Theresa Ann (Rowan) Peila passed away April 10 in Burns. Theresa was born July 9, 1925, in Denver, Colo., to Leo and Nellie (Haney) Rowan. She grew up in a modest Irish community, where her father was a janitor for the Catholic school, and she and her two sisters, Catherine and Mary Agnes,

Gary Ray Christy passed away April 8 in Burns. Gary was born Oct. 4, 1957, at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Wash., to John R. Christy and Myrtle M. Christy. Gary was born with Down syndrome. In 1957, doctors believed children born with Down syndrome wouldn’t live much past 15 years old.

Elva Jeanne Hoffman passed away April 5 at her home in La Grande at the age of 91. Elva was born Feb. 13, 1928, in La Grande to John and Velma (Conklin) McKinnis. After graduating from Imbler High School, she attended Eastern Oregon Normal School (now Eastern Oregon University) for a

Walt Cooper passed away April 1 in Baker City, surrounded by family. Walt was born Sept. 26, 1931, in Cabool, Mo., to Elmer Cooper Sr. and Inola (Hill) Cooper. He worked with his dad driving logging trucks as a teen, and served two stints in the Army in 1949, starting at

Joseph “Joe” Luther Steeves passed away on March 26. Joe was born Feb. 29, 1936, in Ferndale, Calif., to Luther and Alice Steeves. He graduated from Marshfield High School in 1954, and on June 22 of that year, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. After the Marines, Joe attended

Lorili Lee Mack, known as Lori to most, passed away March 23 at her daughter’s home in La Grande after a long battle with colon cancer. She was born in Burns Nov. 10, 1971, to Lonie Anderson and Jackie Collinsworth. Lori was the oldest of four children, including her two sisters,

Guy D. Scott passed away March 25, at the age of 88, after a battle with cancer. He was surrounded by family and friends. Guy was born June 13, 1930, to Verny and Vera (Trask) Scott at the Brown House in Stayton. Guy lived his life on the family sesquicentennial farm

Sharlene Kay Crabtree passed away March 6. A beautiful mom, granny, gma, maga, sister, aunt, and friend left us after a difficult journey with Parkinson’s Disease. Our hearts are hurting, but we know she is free. Sharlene was born March 12, 1941, in rural Kansas and moved with her family to Salem

Kenneth D. Pearson passed away March 6. He was born May 16, 1931. One of his many talents was playing with words and writing poetry. He left us with this final little ditty: Old Ken Pearson lives on the hill, writing silly poems, guess he always will. He doesn’t amount to a lot –