken and coco- nut cream pie for her shared birthday lunch as a gift for all. A Happy Birthday shout-out goes to Bernice Lott, who will celebrate on the 25 th . Everyone has also wel- comed a new staff member to the Terrace, Alice Ragan. As this short month seems to quickly pass, so far without much sugges- tion of winter, it does ac- tually mark the halfway point of the season (Feb. 6). The almost-springlike days have allowed more walks around outside and strollers have witnessed the buds and merging plants. Punxsutawney Phil appar- ently did see his shadow on Feb. 2, however, so six more weeks of winter must be on its way. The threat of COVID-19 postponing the Super Bowl did not stop the game on Sunday, so residents and staff enjoyed supporting their teams and watching for each quarter’s score results, to see who won the game-board pot for each. Of course, Valentine’s Day décor can be seen at the Terrace this month, and a special day and lunch will be featured on the 14 th . Next week will offer Pres- idents’ Trivia at morning discussions, since Feb. 15 will be President’s Day. But discussion on the 18 th will also include I Love Lucy because that day celebrates the show that began in 1951 and ran for six seasons. Some episodes will run on the TV. Though no canines presently live at the Terrace, residents will be encour- aged to take walks on the 22 nd , Walk-the-Dog-Day, weather permitting. And Johnny Cash will be a topic on the 26 th , the anniversary of his 1932 birth, with some of his songs playing in the background. The routine weekly ac- tivities will help to fill out the month on the Hill, as residents patiently wait for health-related restrictions to be cancelled. Just having a safe place to live, good food to eat, conversations to appreciate and caring staff to help with activities can be viewed as good fortune and blessings. Individuals interested in information about Ter- race apartments and ser- vices or about employment opportunities should call 541-676-0004. Field day required for hunter education The Hunter Education field day will be required for youth to hunt as of April 1. The 2020 temp rule that postponed requirement due to COVID expires March 31. Youth hunters (age 17 and younger) will need to fully complete their hunter education certification, in- cluding completing a field day, to hunt in Oregon on their own tag as of April 1, 2021. Hunter education class- es and field days were can- celled or limited last year due to COVID-19 restric- tions statewide. A tempo- rary rule was approved that HHS 60’s reunion planned The Heppner class of 65, come hades, hail, or high water, will hold a 60’s class reunion on July 16-17. The organizers are counting on the Governor to open the state and end the lockdown. Mark it on your calendar. A final determination will be made in April/May with more details. HEPPNER .NET Submit News, Advertising & Announcements postponed the requirement for youth to attend a field day class in order to receive their hunter education cer- tificate and hunt in 2020. The rule expires March 31, 2021. Any student who was only able to complete the online or workbook portion of the class in 2020 will need to complete the field day portion to hunt as of April 1, including for 2021 spring turkey and spring bear seasons. The tempo- rary rule is still good for hunts from the 2020 season that end by March 31, 2021. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) offers two types of hunter education classes: conven- tional which is all in-class- room instruction or online which students can com- plete mostly independently, except for the in-person field day. ODFW has taken a number of steps to protect both students and instruc- tors participating in classes/ field days since the pan- demic began. Class size is restricted to 25 students/ parents and then broken up into smaller groups at arriv- al. Social distancing will be maintained, and all students and volunteer instructors are required to wear a mask during the class. Hand sani- tizer will be available. Spiritually Speaking The Healing Touch By Fr. Thankachan Joseph SDB, St. Patrick Church This week, the read- ings deal with the topic of leprosy and how Jesus approached the problem. In ancient society, no figure was more pathetic than a leper. “Leprosy” was a red-flag word that brought the same responses as the word “plague” in the 1200s, Fr. Thankachan Joseph “smallpox” in the 1700s, or “Aids” in the 1900s, and “corona” in 2020. People were deadly afraid they would catch the disease. Leprosy was indeed contagious but only after long periods of very close contact. The leper’s life was a living hell. People hated the sight of him, and he, in turn, hated the sight of himself. Psalm 31 describes this wretched situation: “Those who know me are afraid of me; when they see me in the street, they run away. I am like something thrown away.” Leprosy was a terrible skin disease and, something like COVID-19, the cause and spread were not known, the only solution was to isolate or expel the affected patient from the community. Jesus becomes an example to the present world of how we need to approach the patient who needs our care and concern. Christ wasn’t afraid to reach out and touch lepers. He still reaches out to us, all who call out to Him, to heal in us the wounds of present-day sins. Let us not be afraid to approach him. We need His healing touch especially as we are fast approaching the season of Lent. The Book of Leviticus (13: 1-2, 44-46) was one of the books of the law given by Moses to the people of Israel, describing the rules, norms to be followed by the leprosy patients. Chapters 12 to 15 deal with various illnesses and why some illnesses require the person to live apart, primarily in order not to infect others. We know that when someone is affected by the corona, we isolate the patient immediately to control the spread. The ancient society was not as sophisticated as we are now. The only criteria in those days was expulsion from the community. St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians (5:20-6:2) depicts St. Paul as an ambassador of Christ urging all to get reconciled to Christ. We are moving towards the season of Lent, which is an invitation to turn away from sin and to turn towards God. The pandemic that we are facing is, also, an invitation to be reconciled to God, as St. Paul reminds us that the appropriate time has come: “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation” (6:2). The Gospel from Mark (Mk 1: 40-45) brings us back to leprosy. The leper’s faith that Jesus can cure him is so strong that Jesus tells him: “Be made clean.” And the leprosy leaves him. The leper proclaims to everyone that he has been cured by Jesus. In Jesus’s day, a leper by law could not get within fifty yards of a clean person. So, this was the heart of the matter. Not only did these wretched people have to endure the trials of an incurable affliction, they also were isolated from society and the community of faith. The horror of disease, a lifestyle of loneliness, isolation, and hopelessness - where could they find hope? Imagine how he feels. His body is physically rotting away. He is rejected by everybody. It was such a man as this who, in today’s Gospel, came out of the shadows, who emerged from the pit of loneliness, rejection and worthlessness, to confront the man he believed would not reject him, namely, Christ. To such a tragic leper, Jesus reached out his hand lovingly, touched the man, and healed him. This is the essence of Christianity, to touch the untouchables, to love the unlovable, and to care for the uncared for. What is the relevance of the story for us at this par- ticular time? We are facing the pandemic of COVID-19, an epidemic that affects everyone. It has caused the death of several of our loved ones or friends. We are crushed, as the leper was when he contracted his disease. St Paul in his letter to the Romans writes, “We are often trou- bled, but not crushed, sometimes in doubt, but never in despair… and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed (8:32).” For Believers, no tragedy is so great that Jesus can’t make of it something better. Today’s story of the leper tells us that no tragedy is so terrible we can’t survive it, no calamity so crushing we can’t recover from it, no disaster is so destructive we can’t pick up the pieces and start over again. Whenever we think our life is ruined forever, we need only to turn to Jesus, who can repair our broken lives. Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him.” We need His healing touch. Come in to Peterson’s Jewelers and pick up a FREE 2021 Calendar! No purchase necessary! Valentine’s Day is Sunday, February 14th! It’s not too late to pick up something for your sweetheart. YOUR AD COULD BE HERE! Submit Ads heppner.net Call 541-676-9228 Email graphics@rapidserve.net We also offer design and printing services Heppner Gazette-Times Sykes Printing (541) 676-9200 177 N. Main Heppner, Oregon 97836
