Lela Key

HERMISTON Lela E. Key, 68, of Hermiston died Friday, March 25, 2011, at her home. Funeral services will be Thursday, March 31 at 2 p.m. at the Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home in Milton-Freewater. Private interment will be in the Weston Cemetery.  

Mrs. Key was born Dec. 4, 1942, in Baker City to Claude L. and Janet Petit Speelman. She started her schooling in Keating, and then moved with her family to Waitsburg, Wash., at the age of 14, where she attended Waitsburg High School. While she was in school, she worked for her mother in her café. In 1963 she married Don Key in Waitsburg. 

She received her nursing degree at St. Mary Hospital in Walla Walla in 1964.  After receiving her nursing degree, she and her husband moved to their Morrow County Line address in Oregon to farm and raise their family. The couple lived there for 45 years. She worked for the Hermiston Medical Center for 40-plus years as an LPN.

Mrs. Key is survived by her husband Don Key; son Joe Key of Umatilla; daughters Christy Kennedy of Hermiston, Dawn Trumbull of Richland, Wash., and Denise Lemmer of West St. Paul, Minn.; brother Michael Speelman of Madras; sister Pat Chappell of Milton-Freewater; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her brother Joe, and parents Claude and Janet. 

Memorial contributions may be made to the Shrine Hospital in Spokane, Wash., through the Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home, 902 S. Main, Milton-Freewater, OR 97862.