LEGGETT, Doris May

The Record-Courier 8 Dec 2012 Doris May Leggett, 90, of Haines, OR passed away December 5, 2012 at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Baker City, OR. Her funeral service will be held at Coles Tribute Center, at 1:00 PM, Monday December 10, 2012 with Sally Wiens officiating. Burial will follow at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Baker City, OR. Doris was born on June 13, 1922 in La Grande, OR to Lester H. Bond and Edith Audell (Roberts) Bond. She had no siblings. She moved to Haines and attended Muddy Creek School from 1928-1940. She received her teacher training at Eastern Oregon College. On December 22, 1945. Doris married Billy Robert Leggett, the love of her life in Baker City, OR. They had planned on getting married four years earlier but their plans were interrupted with Billy’s being drafted into the Army where he served his country in World War II in the European theater for four years. Both remained faithful to one another during the entire time and they were married shortly after his return. After graduating from college, Doris taught first grade at the Haines elementary school. She and Billy married soon after he returned home from Europe. She was a member of the Muddy Creek Mutual Improvement Club, the VFW Ladies Auxiliary in Baker City, the Baker County Cattlemen & Cattlewomen’s Association, leader of Camp Fire Girls, president of the Haines School PTA, secretary of the Upper Bulger Ditch Company, and she was a news reporter from the Haines area for The Record Courier for many years. Her involvement in these organizations defined her core values and who she was, her pioneer spirit and her heritage. She was always an example to her family of core values of honesty, integrity, fulfilling civic responsibilities in her community, patriotic, pro education, and serving faithfully in the role of a home maker, wife, mother and grandmother. She enjoyed sewing clothes for her daughter. As an educator she recognized the value of learning to read and spent many hours reading to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and listening to them read to her. She grew up helping her Father farm and ranch in the era prior to electricity and telephones. All farming was done by horses as she spent many hours behind a team of horses mowing and raking hay. She told many stories to her children and grand children recounting the long days at harvest time feeding the large threshing crews at harvest time when all food preparation was done that day from killing the chickens at dawn through chopping the wood for the wood cook stove, preparing and serving the food to finishing before dark the dishes and cleaning cook ware at the end of the day. A sizable herd of Jersey milk cows were milked by hand twice a day. Beef, pigs, chickens and turkeys were raised for meat. Significant time in the summer months was consumed raising the garden, canning and preserving food to get through the winter months. She lived in the era of self sufficiency except for the staples. She witnessed the agricultural revolution and the progression to the age of electricity, the telephone, steam powered tractors, the first gasoline and diesel tractors, Model As and Model Ts for transportation to present day large GPS steered equipment with which one can do as much farming in a half hour as what once took a long day with horses. She loved rural living here in Eastern Oregon in which she enjoyed the mountains, lakes, camping, hiking and a favorite past time was picking huckleberries and then preparing the delightsome desserts from those efforts. In later days she enjoyed several trips across the United States with her husband. They attended many 820th engineer reunions of WW II vets with whom Billy served. A highlight was when they were able to host a reunion at the family ranch at Muddy Creek. They participated in local VFW and Auxiliary activities. Doris was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Billy who passed away September 11, 2007. She is survived by her son Deryl and his wife Carolyn Leggett, daughter Janine Wilson, son Billy L. and his wife Bonnie Leggett. She had five grandchildren; Wayne Wilson and wife Tracy; Wendy and husband Ken Labrousse; Angela and her husband Dan Kolilis; Anthony Leggett and his wife Kara; and Andrew Leggett. She was blessed with ten great grandchildren; Rose and William Labrousse, McKenzie, Madysen, Brigham and Annastasia Leggett, Lucas and Ayla Kolilis, Conner and Bryce Wilson. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Catharine Ott. She enjoyed numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and their families. Memorial contributions may be made to the Muddy Creek Mutual Improvement Club, Eastern Oregon Museum in Haines, or the Haines Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) through Coles Tribute Center, 1950 Place Street, Baker City, OR