LARSON, Waunetta

The Record-Courier 3 Sep 2012 My auntie, Waunetta Larson, passed on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at St. Alphonsus Medical Center. During her 23 days there she was tended to with compassion by the nursing staff and the doctors. They showed great heart for their dying old patient. I was much impressed with their kind attention to her and the family, and will always be grateful to them. Auntie and I were living together in Southern California when we decided to come to Baker City two years ago. When she saw it on the map, she said, “We’re going home!” Ninety-one years ago she was born in Caldwell, Idaho. She grew up in a farm outside of Notus. She was one of six girls. They are all gone except her youngest sister, Wyvena Buck, who lives in Emmett. Waunetta was my mom’s younger sister and the rebel of her family. She never married or had children. She joined the US Navy during WWII and again in the Korean War. Joining the military was unacceptable to her family, but she did it proudly. After the war she used the GI bill to go to college in New York. She studied nursing at Walter Reed’s. She moved to California and did private nursing. Often she tended to the dying, and she gave enemas to more than one Hollywood star during her long career. She retired and bought a home in Paradise, Calif., where she lived for over 30 years. There she worked tirelessly for the aged. While serving them, she discovered that in California elderly people with money and no family support were being conserved. It was her opinion that they were being taken advantage of by the government. She testified on the issue before a grand jury. Many thought she was crazy, but before she died she was pleased to be proven right when both AARP and the LA Times did big articles on this issue. Auntie was a woman with a fearless voice and selfless ways. She made a positive difference in this world by serving others. She will always have a place in my heart, for she loved me and taught me much. Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel is in charge of arrangements, 1500 Dewey Ave. Baker City, Ore 97814