Lela Mae Fordice

Lela Mae Fordice, 92, formerly of Union County and Wallowa County, died April 6 at Settlers Park Assisted Living Facility in Baker City. Graveside services will begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the North Powder cemetery. A reception will follow at Wolf Creek Grange in North Powder.

Lela was born Oct. 12, 1917, to John and Erma (Scott) Gray at Elgin. She attended school in the area. On Feb. 23, 1934, Lela married Willard D. Fordice in the Methodist Parsonage at Wallowa. Willard and Lela homesteaded in the Lost Prairie area and then moved to a ranch on the Grande Ronde River near Troy. They moved to North Powder in 1948. The couple had been married 62 years when Willard died in 1997.

Lela was a member of the Wolf Creek Grange and the Red Hat Club. She gave many years of service to the local community. She enjoyed quilting, loved to work in her garden and flowers. Lela was a homemaker, a seamstress and an excellent cook. She was known for her apple pies and enjoyed having big family dinners.

Survivors include her son, Keith, of Hermiston; daughters, Myrna Hale of Dillon, Mont., and Sandra Sanders of Burns; eight grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; brothers, Gerald Gray and Clark Gray; and sisters, Leona Scott, Beulah Tally, Lillian Newton and Marilyn McIntyre.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Willard; son, Kenneth Fordice; daughter, Donna Crabill; and grandson, Mike Fordice.

Memorial contributions may be made to Heart-N-Home Hospice or the Wolf Creek Grange in care of Gray's West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City 97814.

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