Barbara Joan Gray

Barbara Joan Gray, 70, of Union, died March 20 at the Grande Ronde Hospital. At her request, there will not be a formal service, but all are welcome to attend a gathering in remembrance at 11 a.m. Saturday at the VFW Hall in Union. The family requests no gifts or food.

Barbara was born Nov. 21, 1936, in Enterprise. She was educated in La Grande, graduating from La Grande High School and attending what is now Eastern Oregon University.

Barbara married Wade Crook in Portland; they later divorced.

She lived in Seattle for many years and worked as a typesetter for various newspapers, including the Post Intelligencer and the Seattle Times. Upon retirement she moved back to the Grande Ronde Valley.

Barbara loved animals and the outdoors. Although declining health kept her increasingly indoors, she loved watching the birds and squirrels come to her patio feeders.

Her part-Siamese cat, Surena, was an important part of her life.

Barbara had a lifelong love of reading and was a talented writer, leaving a legacy of poems, essays and short stories. Using her typesetting skills, she designed and published a treasured family history book as well as an annual family newsletter.

Very active in the community, Barbara served on the Union City Council and volunteered with the annual Grassroots Festival. She received Unions 2005 Woman of the Year award.

Survivors include her mother, Eunice Gray of La Grande, siblings and their spouses, Doris and Greg Tsiatsos of Starkey and Don and Brenda Gray of Murrieta, Calif.; aunts and uncles, Harold and Katie Scott of Central Point, Ralph and Jean Scott of Joseph and Ethel Burgett of Omak, Wash.; and many nieces and nephews and other relatives. She was preceded in death by her father, Lloyd Gray.