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.
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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.
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