Clem Shreffler, 96, of Prairie City, a former Baker City resident, died Feb. 6, 2006, at Prairie City.
His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Pastor Darrell Johnson of Grace Chapel at Prairie City and Ed Niswender of Calvary Baptist Church at Baker City will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will until 7 o’clock tonight at the funeral home.
Clem E. Shreffler was born to Ferd and Mary Shreffler in Culdesac, Idaho, on Feb. 22, 1909. Clem was the fourth of six children in the family. At the age of 5, Clem and the family moved from Culdesac to Durkee.
When Clem was 10, the family moved from Durkee to Baker City, where he completed the eighth grade and then worked a variety of labor and carpentry jobs over several years to help support the family. Clem eventually found a job with the Moura Sheep Ranch at Durkee, where he continued to work for several years.
In 1932, Clem met the love of his life, Lucille Justice of Enterprise. They were married on April 8, 1933. Together they worked their way through the Great Depression, Clem as a sawyer at the Oregon Lumber Co., and Lucille as a bookkeeper for Montgomery Ward. On July 11, 1936, their first child, Dale, was born. Nearly four years later, on July 1, 1940, their second child, Nancy, was born.
Throughout World War II, Clem worked construction as a pipefitter and carpenter in the Vancouver shipyards and also at the Umatilla Army Depot. Occasionally the family moved with him, but eventually they settled down again at Baker City and Clem once again found a job with the Oregon Lumber Co.
It was during this time that the family became members of the Calvary Baptist Church, where they continued to worship and serve for several years.
In 1962, Clem and Lucille headed south to Burns where Clem was transferred to a job working at the Edward Hines Lumber Co. While there, their strong faith brought them to the First Baptist Church at Burns where they taught Sunday School. Clem became the church’s Sunday School bus driver. In 1974, at the age of 65, Clem and Lucille decided it was time to retire and reconnect with their longtime friends in Baker and the Calvary Baptist Church. They felt the move to Baker City was the right thing to do, but over the years they often missed their friends and the church they left behind in Burns.
Throughout his life, Clem was known by his family and friends for many things, including his faith in God, his wonderful sense of humor, his love of fishing, and his strong stand as a conservative Republican. While he made it through only the eighth grade, his education did not stop there. Clem was self-taught in many aspects of his life and reading was a passion.
His home was always filled with books on numerous subjects, including everything from “do it yourself” to history to various novels. He also could be counted on as a master craftsman who performed perfect carpentry work. His meticulous work could be seen in everything from his shop organization, to his tool care, to his finished projects.
Tragedy struck the family on April 19, 1989, when their son, Dale, was killed in a vehicle accident. Five years later, Lucille died at their home on March 24, 1994.
In 2001, at age 92, Clem moved to Prairie City to live with his daughter, Nancy, and her husband, Ed Akers.
He also is survived by six grandchildren, including grandsons Bret Akers and his wife, Tami, of Richland, Wash., Lyn Akers and his wife, Sheri, of Richland, Ore., Scott Shreffler of Napa, Calif., Craig Shreffler of Pasadena, Calif., and granddaughters, Carol Waggoner and her husband, Ron, of Prairie City, and Susan Bradforth and her husband, Steve, of Pasadena, Calif.; 15 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Blue Mountain Hospice through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR, 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, February 10, 2006
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor
