Edith Flower Sept. 23, 1925-March 18, 2013

Edith (Turner) Gorham Flower passed away peacefully at her home in Irrigon surrounded by her family on March 18, 2013 at the age of 87.

She was born Sept. 23, 1925 at Medical Springs to Oliver and Nina (Haynes) Turner. She and her twin sister, Alice, each fit in the palm of their father’s hand when born at the home of a relative on the way to the hospital.

She attended and graduated from Union High School, training her senior year at NYA School in Pendleton to work at the Umatilla Army Depot during the war. A year later, she married her returning soldier, Gordon Gorham, and moved to the family farm in North Powder where five children were born.

They were divorced 25 years later and Edith returned to school at Baker Business College, earning a degree in business while working at the Democrat Herald in Baker. She then moved to Halfway and worked as a secretary at Pine Valley High School in 1967. Edith returned to work a year later at the Umatilla Army Depot in Hermiston. During her career, she also worked for the Army Corps of Engineers in Pomeroy, Wash., and Cascade Locks, as well as the city of Stanfield and the city of North Powder until her retirement in North Powder. She married Charles Flower in Stanfield in 1970. Mr. Flower died in 2001 and Edith relocated to Irrigon to live near her daughter.

Edith was devoted to her family, enjoyed flowers, gardening, camping, fishing, and hunting. She had a great sense of humor and shared her home and love with many children throughout her life. It was well known that if you visited Edith you were always strongly encouraged to enjoy a meal which she would prepare at a moment’s notice. She was a lifelong member of the Wolf Creek Grange in North Powder, had been a Boy Scout and 4-H leader, taught Sunday School at the North Powder Methodist Church, often served as classroom mother for her children, and supported and enjoyed her son’s and grandchildren’s many athletic events throughout their school years; she rarely missed an event no matter how far she needed to travel to attend.

She was preceded in death by her parents and husbands; brothers, Clyde and Alford (Bud) Marsh; twin sister, Alice Eft; sister, Rosemary Krause; infant daughter, Jacqueline; sons, Donald and Gordy Gorham; and grandson, Gordy Gorham Jr.

She is survived by her son, Robert (Suzanne) Gorham of Forest Grove; daughter, Kathy (Elias) Mendoza of Irrigon; brothers, Forrest (Nellie) Turner of Union, Jim (Joyce) Turner of Elgin, and brother-in-law, George Eft of Hermiston; sisters-in-law, Linda (Don) Silva and Marsha (Gordy) Bruner; grandchildren, Lynne (Tim) McCormick of Culver, Jacque (Troy) Walker of Salem, Krista (Troy) Donahue of Keizer, Angela (Craig) Nelson of La Grande, Ben (Lisa) Gorham of Vernonia, Chris Pulse of Forest Grove, Rebecca Davison-Stitzel (Rebecca Morehead) of Spokane, Wash., Jennifer Davison of Adams, and Frank Jauregui of Irrigon; 15 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom she loved as her own.

Graveside services will be held on Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 1 p.m., at the North Powder Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Vange John Memorial Hospice, 645 W. Orchard Ave., Suite 300, Hermiston, 97838, or to Stokes Landing Senior Center, 195 N.W. Opal Place, Irrigon, 97844, or to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Attn: Memorial/Honor Program FH, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn., 38105-1905.

Please send condolences at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com

Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in care of arrangements.