Lynn "Gail" Hart

Lynn "Gail" Hart, 61, died Sept. 8 in Seattle at the University of Washington Medical Center following a lung transplant. The lung transplant was a success, but by the time she was able to receive the lung, she was, in the doctor's words, much sicker than he knew.

A celebration of life will begin at 2 p.m. Oct. 2 at Riverside Park pavilion in La Grande.

Attendees are invited to bring any thoughts, memories or stories about Gail to share.

Gail was born July 29, 1949, in Pendleton. She went to school in La Grande, Pendleton and Cove as a small child. From seventh grade, she went to Union schools and graduated in 1967.

She married Stephen L. Hart of Union on June 11, 1968. Their first daughter, Christen, was born Feb. 3, l969, in Corvallis while Steve finished up college. Daughter Becky was born Dec. 22, 1970, in Hawaii.

They traveled with their children for many years as Steve was in the Navy. They lived many places across the United States including Hawaii. After leaving Navy life in 1978 they settled in Union, Cove, La Grande and Haines.

The family had a small place with a cherry orchard in Cove on Mill Creek, which Gail loved. They owned and operated Stange Manor on Walnut Street in La Grande as a bed and breakfast.

They owned and operated the Haines Steakhouse for about 20 years and eventually moved to Haines. They lived in Haines until Gail sold the restaurant, put up a new house in La Grande and moved in 2005.

She was a creative person who spent her free time doing handwork and crafts. Gail loved gardening and traveling by cruise ship.

Gail's passion was her grandchildren who were able to visit her in Seattle just before she died.

Gail is survived by her daughters, Christen Hart of La Grande and Becky Hart Hinson and her husband, Shane, of McCall, Idaho; four grandchildren; mother, Bernadine Sharp Dunbar Curry and father, Gene, of La Grande; sisters, Jeanne Dunbar Stitzel and her husband, Mike, of Valdez, Alaska, and Cindy Dunbar Thomas Shanks and her husband, Jim, of Spokane; brother, Wes Dunbar and his wife, Maureen, of Union; nieces and nephews; the Hart family; and many other relatives. She was preceded in death by her birth father, Charles Thomas Dunbar.

Gail loved planting trees and flowers and was passionate about organ donation. The family asks that those things be done in her memory.

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