Eleanor Marie Franklin Pitts, 81, a former Baker City resident, died April 14, 2006, in Upland, Calif.
Her funeral was held April 21 at Eagle Point. Pastor Lee Gregory of the Medford Neighborhood Church officiated. Internment was in the National Cemetery in Eagle Point beside her husband, a veteran of World War II. Arrangements were by Memory Gardens Mortuary, Medford.
Mrs. Pitts was born in Pendleton on Sept. 7, 1924. She spent her early years in Baker City, attending Baker schools.
She married Elton Best in 1942 and that union produced three children. They were later divorced, at which time she moved to Medford where she met Isaac “Lee-Ike” Pitts. They were married in La Puente, Calif., on May 19, 1962, and made their home in California.
They had two daughters while living in California, and remained there until their girls were grown. They moved back to the Medford area in 1990, and bought a home in Trail, where she lived until Lee’s death in December 1999. She then returned to California to be near her daughter.
Mrs. Pitts worked as a nurse’s aide at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Baker for several years, where she loved working in the maternity ward and caring for the mothers and babies.
Later, after moving to California, she was a Girl Scout leader while her girls were young. She enjoyed needlepoint, cross stitch and playing the organ, which she had learned to play as an adult. She loved gardening and always had lovely flower gardens wherever she lived. She was especially fond of irises and had a large variety of them when she lived in Baker City.
However, her real love was her family and she would talk about them to anyone who was willing to listen. Her children were her pride and joy and meant everything to her.
She is survived by three daughters, Debra Adams of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Elaine Vail of Idaho and Lynda Geyer, Navarre, Fla.; one son, Jerry Best of McMinnville; one brother, Virgil Franklin of Medford, and two sisters, Velma Keeling of Medford and Alberta Bailey of Baker City; nine grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild with another on the way.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Lee, an infant daughter, Darlene, and four brothers, Tom, Dudley, Leo and Marvin Franklin.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, April 28, 2006
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor
