These are obituaries that I and many others have donated. Mine were transcribed from old newspapers. I got the microfilms through interlibrary loan from the University of Oregon. There are also many others who have donated. If there is no contributor on it, it is something I have transcribed. If there is no link on the contributor's name, they have no further information about that person. It is someone extra on a copy of their families information.

If you have any obituaries you can donate, please drop a line to Janine M. Bork.Your information can help others.

George L. Kaup of La Grande died at his home Saturday morning. He was 76.

Mr. Kaup was born Sept. 20, 1909, at Agra,Okla., to Fred W. and Aurelia (Swigart) Kaup. On July 20, 1926, he married Twhellice Breedlove at Cushing, Okla.

Mr. Kaup owned and operated College  Grocery in La Grande until 1949 and then went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad. He retired as an engineer in 1971.

He was a member of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church, the elks Club, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Golden Age Club of Arizona, where he and his wife wintered.

Survivors include his wife Twhellice of La Grande; son, Fred W. Kaup of Joseph; daughters Georgia Jean Possini of Walla Walla,, Wash., and Bennie Marie Behouth of Sun Lakes, Ariz.; sister, Catherine Jordan of La Grande; an aunt, Georgia Appleton of Cushing, Okla., nine grandsons, four granddaughters, 19 great-grandchildren, and nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by a brother, Glenn B. Kaup.

Scripture rosary service will be today at 7 p.m. at Payne Family Mortuary. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church with the Rev. Joseph Kelbel officiating. A concluding service will follow at Calvary Cemetery.

Memorial tributes may be expressed to the Heart Association in care of Payne Family Mortuary,1508 Fourth St.

Friday night last at Union Junction, Sheriff Hug shot and probably fatally injured a man named John Keefe, of Moscow, Idaho, who, it appears, was en route to Baker.

The attention of the sheriff was called by a passenger to a man who dropped off No. 18, carrying a bundle and hastening toward some freight cars. The sheriff overtook the ,man and called to him, finally asking him what he had in the bundle, and for a reply the man threw the bundle in the sheriff’s face and started to run the sheriff was soon out-footed in the race, and finally fired his gun into the ground a time or two in hopes of stopping the man, who acted much like a criminal of some sort. At last the sheriff fired a shot at the man’s heels, but the bullet struck the fleeing man in the back and passed through his lung. The wounded man was picked up and taken to La Grande on No. 18, where medical and surgical attention was secured.

From the statement of the wounded man he was en route to Baker from Moscow and was riding the blind to save his scanty amount of cash.

Inasmuch as the sheriff had been looking for a couple of men all week, and the actions of this man indicated that he was seeking to avoid recognition or detention, the action of the sheriff is not at fault, though much regretted by him as by anybody else.

Keefe made his mistake in throwing the bundle in the sheriff’s face and starting to run. Any officer would have concluded that there was something wrong with the man.

Keefe showed that he was a member of the Order of Elks, and the local lodge at La Grande looked after his wants pending the arrival of his father from Idaho.

The incident is one greatly deplored by the sheriff, but after all is said and done, he was following the line of duty.

His attention having been called to the act of the man dropping from the train in a suspicious manner carrying a bundle, the sheriff was in duty bound to go to the bottom of the matter.

Possibly not fully understanding the situation, the man made a mistake when he threw the bundle in the sheriff’s face and started to run. After that it was plainly the duty of the officer to stop him.

Later-Keefe died from the effects of his injuries Monday evening last. Several of his relatives were present. Keefe appears to have been of good family, fairly well to do, and there appears to have been no good reason for his traveling on the blind baggage, except from choice. The body was shipped to Moscow, Idaho, for interment. Keefe made an ante-mortem statement in writing. Miss Neuhaus, of Baker, who was with Keefe at the time of his death, and is said to be his fiancee, is credited with the statement that in his dying hour, Keefe denied throwing his bundle in the face of the sheriff-that he simply dropped it and started to run.

Elvin W. "Tuffy" Keeler, 80, of La Grande, died Friday, Dec. 11, 1990, at Grande Ronde Hospital.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Daniels Valley Funeral Chapel, 1502 Seventh St., in La Grande, with Father Hank Albrecht of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church officiating. Private interment will be held at Hillcrest East Cemetery.

Mr. Keeler was born Aug. 30, 1912, in Wallowa to Jesse Lay and Rebecca (Poe) Keeler. In 1938 he moved from Wallowa to Baker City, where he worked as a car salesman for Poe Motor Co. He then came to La Grande as a car salesman for Hamilton Motor Co.

During World War II he owned and operated Taxi Cab 7, the taxi service in La Grande before going to work for Mount Emily Lumber Co. He later became an equipment painter for the Oregon State Highway Department until his retirement in 1977.

He enjoyed people and loved fishing, camping and horseback riding.

Survivors include his wife, Angela Jane Keeler of La Grande; three sons, Larry Keeler of La Grande, David Keeler of Seattle and Steven Keeler of Redmond; a daughter, Sandy Hill, Summerville; five grandchildren; and other relatives.

His sisters, Buella Caudle, Mildred "Minn" Haugsdale, Mable McBeth, Alberta Potts, Pauline "Hap" Bottorff and Ruth Keeler; and a brother, Kenneth Keeler, died earlier.

One by one the early pioneers of Union county are passing from the scene of action and leaving their inheritance to the descendants. The latest to answer to roll call was Major John R. Kellog, one of the first settlers of the county. He passed away at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the family residence three miles north of La Grande, where he settled in 1862.

Deceased was born in Oswego county, New York, July 20, 1830, and was therefore a little over 74 years old at the time of his death. Mr. Kellogg was one of the best known citizens of the country and was always a leading spirit in church and Sunday school work.

A widow and two adopted children and a large circle of friends mourn his death.

Mrs. Charles Kelso of Weiser died at 3 a.m. Monday in the Protestant hospital at Baker, from injuries received when the automobile in which she was riding skidded and tipped over on the Old Oregon Trail highway sixteen miles southeast of Baker Sunday.

Mrs. Kelso's injuries were about the head and internal. She did not regain consciousness after the accident.

Mr. Kelso could not recall how the accident occurred. The four were on their way to Baker on a Sunday outing. All were riding in the front seat of the roadster, he said. Mr. Robie was driving. The machine evidently skidded. It turned completely over but threw all the occupants clear. Each of the other three suffered cuts and bruises. Mr. Kelso was badly hurt about the head. Mr. Robie had pains in his chest and Mrs. Robie had cut on one of her legs. All were able to leave the hospital, however. Mr. and Mrs. Robie went back to Weiser. Mr. Kelso remained at the hospital with his wife.

Mrs. Kelso was 28 years of age. She was born at Delta, Colorado, and has lived in Weiser more than 20 years. She is survived by her husband, three sons and a daughter.

This is the first traffic fatality in Baker county this year. There were two such deaths in 1927. Traffic Officer Lansing said today.

W.E. Parsons brought the injured people to Baker. He happened to be passing soon after the accident occurred.

Following a month's illness, Mrs. C.E. Kester died at her home in this city Tuesday afternoon. Mrs. Kester was a native of Pennsylvania and had been a resident of Eastern Oregon about sixteen years. For the past several years she had made her home in North Powder and vicinity. A husband and three children are left to mourn the passing of a kind and loving wife and mother.  The funeral services were held from the home Wednesday afternoon and burial was in the city cemetery.

KIMBER - In this city Sunday, May 7, 1905, occured the death of Thomas Kimber, aged 28 eyars. He had been in poor health for several months and a few days since was operated on for empyema. Deceased grew to manhood in this section and leaaves a brother and many friends to mourn his loss. The funeral wervices were conducted by Rev. W.H. willis in the Christian church Monday afternoon and the interment took place in the city cemetery.

A Direct Descendant of the Pilgrim Fathers, and an Honered Pioneer of Eastern Oregon

DIED - At the home of his daughter, Mrs. E.L. Harris, in Elgin. December 12, 1904. John King, aged 84 years, 9 months, 10 days.

The deceased was among the well known citizens of Union and Wallowa counties, in which territory he had made his home since 1882. A son of Jacob King, one of Ohio's pioneer settlers, he was able to trace his lineage directly to the Pilgrim Fathers, whose landing at Plymouth Rock in 1820 (Says 1820) marked one of the events which were to have distinctive quality in the history of our land.

He was the third born in a family of eight children and was born near Zanesville, in Perry County, Ohio, March 2, 1820 of which family only three are now living. In 1849, on July 4th, he was united in marriage to Miss Maria A. Dawson, and to this union was born eight children, four of whom are now living.

In early manhood he hewed out his home in the timbered regions on the south bank of the Maumee river, thirty miles from Teledo, Ohio, and here it was that his own family was born and reared. here, too, at his early home, he was wont to receive visits from many of Ohio's great pioneers, among whom were general James Steelman and General Mead, whose records as Ohio pioneers are part of the state's history.

At his boyhood home, the tavern built by Jacob King beside the old stage road near Fremont, Ohio, he attended school at a common log school house where he had as a class mate the late Rutherford B. Hayes, later distinguished by elevation to the Presidency of the United States. with him the subject of this sketch has often wrestled on the playground, and in his later life he rejoiced to recount the events of his association with the late President.

Leaving Ohio in 1868 he moved to Vandalia, Payette county, Illinois, where he and his family made their home on a prairie farm until 1882, when he again moved toward the West, this time settling in Wallowa Valley, Oregon and in this region he had continued to reside until the time of his death.

Despite his extreme age, Mr. King had always enjoyed good health, and was a man of unusually sprightly physique. His last illness came upon him only a few weeks ago. The funeral services were conducted at the Presbyterian church on Wednesday afternoon, after which the remains were laid away in the city cemetery.

Four children, Mrs. E.L. Harris, of Elgin; Mrs. Jewell, of Aberdeen, S.D.; Mrs. Clara A. Selieg, of Chicago, and Scott E. King, of Seattle, Wash., survive the father.

Kirby - Werle, the young son of Dr. and Mrs. kirby, died July 14, 1906, from cholera infantum. Everything was done to save the life of the little one but to no avail. Werle was a bright eyed golden haired little fellow 2 years, 11 months and 24 days old, and his parents deeply grieve his loss and have the sympathy of the entire community. The funeral services were conducted in the Presbyterian church Sunday afternoon.

Mrs. Carl Kinion died last Saturday night at her home, death resulting from tuberculosis from which she had been a sufferer for many years. The family have been occupying a small home on the York ranch for several months. The deceased is survived by her husband and two sons. Funeral services were held Monday and interment was in the city cemetery.

The sad news of the passing of one of Haines' well known farmers, Sherman Kipling, reached the city Friday, death occurring at the farm home south of town that morning. He had been ill for some time and the end was not unexpected. He recently was brought back form the sanitarium at Hot Lake.

Sherman Charles Kipling was born Sept. 22, 1869, near Valporaso, Ind., and died Sept. 28, 1928. He came from Denver Colo., to Haines 18 years ago.

He married Lula M. Barker of Holyoke, Colo., April 30, 1892.

He leaves besides his wife, one son Emil and one daughter Mildred, a sister Mrs. Alice Black of Colorado Springs, Colo., and a brother, John Bradley of Holyoke, Colo., who were with him at time of death.

Funeral was conducted at the Methodist church by Miss Josie Blokland at two o'clock Sunday afternoon, which was attended by a host of friends who mourn the passing of so good a citizen.

Joseph Kippes was killed in a fall of 700 feet at the Queen of the West mine near Cornucopia last Thursday afternoon at about 4 o'clock. He is survived by a widow and three small children. The body was crushed almost beyond recognition, and was recovered from the bottom of a deep canyon where it fell. Mr. Kippes was about 35 years old.

Mr. Kippes had just finished his day's work and was going home in an ore bucket on the tram. The traveling cable which pulls the car broke. The jar threw Mr. Kippes from the car and he dropped a distance of about 700 feet to the bottom of the canyon. He was killed instantly. Wilbur Motley a fellow worker, was the first to reach the body.

The tram on which Mr. Kippes was killed is said to be the longest single tram in the world. It is nearly a mile long without a support of any kind in this distance. The accident occurred three miles from Cornucopia.

SUMMERVILLE (Special) - Word was received Sunday of the death of Mrs. Kenneth (Vadis) Kirby of Prineville.  She was a sister of Mrs. Harry Billerbeck and Lyle Slack, and a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Burr Slack, and grew up in this community.  Billerbeck's and Slack's left immediately for Prineville where the funeral will be held.  Graveside services will be held at the Summerville cemetery Wednesday at 1:00 p.m.

Following a brief attack of heart trouble, Harry Snapp, 55, died at the home of a sister in Baker Friday afternoon of last week. At the time of his death Mr. Snapp was in the employ of the Blue Mountain garage at La Grande and was probably the best known auto salesman in this section. He had been employed during the past two years with several dealers in Baker and La Grande. He was a native of Missouri and had a number of relatives living near Scranton in that state.

Funeral services were held Thursday of last week for Harry Snapp, alias Harry Klepper by a minister who came all the way from California to do it, but the body was still at the West parlors and the time and place of the burial was still indefinite Sunday morning. The case is one of the strangest the Baker county authorities have ever been called upon to handle.

Klepper came to Baker about 15 months ago and was employed there for a time. Later he went to La Grande and then returned to Baker. He gave his name as Harry Snapp. He was about 50 years of age and said little about his past, though he boasted of important business deals which he said were handled through an attorney at Albany, Oregon.

Klepper died Thursday, June 2, at 2787 Third street, Baker, from the effects of a strong medicine he was using and of which he took an overdose. Whether he did this intentionally knowing it would cause his death, or by accident remains an unanswered riddle. He died and no one in Baker knew his true name or anything of his past.

Recalling the use of the Albany lawyer's name, an acquaintance of Snapp mentioned it to E.F. West, who had custody of the body. Mr. West telegraphed to Albany. A reply came at once. It stated that Snapp's true name was Harry Klepper and that he left an estranged wife at Madera, Cal. A telegram was at once sent to her. She wired back for a description of the body and stated that she would come at once if it was her husband. The description was sent and she came, arriving here Thursday morning and bringing with her a Rev. G.W. Bruce of Reedley, Cal.

They made inquiry of the circumstances of the man's death and in the afternoon conducted a private funeral service in the West Chapel. They stated that they were unable to pay the funeral and burial expenses, which were only $40, although the two people were able and willing to come here from California. When asked what was to be done with the body, the minister replied: "I don't care; it's up to you, and left in company with Mrs. Klepper. The two left for California on Friday afternoon's train without waiting to see what disposition was made of the body.

The body of Klepper was buried in the potter's field at Baker Monday. No further light was thrown on the peculiar actions of the pair who held funeral services and refused to give burial to the body.

KNAPP.- Near Union, Monday, March 4, 1889 Miss Anna Knapp, aged 22 years.

Martha Ellen, wife of Robt. Knight, died at her home near Freewater, Umatilla county, Sunday evening after a lingering illness, aged 53 years, 6 months and 18 days.

Deceased was a native of Missouri but came to Oregon at an early age and had made her home in this state ever since. She was a daughter of Joseph Harris, the well known pioneer resident of this city, and leaves a husband, seven sons and a daughter in addition to numerous other relatives, to mourn her loss.

The body arrived from Umatilla county on Wednesday's train and was laid to rest in the Summerville cemetery, which is the family buring ground.

Ray Knudson, 27, of Provo, Utah, was killed near Haines Monday morning, when his auto left the highway and turned over pinning the occupants underneath. Two companions, J.W. Roberts and Donald Roberts, escaped serious injury.

The trio were headed for Twin Falls, Idaho, from Los Angeles, Calif., and had been driving day and night in order to reach their destination as soon as possible. The accident happened when Roberts attempted to relieve Knudson at the steering wheel. There were no marks of serious injury about Knudson's body, and death was laid to heart disease.

The men were pinned underneath the car for three hours before the elder Roberts was able to extricate himself and get help.

A sheep herder in Wallowa county, somewhere on the Looking Glass, made the ghastly find of another dead herder last Friday.

He immediately phoned friends at Milton, who in turn informed the sheriff of Union county. Deputies were dispatched to the scene, but found the place across the line and in Wallowa county. When the Wallowa officers reached the scene the body of the dead man was found to be so badly decomposed as to make its removal next to impossible.

The deceased man is John Krell and, aside from having friends in Milton, Oregon, little is known of the man.

The finding of dead sheep herders hear abouts of late has occurred so frequently as to cause a suspicion of foul play among sheep men. Hardly a week now passes without another addition to the dead list. Usually a cheap gun is found near the body, evidence toward the support of the suicide theory. Can it be that these men are shot from ambush and placed in positions to conceal the real cause of death?

Later - Deputy Coroner Ellsworth, of Esland City, accompanied by other parties, passed through this city yesterday on his way to the scene of the herder's death to hold an inquest. The dead herder is in this county, being on the Garden of Eden road, about 30 miles north of Elgin.