Ruth Louise Mcclune

Ruth Louise Kennedy Durfee McClune, 85, of Portland and formerly of La Grande, died Feb. 16 of congestive heart failure in Portland.

A memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at The Summerville Cemetery Chapel. A reception will follow at the Summerville grange.

Ruth was born April 14, 1924, in Portage, Pa. Ruth left Portage in 1930 with her parents, David I. Kennedy and Anna B. Rhine Kennedy, and moved West during that summer with her family, finally settling down in Elgin, where she lived most of her life. She lived in Portage, Pa., Elgin and

La Grande except for a few years she lived in a logging camp, Camp5 near Condon. After suffering a heart attack, Ruth moved to Portland to be closer to her doctors and her daughter.

Ruth was one of eight children. Her brothers were Ralph, Woody, Bill, Charles and Don Kennedy (all deceased). Her two sisters were Pearl Thomas (died in 1965) and Thelma Oliver. In 1942 she married James Durfee, who later died from a logging accident. She married Lloyd McClune in 1953.

She spent most of her life raising her children, grandchildren and providing day care for children who lived near her. For many years Ruth and her husband, Lloyd, delivered the La Grande Observer. She enjoyed having her family around, especially her grandchildren.

She is survived by her children, Arlen Durfee of Mesa, Ariz., Shirley Deitering and Michael Durfee of Portland, Larry McClune of Elgin and Emery McClune of Galveston, Texas; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and her sister, Thelma Kennedy Oliver of Summerville.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, James Durfee in 1952, and Lloyd McClune in 1999.

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