Letha Shumway

Letha Shumway, 91, of Baker City and formerly of La Grande died February 1, 2006 at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center. Burial was at Mount Hope Cemetery with Pastor Ed Niswender of Calvary Baptist Church officiating.

Mrs. Shumway was born June 10, 1914 to Jess P. and Susie Mae Laxson at La Grande. She lived in Cambridge and Weiser, Idaho and at Mount Vernon. She graduated from Baker High School in 1932 and on January 20, 1935 she married Charles H. Shumway in Baker City. She worked for Montgomery Ward in the 1950s in the shipping and receiving department. The family had a ranch and dairy from 1951 until 1969 in the Old Auburn area, and in 1969 moved to a dairy farm in the Baker Valley on Highway 86. After the death of her husband in 1974 she continued to run the dairy with her son, Charles, until 1980. In 1982 she opened a rock and gem shop in her home on Elm Street in Baker City and then spent several years as a volunteer at the Oregon Trail Regional Museum. She was a 4-H leader for many years with a geology and minerals club. She was a member of the Calvary Baptist Church and started singing in the choir sometime in the early 1940s. Letha was the AWANA Leader for several years. She was the last person to have lived in the Burnt River Valley before the Unity Dam was built.

Survivors include 10 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren. Her husband and her sons, Vereen E. and Thomas P, all died earlier. Memorials may be made to Calvary Baptist Church of Baker City or to Pathway Hospice of Ontario in care of Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place Street, Baker City.