Margaret Leah Church of Hermiston died on May 10, 2018 at the age of 96.
She was born on Sept. 13, 1921 in Kansas City, Mo. to Joseph and Ellen Moore Pence.
Margaret graduated high school in Kansas City in 1939. She married Claude E. Church Jr. in Kansas City on Jan. 23, 1941. The couple moved to the West Coast because Claude had a job at the Bremerton Navy Yard. After World War II, they returned to the West Coast. In 1956, the family moved to Hermiston.
Margaret was a member of the Faith Presbyterian Church and a charter member of Bloomer Girls Garden Club. She worked in the cafeteria at the old West Park Grade School. Later she was the kitchen supervisor in the old Good Shepherd Hospital cafeteria, where she worked until retiring.
She is survived by her daughters, Margaret Leah Barr of Hermiston and Linda Marie (Reuben Richard) Gettmann of Sandy; grandson, Richard Gettmann of Milwaukie; granddaughters, Sara Amy Gettmann of Port Orchard, Wash. and Leah Cathleen Barr of Peoria, Ill.; three great grandsons; and two sisters in Kansas City.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Claude; her parents; and four brothers.
A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 25, 2018 at Faith Presbyterian Church, 1005 S.E. Ninth St., Hermiston. A private interment was in the Hermiston Cemetery.
To leave an online condolence for the family, go to burnsmortuaryhermiston.com.
Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in care of final arrangements.
