Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 9, 2022 -- THREE
Spiritually Speaking
Obituaries
Blessed are you: If you Ryan Dee Neal
God has welcomed before an exam, yet Ryan
abide by Christ
home an incredible son and would study for two hours
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph
Last Sunday, we reflected on the call to Peter and
the first apostles in the Lucan narration.
Trusting in the words of Christ always
impacts people’s lives. The same idea
runs through this Sunday’s readings, as
well. “Blessed is the one who trusts in
the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord. He
is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the streams: Fr. Thankachan
it fears not the heat when it comes; its Joseph
leaves stay green; in the year of drought,
it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.” (Jer. 17:6-8).
How often do we trust these scripture passages as Simon
and his companions did? It calls us for a deeper trust and
faith in the Lord. The church is gradually moving towards
the season of lent. That calls us for a change of heart and
mind. The main theme of lent will be repentance: and
come back to the Lord.
The first reading and the Gospel of the day stress a
similar theme dealing with cursed and blessed. Anyone
who leaves the statutes of Christ and lives by worldly
norms and designs is considered as cursed and the one
who lives and moves according to the words of Christ is
described as blessed. The first reading from the prophet
Jeremiah pronounces it like this; “Cursed is the one who
trusts in human beings who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the Lord” (Jer.17:5). This
verse doesn’t require any more descriptions. It is very
apt and touching words of the Messiah to return to Him
if we have gone astray from Him.
The Gospel reading is from Luke (6:17, 20-26), which
is described as the beatitudes according to Luke. I was
reminded of one the old stories I read some time back. A
priest began his homily on this week’s Gospel by asking
for a show of hands from all in the congregation who
would love to be poor, starving, weeping and hated by
everybody. No hands went up. Then he asked who, on the
contrary, would love to be rich, happy, joyful, wealthy,
well-fed, laughing and well-spoken of in the community.
All hands went up. A similar survey in any church would
probably yield similar results. Yet Jesus in Luke declares
a blessing on those who are poor, hungry, weeping and
hated. To make sure we get the point, He goes on and ex-
plicitly pronounces a woe on those who are rich, well-fed,
laughing and well-spoken of. What is happening here?
Does Luke want us to understand that material poverty in
itself is a sign of divine approval and material prosperity
a sign of divine disapproval? Certainly, not!
Poverty in itself is not a blessing but an evil, a lack.
In fact, all the qualifying factors mentioned in Luke’s
beatitudes -- poverty, hunger, weeping, hatred, rejection,
reviling, defamation -- are all evils. These are things no
good parents would want for their children. Neither would
God want these things for us, God’s children. How are we
then to understand Luke’s beatitudes? The key to Luke’s
beatitudes is to be found in an important clause which
he adds at the end of the last beatitude: “on account of
the Son of Man.” What Luke is saying is that those who
accept these evil conditions as the price that they have
to pay for following Christ, are the blessed ones. Some
knowledge of the social background of Luke’s Gospel
would help us here.
Luke wrote his Gospel at a time of terrible social and
religious persecution taking place against the believers
in Christ. It was so severe that anyone professing to be
a follower of Christ knew for sure that he or she would
be disowned by family, rejected by friends and exclud-
ed from the synagogue. One immediately lost one’s
birthright, free association and social relationship in the
community. Even if one was a very rich person with lots
of land and farms, the moment they declared their faith in
Christ, they were automatically dispossessed and reduced
to a state of stark poverty. But the love of Christ and His
message attracted them and enabled them to go through
all these difficulties and hardships; because they knew
for themselves that the one who called them will never
leave them. I was reminded of the beautiful words of St.
Paul to the Philippians, “There is nothing I cannot do in
the One who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).
Death Notices
Norma Rae French family, c/o Susan French,
– Norma Rae French was 84176 French Lane, Hep-
born May 29, 1926, in pner, OR 97836.
Promise (Wallowa County),
Sweeney Mortuary of
OR and died January 13, Heppner is in care of ar-
2022, at Pioneer Memorial rangements. The online
Nursing Home in Heppner, condolence book is avail-
OR.
able at www.sweeneymor-
A joint funeral service tuary.com.
for Norma and Raymond is
Her obituary was pub-
planned for later this spring. lished in a previous issue
Condolence messages may of the G-T but was missing
be sent to the Norma French some information.
E. Leon Ball, 95, of Heppner, died Sunday, February
6, 2022, at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner. He
was born January 12, 1927, at Ione, OR. At his request
no service will be held. Sweeney Mortuary of Heppner
is in care of arrangements.
brother, an amazing father
and a great uncle, cousin
and friend to so many oth-
ers. Ryan Dee Neal, 40,
passed away Tuesday Janu-
ary 18, 2022, at Providence
St. Vincent, Portland, OR
due to COVID complica-
tions.
Ryan was born Septem-
ber 30, 1981, in Clarkston,
WA to Gary and Kathy
Neal. At 7-1/2 years young-
er than sister Rochelle,
his mission as a brother
was to tease and love her
as much as possible. The
family lived in Clarkston
until the second half of
Ryan’s third grade year
when his father accepted a
position in Boardman. On
his first day of school there
Ryan was immediately wel-
comed by his classmates. A
tight knit group of friends
bonded together and to this
day, “The Boardman Boys”
keep in touch on a regular
basis. Ryan had not just his
own family, but his friend’s
families became his as well.
Ryan loved and par-
ticipated in many sports –
football in middle school,
baseball until high school,
and he lettered in golf and
basketball. The highlight of
his senior year at Riverside
High School was the bas-
ketball team’s third place
finish at state with Ryan and
all his many close friends
playing together. Golf con-
tinued to be a huge part of
Ryan’s adult life. Ryan had
just recently retired the
Walla Walla Community
College golf bag he re-
ceived as a member of their
golf team.
“We have many happy
memories with Ryan. Lots
of family time tubing and
boarding on the river, snow
skiing, family reunions,
times when he tagged along
with his dad to meetings
and conferences and too
many others to list. Some of
our most special memories
are from our trips in the car
with Ryan. Those living in
eastern Oregon and small
towns will understand. Our
family spent a large part of
our days on the road – to
shop, to play sports, to go
to movies, to do so many
things. We feel blessed to
have shared those times
with him,” reported his
family.
After high school grad-
uation Ryan attended the
University of Portland,
Walla Walla Community
College, and graduated with
a business management
degree from Oregon State
University in 2004. He was
proud to be a Beaver alum-
nus. Ryan loved his time
and professors in the OSU
business department. They
thought highly enough of
Ryan that he was asked to
give campus tours to poten-
tial incoming professors.
The family has heard from
so many how smart Ryan
was. His friends on campus
noticed too. They lamented
that they studied for days
the night before and ace it.
Ryan connected with his
future wife Sonja during
this time. Sonja lived in
Irrigon, the town closest to
Boardman, but they did not
know each other well until
their college years.
Immediately upon col-
lege graduation, Ryan went
to work for Knight Trans-
portation, working his way
up to operations manager
and west coast marketing
manager. Ryan and Sonja
were living in Manteca,
CA when Ryan accepted
the position in 2012 as
Director of Operations for
Haney Truck Lines in Ya-
kima, WA. While living in
Yakima, the forever love of
Ryan’s life, Ari Dee Neal,
was born. Ryan and Ari’s
love for each other was like
no other. Every possible
moment was spent together
enjoying everything from
swimming to hot tubbing,
movies, golf, visiting Coeur
d’Alene, and most of all,
snuggling together on the
couch.
In 2014 Marten Trans-
portation lured Ryan away
from Haney Truck Lines
when he became their area
sales director for the Pacific
Northwest region. When the
Port of Morrow established
a freezer warehouse oper-
ation in his hometown of
Boardman, Ryan and Sonja
were thrilled at the chance
to come home to raise their
son in the town they loved.
Ryan was hired in 2015 as
operations manager and the
family moved to Boardman.
In October 2018, after an
extensive search and inter-
view process, the Port of
Morrow hired Ryan as their
Executive Director/CEO.
Ryan’s love for his
community and desire to
help it continue to be an
amazing place to work and
raise a family was endless.
His hand can be seen in
many ways, from the direc-
tional signs around town to
the refresh and transforma-
tion of Willow Run Golf
Course into the Marker 40
Golf Course. Ryan was a
valued member of many
organizations and com-
mittees – Kiwanis, Board-
man Chamber, Boardman
Community Development
Association, Intermountain
Education Service District
and others.
