TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 3, 2023
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
Competitions, contests
make math fun
Heppner students place in
math games
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
(541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site:
www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times,
P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $35 in Morrow County; $40
senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $30 elsewhere; $35 student
subscriptions.
Chris Sykes ...............................................................................................Publisher
Andrea Di Salvo ............................................................................................ Editor
Cindi Doherty.........................................................................................Advertising
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.50 per
column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $15 up to 100
words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.00 per column inch.
For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publi-
cation must be specified. Affidavits must be requested at the time of submission. Affidavits
require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be
specified if required).
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space
for the obituary.
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placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
Obituaries
Janet Gail
Hughes
Janet Gail Hughes, 88,
formerly
of Hep-
p n e r,
d i e d
Tuesday,
April 25,
2023, at
her home
in Walla
Walla, WA. A graveside
service will be held at 2
p.m. Saturday, May 13,
at the Heppner Masonic
Cemetery in Heppner. A
reception will follow at the
Gilliam and Bisbee Build-
ing in Heppner.
She was born Decem-
ber 14, 1934, at San Luis
Obispo, CA, the daughter of
Edwin H. Coe and Bernice
W. (Arnold) Coe.
Gail was raised and
attended school at Mil-
ton-Freewater, OR, where
she was valedictorian for
the graduating class of 1953
at McLoughlin Union High
School. Later in life Gail
went back to school at Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege, receiving an Associate
of Arts Degree in 1992.
On June 7, 1953, she
married Allen Hughes at St.
James Episcopal Church in
Milton-Freewater. The cou-
ple raised three daughters in
the Heppner area, Patricia,
Carolyn and Jennifer. After
her husband’s death, Gail
moved to Heppner, where
she lived until moving to
Walla Walla in 2018.
Gail was employed at
First National Bank, which
became First Interstate
Bank and later became
Wells Fargo Bank, where
she was a personal banker
until her retirement.
She was a member of
the All-Saints Episcopal
Church, where she was the
organist for many years.
Gail had a beautiful flower
garden, which was one
of the many hobbies she
enjoyed along with sew-
ing, bridge and playing
the organ. She also was on
the Willow Creek Valley
Assisted Living Facility
planning committee.
Survivors include
daughters Patricia Hughes,
Carolyn Knox (Loren)
and Jennifer Jaca (David);
four grandchildren; five
great-grandchildren; and a
brother, Edwin Arnold Coe.
Gail was predeceased
by her parents, her husband,
Allen Hughes; and a sister,
Lorna Roebke.
Memorial contribu-
tions may be made to Cove
Ascension School Camp
and Conference Center,
1104 Church St., Cove, OR
97824 or to Frazier Farm-
stead Museum, 1403 Chest-
nut St, Milton-Freewater,
OR 97862 or the charity of
your choice.
Sweeney Mortuary of
Heppner is in charge of ar-
rangements. You may sign
the online condolence book
at www.sweeneymortuary.
com.
Death Notices
Timothy E. “Tim”
Reese—Timothy E. “Tim”
Reese of Heppner died on
April 17, 2023, in Spokane,
WA at the age of 71. He
was born on January 15,
1952, in Minneapolis, MN.
Arrangements are pending.
Please share memories
of Tim with his family at
burnsmortuaryhermiston.
com. Burns Mortuary of
Hermiston is in charge of
arrangements.
William “Thad” Kill-
ingbeck—William “Thad”
Killingbeck of Hermiston
died on April 28, 2023, in
Richland, WA at the age of
69. He was born on April 2,
1954, in La Grande, OR. A
celebration of life service
will be held on Saturday,
May 13, at 2 p.m. at New
Hope Church, 1350 S. Hwy
395, Hermiston.
Please share memories
of Thad with his family at
burnsmortuaryhermiston.
com. Burns Mortuary of
Hermiston is in charge of
arrangements.
Marriages
The Morrow County Clerk reports issuing the follow-
ing marriage licenses for the month of April:
April 5, 2023—Richard James Occhiuto, 30, and
Marissa Therese James, 35.
April 7, 2023—Jackson Riley Richards, 20, and Jael
Aguilar, 20.
April 21, 2023—Neftali Abdiel Ochoa Avalos, 29,
and Grecia April Chairez Lepe, 29.
April 24, 2023—Maribel Alejandra Sanchez, 33, and
Antonio Garcia Garcia, 32.
Housing authority
to meet May 9
The next meeting of the dining room.
For more information,
Heppner Housing Authori-
ty for the Heppner Senior please contact Kay Rene
Center will be Tuesday, Qualls at 541-980-2836.
May 9, at 4 p.m. in the St.
Patrick’s Senior Center
Students participate in math contests and games during the
Regional High School Mathematics Contest in La Grande
April 18. -Contributed photos
Heppner High School
students were among 150
young people from nine dif-
ferent schools who attended
a math contest hosted by
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity on Tuesday, April 18.
This was the 35 th year for
the Regional High School
Mathematics Contest on the
La Grande campus.
Students at the event
participate in state quali-
fying tests before taking
part in math contests that
include a Math Bee, and a
Solve That Problem event,
based on the old “Name
That Tune” game show,
which scores teams on the
speed with which they can
solve complex mathemati-
cal problems.
Students also par-
ticipated in a Math “Re-
lay Race” that combined
physical fitness and prob-
lem-solving skills.
Several Heppner stu-
dents brought home honors
in the small schools team
contests. Elizabeth Finch
took third in Solve that
Problem Geometry. Madi-
son Palmer tied for second
in Solve that Problem Open.
The Heppner team took first
in the small schools math
relay race.
“Any opportunity to
get together and have fun
with mathematics is ideal,”
EOU Associate Professor of
Mathematics Steve Tanner
said. “Our main purpose is
to identify top-performing
students and invite them to
the state competition.”
