Willard D. Fordice, 87, of North Powder, OR. died Friday, May 16, 1997 at his home.
Mr. Fordice was born August 12, 1909 to Willard B. and Hattie Cole Fordice at Lost Prairie, OR.
On February 23, 1934 he married Lela May Gray in the Methodist Parsonage at Wallowa. The couple homesteaded in the Lost Prairie area before relocating to a ranch on the Grande Ronde River, near Troy. They relocated again, in the 1940s, to the North Powder area where they ranched for nine years prior to moving to North Powder in 1957.
In 1955, Mr. Fordice started driving and maintaining school buses for the North Powder area schools. He was the first custodian of the Little School, which was built in 1961, in North Powder. He drove buses and worked as a custodian until his retirement in 1975.
After retirement, Willard kept busing doing carpentry work and working on numerous local ranches. The last ranch he worked was his brother-in-law's, Gerald Gray. Willard herded cattle during the summer with his dog, Buddy.
Survivors include: wife, Lela, of North Powder, OR; sons, Kenneth Fordice and wife Elsie of Roseburg, OR, Willard Fordice and wife Judy of Hermiston, OR; daughters, Myrna Hale of Dillon, MT, and Sandra Sanders; Seven grandsons; two granddaughters; six great grandsons; four great granddaughters.
Preceded in death by: parents, Willard B. and Hattie Cole Fordice; daughter, Donna Grabill; brothers, Erville and Charles "Dud"; sisters, Elsie Swank and Atta Murrill.
Mr. Fordice was born August 12, 1909 to Willard B. and Hattie Cole Fordice at Lost Prairie, OR.
On February 23, 1934 he married Lela May Gray in the Methodist Parsonage at Wallowa. The couple homesteaded in the Lost Prairie area before relocating to a ranch on the Grande Ronde River, near Troy. They relocated again, in the 1940s, to the North Powder area where they ranched for nine years prior to moving to North Powder in 1957.
In 1955, Mr. Fordice started driving and maintaining school buses for the North Powder area schools. He was the first custodian of the Little School, which was built in 1961, in North Powder. He drove buses and worked as a custodian until his retirement in 1975.
After retirement, Willard kept busing doing carpentry work and working on numerous local ranches. The last ranch he worked was his brother-in-law's, Gerald Gray. Willard herded cattle during the summer with his dog, Buddy.
Survivors include: wife, Lela, of North Powder, OR; sons, Kenneth Fordice and wife Elsie of Roseburg, OR, Willard Fordice and wife Judy of Hermiston, OR; daughters, Myrna Hale of Dillon, MT, and Sandra Sanders; Seven grandsons; two granddaughters; six great grandsons; four great granddaughters.
Preceded in death by: parents, Willard B. and Hattie Cole Fordice; daughter, Donna Grabill; brothers, Erville and Charles "Dud"; sisters, Elsie Swank and Atta Murrill.
Willard D. Fordice, 87, of North Powder, OR. died Friday, May 16, 1997 at his home.
Mr. Fordice was born August 12, 1909 to Willard B. and Hattie Cole Fordice at Lost Prairie, OR.
On February 23, 1934 he married Lela May Gray in the Methodist Parsonage at Wallowa. The couple homesteaded in the Lost Prairie area before relocating to a ranch on the Grande Ronde River, near Troy. They relocated again, in the 1940s, to the North Powder area where they ranched for nine years prior to moving to North Powder in 1957.
In 1955, Mr. Fordice started driving and maintaining school buses for the North Powder area schools. He was the first custodian of the Little School, which was built in 1961, in North Powder. He drove buses and worked as a custodian until his retirement in 1975.
After retirement, Willard kept busing doing carpentry work and working on numerous local ranches. The last ranch he worked was his brother-in-law's, Gerald Gray. Willard herded cattle during the summer with his dog, Buddy.
Survivors include: wife, Lela, of North Powder, OR; sons, Kenneth Fordice and wife Elsie of Roseburg, OR, Willard Fordice and wife Judy of Hermiston, OR; daughters, Myrna Hale of Dillon, MT, and Sandra Sanders; Seven grandsons; two granddaughters; six great grandsons; four great granddaughters.
Preceded in death by: parents, Willard B. and Hattie Cole Fordice; daughter, Donna Grabill; brothers, Erville and Charles "Dud"; sisters, Elsie Swank and Atta Murrill.
Mr. Fordice was born August 12, 1909 to Willard B. and Hattie Cole Fordice at Lost Prairie, OR.
On February 23, 1934 he married Lela May Gray in the Methodist Parsonage at Wallowa. The couple homesteaded in the Lost Prairie area before relocating to a ranch on the Grande Ronde River, near Troy. They relocated again, in the 1940s, to the North Powder area where they ranched for nine years prior to moving to North Powder in 1957.
In 1955, Mr. Fordice started driving and maintaining school buses for the North Powder area schools. He was the first custodian of the Little School, which was built in 1961, in North Powder. He drove buses and worked as a custodian until his retirement in 1975.
After retirement, Willard kept busing doing carpentry work and working on numerous local ranches. The last ranch he worked was his brother-in-law's, Gerald Gray. Willard herded cattle during the summer with his dog, Buddy.
Survivors include: wife, Lela, of North Powder, OR; sons, Kenneth Fordice and wife Elsie of Roseburg, OR, Willard Fordice and wife Judy of Hermiston, OR; daughters, Myrna Hale of Dillon, MT, and Sandra Sanders; Seven grandsons; two granddaughters; six great grandsons; four great granddaughters.
Preceded in death by: parents, Willard B. and Hattie Cole Fordice; daughter, Donna Grabill; brothers, Erville and Charles "Dud"; sisters, Elsie Swank and Atta Murrill.
