Oct. 27, 1912-Jan. 30, 2002

HERMISTON – The funeral service for Claude L. Speelman will be 11 a.m. Tuesday, in the chapel at Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home, 902 S. Main St, in Milton-Freewater. Private interment will be Wednesday at Mount Hope Cemetery in Baker City.

Mr. Speelman, 90, of Hermiston, died Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003, at St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla.

He was born Oct. 27, 1912, at Haines, Ore., to LeRoy and Lela Cross Speelman.

In 1939, he married Janet Pettie at Weiser, Idaho.

He worked construction and the family moved a lot when the children were young. He later began working on ranches in the Baker City area.

The Speelmans lived at Waitsburg, Wash., for several years until their oldest son died in a sawmill accident in 1959. They then moved to John Day.

Mr. Speelman was preceded in death by his wife in 1966. He later moved to Dayton, Wash. where he married Edna Quigg. She died in 1991.

Mr. Speelman had made his home at Hermiston with his daughter, Lela, and her husband, Don Key.

Survivors include his daughters, Lela Key of Hermiston, and Pat Chappell of Milton-Freewater; son, Michael Speelman of Madras; sisters, Marge McAllister and Lois Moberly, both of Milton-Freewater and Jewel Wright of Nampa, Idaho, 11 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. His son, Joe LeRoy Speelman, died in 1959, and a daughter, Ellen Gayle Speelman, died at birth in 1948.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Shriner’s Hospital through Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home, 902 S. Main, Milton-Freewater, OR 97862.