Muddy Creek, Oregon
Alice Helen Williams Loennig, 93, a longtime Muddy Creek community resident, died Feb. 27, 2004, at Yuma, Ariz., while visiting her daughter, Sally Ganter.
Alice suffered a fall while watering her petunias, survived hip surgery and a heart attack, but did not have the strength to completely recover.
There will be a celebration of Alice’s life at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 27, at the Haines United Methodist Church. Pastor Sally Wiens will officiate. Private burial will be at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Alice was born at Terre Haute, Ind., on July 3, 1910, to Ralph and Carla Belt Williams. When she was 3, the family moved to North Powder. Her childhood years were spent at Rock Creek, Enterprise, Wallowa, Reseda, Calif., Hermiston and Van Nuys, Calif., where she graduated from high school in 1928.
She received her degree from UCLA in 1932 and returned to live with her parents, who then lived at Mount Carmel. She taught Grades 6-7 at North Powder for one year, then taught at Haines High School for three years. She lived with the Carl Loennigs at Haines and this was where she met William Roger Loennig.
Alice and Roger were married on Dec. 21, 1935, at the Baker Hotel. They moved into a new home on the ranch given to them by Roger’s parents. Alice continued to live at the ranch home until her trip to Yuma.
Alice was a member of the Haines United Methodist Church and the Rock Creek-Muddy Creek Mutual Improvement Club all her married life. She was a 50-year member of PEO and was active in the PTA, 4-H and Eastern Star.
She enjoyed sewing, needlecrafts, ceramics, china painting and gardening — especially her spring tulips and daffodils. She was always particular about her home and yard and wanted things to be neat and clean and well-kept. She enjoyed reading and was always interested in what was going on in the world.
Alice and Roger enriched their retirement years by wintering in Yuma, Ariz., for 13 years. They also enjoyed traveling and pulled a trailer through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize in 1975.
They visited Sally, an Army nurse, in South Korea and Germany and traveled through the Netherlands, southern England, France, Switzerland and Austria. Visits to Alaska and Hawaii completed Roger’s goal to travel to all 50 states.
Survivors include her children and their spouses, Alice Anne and Norris Faringer of Yakima, Wash., Bill and Beverly Loennig of Haines and Sally Beatrice and Jim Ganter of Shelton, Wash., and Yuma, Ariz.; granddaughter, Felicia Anne Faringer and her husband, Chris Babin; grandson, Scott Norris and his wife, Helen Faringer; great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Mary Faringer, and stepgreat-grandsons, Nick and Alex Gosseen, all of Yakima, Wash.; her brother and sister-in-law, Volney and Ruth Williams of Las Vegas, Nev.; sister-in-law, Margaret Williams of Richland, Wash.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Roger, and her brothers, Ralph and Ross Williams.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Haines United Methodist Church Building Fund or a charity of one’s choice.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, March 19, 2004
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor
