Obituaries
From our weekly issue dated September 09, 2009
Howard F. Paul
A memorial service for Howard F. Paul will be held on Saturday, Sept. 19 beginning at 2 p.m. at Valley Evangelical Free Church at 498 Laurel Road, in Cave Junction.
Mildred Gammel
Mildred (Millie) Maxine Gammel, 89, of Cave Junction, died on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009 at Nona’s Place where she resided. A graveside service was held on Monday, Sept. 7, at Laurel Cemetery in Cave Junction.
Mrs. Gammel was born on Nov. 26, 1919 on her grandfather’s farm in Steele City, Neb. She was the third of eight children born to Albert & Amy Pelser.
After her freshman year of high school her mother found work for Mildred and placed her with Ruth & Martin Lee taking care of their young children and doing chores, along with going to high school. This is where she met the love of her life, Henry Gammel, who died in 2005. Mr. Gammel was Ruth Lee’s stepbrother.
When she graduated from high school in 1937 they packed up her family and moved to Prairie City, Ore., with Henry driving all the way with six young girls and his future mother-in-law. On Dec. 18, 1937, Mildred and Henry were married by a Methodist minister in her mother’s living room with only her mother, the minister and his wife as witnesses.
The next morning they packed their belongings and all the money they had ($13) and started hitch-hiking to Los Angeles with a promise of a job from his sister. They found jobs washing dishes in an ice cream parlor and selling newspapers on the street.
During World War II Millie found a job with a Douglas Aircraft plant as a riveter, while Henry was on a ship in the South Pacific. She worked the wing section riveting and assembling bombers. Later she worked for a U.S. Army Air Force Depot as a clerk typist.
In 1948, after their first son was born they moved to Cave Junction where Henry helped build the “new” high school, now Lorna Byrne Middle School. She worked as a bookkeeper for Caves Building Supply and also Cal Gas (now known as Amerigas) from which she retired. She was active in the community and school functions while raising her children in Illinois Valley.
She was a member of the Illinois Valley Garden Club where she held many offices. She was involved with the Home Extension Society in the 1950s and ‘60s. Her hobbies included sewing, gardening and painting.
Surviving are her two sons, Roger Gammel, Cave Junction, and Michael Gammel, of Ontario, Ore.; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Illinois Valley Funeral Directors was in charge of arrangements.
Charles Wesley Alcorn
‘Charlie’
August 3, 1914 – August 14, 2009
- Last of the Arizona Strip Gun Fighters
- U.S. Army Coastal Watcher WWII
- Lumber worker and homebuilder
- And he loved all his Beetles, yeah!
- Charlie is loved and missed greatly, by us all.
- Don’t be too Good, but try and be as Good as you can be!
(Sponsored Memorial)
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