John E. Myers

John E. Myers, 67, died April 13 at his home in La Grande.

Funeral services will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday at Loveland Funeral Chapel, followed by burial at Grandview Cemetery.

Mr. Myers was born Aug. 30, 1939, to Edgar and Helen (Crawford) Myers in Klamath Falls. They moved shortly thereafter to Kinzua and then to a small ranch east of Fossil, where John grew up. He attended grade school in Fossil and graduated from Wheeler County High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball, in 1957.

After high school John attended Willamette University in Salem and then returned to Fossill to work at Kinzua sawmill.

He was then drafted into the Army and stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash. After serving his country, John returned to Oregon, working for Ford's Tire Service in Pendleton and later was transferred to the La Grande Store that became Commercial Tire.

On Sept. 27, 1968, he married Willie Mae Hefner and has since been a resident of La Grande.

He continued to work in the tire business for 32 years, retiring from Commercial Tire in 2001. At the time of his death, he was working for Allen Chase in Hermiston.

John was an avid hunter and loved to fish, camp and vacation with his family. He was a devoted father and grandfather.

Survivors include his wife, Willie Mae; children and their spouses, Kathy and Kelly McDowell of La Grande and John and Joann Hefner of Union; four grandchildren and one great-grandchild; and brothers, Bob Myers of Cove and Jim Myers of La Grande. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Rebecca.

Memorials may be made to the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show, P.O. Box 1052, Union 97883