Curtis Edwin Roper

Curtis Edwin Roper, 88, of La Grande, died Nov. 14 at a local care facility. A funeral will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Daniels~Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center, 1502 Seventh St. in La Grande. Those who wish may make contributions in his memory to any charity of choice.

Mr. Roper was born on Feb. 2, 1924, in Fort Collins, Colo., to James Purl and Anna Maude (Shoemaker) Roper. He lived in Mesa, Colo., until 6 years old when the family moved to Twin Falls, Idaho. In 1936 they moved to Oregon where he attended the Pleasant Grove grade school and rode a horse to school each day. After grade school he went to Imbler High School via the bus. He graduated from Imbler High School in May of 1943.

He worked for H.L. Wagoner and Sons until November 1943 when he joined the Army Air Corps. He was stationed at Fort Douglas, Utah; Buckly Field, Colorado; Kingman, Arizona (Gunnery School); Gulfport Air Base for Combat Air Crew Training. After completing Aircrew training he was off to Hunter Field, Georgia.

There he picked up a B-17, flew it to New Hampshire, Goose Bay Labrador, over Greenland to Iceland and then to England.

He flew 35 combat missions over Germany as a Ball Turret Gunner on a B-17 with the 487th Bomb Group, 838 Bomb Squadron, 8th Air Force with a credit for 1 Enemy Air Craft. In 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, they ran out of fuel returning from a mission and landed in Belgium They were there for a week while the plane was repaired and refueled before returning to England. He earned medals for: Army of occupation WWII, Victor Medal, American Campaign, European, African, Middle Eastern Campaign, Air Medal with 5 Oakleaf Clusters, and Good Conduct Medal. He was honorably discharged from service on November 12, 1945. He married Twila Marie Moon on Nov. 16, 1945 in Grants Pass.

They made their home in La Grande where he worked as Parts Manager for Lynch Motor Co. (Gettings-Lynch Motor Co.) for 35 years retiring in 1981.

He was president of Search and Rescue under Sherriff Bill Moore for two years. He was a life member of Mt. Emily VFW 2990 and was commander for two years.

He was a life member of the La Grande Elks Lodge where he was Elk of the Year two years in a row. He was President of Grande Ronde C.B. Club for years and was Vice President of Grande Ronde Wheelers Good Sam Club. For 25 years he spent summers in Canada fishing.

Survivors include his wife, Twila Roper of La Grande; son, James P. Roper of Cove; 14 grandchildren and their spouses,Annette Lovejoy, Robert Ray, Shaun Roper, William Roper, Steven Roper, Michele Ray, Kimberly Steves, Kassie Santaguida, Joshua Roper, Angela Roper, Joel Roper, John Roper, Michael Roper; 17 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and other relatives.

He was preceded in death by his parents, granddaughter, Tonya Jean Roper and brother, Ralph Melvin Roper.

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