Regional high schools
that participated include
Heppner High School,
Burnt River High School,
Enterprise High School, La
Grande High School, Im-
bler High School, Ontario
High School, Union High
School, Cove High School
and Union County Home
School.
Imbler High School
walked away with top hon-
ors in the small school
category, and the Enterprise
High School team took top
honors for the large school
category.
Scholarship winners
included Tyler Leathers,
Union High School, En-
jie Fan, La Grande High
School, Olivia Thornburg,
Union County Homes-
choolers, Rowan Hassinger,
Cove High School, Azat
Kossanov, Burnt River
High School, and Weston
Durfee, La Grande High
School. Each scholarship
winner was presented with
a $1,000 EOU scholarship
award for excellence during
the Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity Regional Mathematics
Competition.
BMCC to hold community
listening sessions
Blue Mountain Com-
munity College (BMCC)
has announced it will host
a listening session in Board-
man May 9 as part of a
series of community and
public listening sessions.
The meeting will take place
from 5:30-7 p.m. in the
Riverside High School au-
ditorium.
The listening sessions
are part of the process in
BMCC’s new strategic
plan.
“Input is vital,” said
BMCC President Dr. Mark
Browning. “BMCC is
poised to move into the
future with new efforts to
align programs, outcomes
and services to further en-
rich the lives of our students
and the communities we
serve.
“Sitting down and hear-
ing what are the needs and
wants of our community
partners is the first step in
our work to formulate the
plan that will guide Blue
Mountain forward,” added
Browning.
The BMCC strategic
plan will guide not only the
overall direction of the col-
lege but serve as a catalyst
for other campus planning
and operational efforts such
as strategic enrollment, fa-
cility usage and operational
optimization.
Input from the listen-
ing sessions will impact
the development of the
2025-2028 strategic plan.
BMCC’s current 2021-2024
strategic plan can be viewed
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
online at bluecc.edu.
Sessions will be held
throughout BMCC’s ser-
vice district. Each session
will be 90 minutes and
feature a facilitator to help
guide conversations, input
and feedback the college
seeks as part of the process.
Written contributions
are welcome from those
who are not able to attend.
Visit www.bluecc.edu/lis-
teningsessions for more
details and a submission
form.
Blue Mountain Com-
munity College is a com-
prehensive community
college serving more than
2,500 students throughout a
six-county region spanning
16,500 square miles.
Spiritually Speaking
Father Thankachan Joseph
St. Patrick Catholic Church Heppner
Are you fear-full or faith-full?
As we read last week, Peter, immediately after the
Pentecost, added to the number of disciples three thou-
sand on the very first day. The first reading for this week
is again from Acts (6:1-7), the concern of the 12 apostles
about the fast-growing early community of believers. As
good shepherds, they accepted the seven reputed men,
who were selected by the community and were filled
with the zeal of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, to lead and
guide the fast-growing believers’ community in the path of
Christ. The apostles laid hands and prayed over the seven.
The word of God continued to spread and the number of
the disciples increased in Jerusalem significantly.
The Gospel reading of this fifth Sunday of Easter is
from John (14:1-12) and begins with these words: “Do
not let your hearts be troubled.” These are the words
of Lord Jesus Christ addressing His disciples, not the
crowd. A careful study of the Gospels shows that there
are times Jesus speaks to the crowd, and at other times
He would talk to His disciples as a group or to specific
individuals among them. (For example: “Get behind me,
Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have
in mind the concerns of God, but merely human….” to
Peter [Mt. 16:23].)
One of the pieces of advice nowadays that young
people receive from their parents, teachers and other
people who play caring roles in their lives is to “stay out
of trouble,” which are actually similar to words Jesus
addressed to His apostles: “Do not let your hearts be
troubled.” It could be possible to stay out of trouble in
the sense of not deliberately looking for it, but what about
the times when troubles come to you even when you do
not want them? What about when you are minding your
own business and something or someone shows up with
cans of troubles? Can we avoid being troubled?
This week’s reflections are taken from the priestly
prayer of Jesus. Christ was giving part of His final in-
structions to His committed followers who could relate
to His words and actions. Note that He was not telling
them to stay out of trouble but not to be troubled. In a
later instruction from the same Gospel of John (16:33),
Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me
you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Are you troubled? If your answer is “yes,” then I
would ask, how is that helping you? Being troubled would
mean that you are becoming disheartened and dismayed.
It could also mean that your trust or dependency in the
Divine is deteriorating. Faith comes in such situations as
the Lord has instructed as in the Gospel passage. There
are many definitions of faith, but the one that excites me
the most about faith comes from the letter to the Hebrews:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the con-
viction of things not seen. By faith we understand that the
worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is
seen was made from things that are not visible” (11:1-3).
The above understanding of faith helps us to know that
it does not ask the famous traditional questions of what,
why, where, when and how. Faith could be understood
from the scriptural perspective: In fact, faith made Abra-
ham the father of faith (Gen. 12:1ff), to leave his home-
town without clarity about the destination. Faith made
Daniel accept being cast into the lion’s den rather than
deny God (Daniel 6). Faith made Job declare, “I know
that my redeemer lives and that in the end, he will stand
on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet
in my flesh, I will see God” (Job 19:25-26). Faith made
the woman with the hemorrhages of 12 years touch the
garment of Jesus (Luke 8: 41ff). What is your own story
of faith in moments of your troubles; are you fear-full or
faith-full?
May God grant you the grace to look beyond the
troubles of the time because they have expiration dates.
Instead, may we focus on the enduring peace that reigns
in the eternal home that our Lord Jesus Christ has pre-
pared for us, and may we continue to strive to secure our
dwelling places in the Father’s house.
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