SCHREECK, Audrae B.

Audrae Schreeck Baker City, 1919-2014 Audrae B. Schreeck, a life long resident of Baker County, died in the early hours of Jan. 31, 2014, at her daughter’s home in La Grande in the care of family. A funeral service for Audrae will be Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. in Baker City. She will be privately interred at Mount Hope Cemetery on Feb. 10. Audrae was born on March 27, 1919, at home on the family farm outside of Haines. She attended elementary through high school at the Haines School and graduated top of her class. Her two older brothers, Walt and Ed, encouraged Audrae to continue her education after high school and helped pay for her to attend Eastern Oregon University (then known as Eastern Oregon Normal School) where she excelled academically, with a special love of English and biology. One time her father sent her, via the mail, numerous deceased animals, including birds and a skunk for her to do taxidermy on for a biology class she was taking, earning special praise from her biology professor, Dr. Charles Quaintance. Later, she worked in Lime at the Lime Cement Plant using her chemistry knowledge, testing concrete samples. As World War II waged, she had the opportunity to continue her education at The Deaconess Hospital Nursing School in Spokane and taking classes at Gonzaga University. At the end of World War II, Audrae’s one and only true love, Fred B. Schreeck, who served in combat in the Army in the European theater, returned home to Baker and proposed to her. They were married on Nov. 7, 1945. Audrae and Fred raised their family in Baker. In 1967, the Schreeck family moved to Audrae’s parents’ farm near Rock Creek where they began raising chickens, sheep, and cattle along with a menagerie of cats, ducks, geese, pigs and a few horses which Audrae loved to ride, just as she had all of her childhood and adult life. Audrae was a naturalist and loved every living creature, with an affinity to nurturing the newborn. She was an active farmer and avid gardener, who one hour would be throwing hay bales off the back of a pickup truck to feed cattle and the next fixing the most delicious lemon cheesecake and homemade rolls you have ever tasted. Her love of the outdoors was highlighted with family outings which included fishing, hunting, camping, mushrooming and picking huckleberries. She also had a passion for poetry, especially poems about nature, and nurtured that love in her children and through them to her grandchildren. Audrae loved her family and demonstrated high moral values and integrity. She experienced great losses during her lifetime, but showcased strength of character in overcoming adversity. She was a woman of great intelligence and was an ardent debater. Late in life, Audrae expressed deep compassion for those in need and also came to believe more in the value of who she was than what she could do or what she owned. We are thankful to her for her love and wisdom. Audrae is survived by her daughters, Shelley (Guy) Hankins of Rochester, Wash., Sherry (Abel) Mendoza of La Grande, and Sarah Susan Schreeck of Hermiston; her sister, Carmel Garrison of Portland; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Audrae was greatly blessed to not only see her grandchildren grow up, but to also know and love her great-grandchildren during her lifetime. She leaves behind six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Audrae was preceded in death by her parents, Wyoma and Walter Coles; her husband of 63 years, Fred; her son, Fred Jr.; and her two brothers. Those who would like to make a contribution in Audrae’s memory may do so under her name through Gray’s West & Company Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814. Suggested contributions are to Heart ’n Home Hospice and Palliative Care of La Grande and/or Union County Walk for Warmth (Community Connection in La Grande). Baker City Herald 5 Feb 2014