Many, many people
have reached out to Ryan’s
family to share their stories
about Ryan and the positive
influence he was in their
lives. “He had a huge heart,
cared deeply and mattered
so much to so many. Know-
ing how Ryan touched oth-
ers is helping his family as
they grieve. The world is a
better place because of him,
he will be missed deeply
and remembered always.”
Ryan is survived by his
parents, Gary and Kathy;
son, Ari; Sonja; sister, Ro-
chelle (Tim) and their chil-
dren, Grandpa and Grandma
Olson; uncles. Scott, Mike,
Ryan Dee Neal
Dale, Keith and Ken and
their children; the close-
knit Hancock cousins who
were a huge part of his life –
Bill, David, Robert, Robin
and Gail and their children,
and his much-loved broth-
ers, “The Boardman Boys.”
Ryan was met in heaven
by his beloved Grandpa
and Grandma Neal, Uncle
Edd, Uncle Leo, Grandpa
and Grandma Hancock and
Aunt Karen.
“The family appreciates
the Morrow County EMT’s
and ambulance crew, the
Boardman fire chief and
crew, the emergency room
staff at Good Shepherd
Hospital, the Life Flight
crew, and the intensive care
unit doctors and nurses at
Providence St. Vincent.
Every one of them worked
so hard to keep Ryan with
us,” his family stated.
The family has been
asked if memorial contribu-
tions can be made. A Ryan
Neal Memorial Fund has
been established through
Boardman Community De-
velopment Association,
PO Box 229, Boardman,
OR 97818. Ryan had been
working hard to establish
a Morrow County Schol-
arship endowment fund
so that all Morrow County
graduates would receive a
scholarship to be used for
higher education. He was
also working with other
community members to
reestablish the RHS golf
team as well as a youth golf
program. Memorial funds
would go towards these ef-
forts and other community
needs as they arise.
Due to COVID restric-
tions no services will be
held at this time. Plans are
to hold a celebration of life
at Marker 40 Golf Course
after the weather warms up.
Details will be publicized at
that time.
Sweeney Mortuary of
Heppner is in care of ar-
rangements. The online
condolence book is avail-
able at www.sweeneymor-
tuary.com.
Betty Louise
Wilhelm
Betty Louise Wilhelm, children. The deer around
90, of Heppner, died Sun- Heppner were her deer and
day, January 30, 2022, at she found great joy in feed-
Pioneer Memorial Hospital ing them.
Betty had a huge
in Heppner. At her
heart and would give
request no service
her last dollar to some-
will be held. She
one in need. Her sense
was born October
of humor was about as
2, 1931, at Holley,
big as her heart and if
OR, the daugh-
you knew her you knew
ter of Vincent and
Louisa Paddock. Betty Louise she was a jokester. She
loved to make people
Betty married Wilhelm
laugh and she was good
James Wilhelm
August 13, 1951, and the at it. She loved her family,
couple had four boys, Jo- and her legacy will go on
seph, Gary, Jimmy and through them.
Betty is survived by
Ronald and raised them in
her three sons, Gary Wil-
Heppner.
Betty had been a care- helm (Crystal) of Prineville,
taker all her life. From Jimmy Wilhelm (Angela)
babysitting as a young of Heppner, Ronald Wil-
girl, working in hospitals, helm (Linda) of Lexing-
cooking on ranches, raising ton; 10 grandchildren; 18
her boys and several other great grandchildren and one
children throughout the great-great granddaughter.
She is preceded in death
community, taking care of
loved ones when they fell by her husband, James;
ill, running an adult foster her son, Joseph; parents,
home, taking care of the Vincent and Louisa, three
elderly and raising grand- brothers; three sisters and
kids, even a couple great two grandsons.
Sweeney Mortuary of
grandkids.
She not only loved car- Heppner is in care of ar-
ing for people but also rangements. The online
several animals throughout condolence book is avail-
her life. Yorkies were her able at www.sweeneymor-
favorite and she cared for tuary.com.
them like they were her
Justice Court Report
Morrow County Justice
of the Peace, Glen Diehl,
has released the following
Justice Court report:
-Kevin L. Mudge, 44,
Heppner, was convicted of
driving while suspended,
fine $440.
-Rita J. Martin, 39,
Heppner, was convicted of
dog as a public nuisance (at
large), fine $265.
-Melissa K. Martin, 23,
Heppner, was convicted of
dog as a public nuisance (at
large), fine $265.