Obit in Wallowa County Chieftain, 30 December 1993, page 2: George Lawrence Potter, 86, died in his home in Joseph on December 22, 1993. He was born November 12, 1907, at Tolo Lake, Idaho, near Grangeville, Idaho. When he was two years old the family moved to Three Hills, Alberta, Canada, where his father homesteaded. They lived there until 1912 when they returned to Camas Prairie near Fenn, Idaho. On July 23, 1912, his mother died during childbirth. During the next few years he and his brothers and sisters followed their father throughout the Seven Devils and Eastern Oregon mining districts as he practiced his trade as a miner. When Lawrence was 13 he was taken in by a widow in Richland. Mrs. Guyer had a large family of her own but she insured that Lawrence was able to finish grade school. After grade school, he went with his father to Cornucopia where he worked in the Last Chance Mine for four years until it closed. In 1925 he came to the Snake River with his father to work some mines near Temperance Creek. He stayed on in the Snake River country for the next six years working for Robinson and Trippier at Temperance Creek, Pete Wilson at Saddle Creek and other Snake River ranchers. In 1931 he started working for the Forest Service on the old Imnaha/Snake district. He and Buck Wilson of Imnaha worked on building the second Hat Point Tower. The first tower was 50 feet high and the new one is 68 feet. For the next 16 years he continued working for the Forest Service spending time at the Mormon Guard Station, Hat Point and other lookout stations along the western rim of the Snake River. In January 1933 he was married to Ilene Thompson in Joseph. For the next 10 years they lived on Little Sheep Creek and The Divide. In 1943 they bought Ilene's mother's place on Little Sheep Creek and lived there until 1991 when they moved to Joseph. During those years on Little Sheep Creek, Lawrence divided his time between ranching, the Forest Service, and working in the timber industry. Lawrence enjoyed the outdoors and was an enthusiastic hunter. He was actively involved with leading 4-H livestock clubs and enjoyed the functions and social gatherings of the Rebekah and Odd Fellows Lodges. In 1961 he was selected as Father of the Year by the Wallowa County CowBelles. He and Ilene were honorary grand marshals of the Mule Days Celebration in 1986. On January 2, 1993, Lawrence and Ilene quietly observed 60 years of marriage and a lifetime of working and enjoying life in a world of unprecedented changes. He is survived by sons, Dale of Joseph, Jay of Hermiston, and Rodney of Salem; eight grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, and other relatives. Ilene preceded him in death on November 5, 1993. Funeral services were held Wednesday, December 29, at the Bollman Funeral Home with interment to follow in the Prairie Creek Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the charity of choice in care of the Bollman Funeral Home.