Robert "Bob" M. Harper

Robert M. Harper, 63, of La Grande, died at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland July 5.

A graveside will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Wallowa Cemetery.

Bob was born July 29, 1943 to Timothy Joseph and Nadene Annabelle Martin in Phoenix, Ariz. At age 2, he moved with his family to Wallowa. In 1960 he joined the Navy, and after his discharge moved back to Wallowa and worked in the logging industry for several years.

In Arizona he worked in the copper mines with his younger brother. In 1976, they moved to Alaska, where Bob worked on the Pipeline at Prudhoe Bay until the pipeline was completed.

He moved back to Oregon and worked for Timberline Erectors as a millwright and crane operator in Washington, Oregon and California until he retired in 2005. Bob moved to La Grande in 2006.

Bob is survived by two sons, James M. Harper of Juneau, Alaska, and A. Stephen Harper of Vancouver, Wash.; brother David L. Harper of Anchorage, Alaska; sister, Marlene L. Westendahl of Asotin, Wash; three nephews and three nieces.

He was preceded in death by his stepfather, William Kenneth Harper, and his mother Nadene C. Harper; brother William John Harper and a nephew, also named William John Harper.