Cecil Harley McCormick, 82

Cecil Harley McCormick, 82, of Careywood, Idaho, passed away on May 10, 2005.

Graveside services with full military honors will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, may 21, at Hilltop Cemetery in Nyssa, Ore., with Pastor John Barnhart of Bonanza, Ore., officiating.

Cecil was born May 11, 1922, the third child of William and Sarah McCormick of Seibert, Colo. He grew a child of the dust bowl era on the flat plains of eastern Colorado. He graduated from Seibert High School in 1939 and entered Western Union College in Iowa, where he trained in radio technology.

Cecil joined the Army Air Force in July 1943, where he operated radio on the B-24 and served as waste gunner, flying 24 missions in the Pacific theater until the end of the war. He received his honorable discharge in November 1945.

On Christmas Day of 1945, Cecil married Esther Simon of Seibert, Colo. They moved to Denver, where he worked at Gate Rubber Company until he won a homestead drawing in 1948, offered to World War II veterans under the Soldier-Sailor Act. He then moved his wife and small son to his new homestead site along he Snake River and under the territorial rim rock landmark south of Adrian in eastern Oregon, where he and his wife converted the small patch of sagebrush and cheat grass into an eden for their three children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews who frequently visited.

In 1952, Cecil and Esther moved his parents from eastern Colorado to be near them on their farm in Oregon until their deaths. Though the old homestead is in different hands now, it is often referred to as the McCormick Ranch, and to his children and grandchildren, it will always be "home."

Cecil farmed his homestead and raised and milked dairy cows, pouring his heart and energy into the love of his life. He was active for years in the Holstein Friesian Association, and instilled in his three children a love for livestock and farming as well. He encouraged them and supported them in their local 4-H and FFA projects, and many were the blue and purple ribbon awards he proudly watched them achieve.

His emphasis was on a strong work ethic and moral character have become building blocks for generations to come.

Declining health forced him to sell his small farm and move to Careywood to be near his daughter and son-in-law in 2000. There, his three children built them a small "honeymoon home," where they have been residing prior to his death.

Cecil enjoyed the camaraderie of his local friends and neighbors and became known for his "gift of gab." Although he was unable to reciprocate our love and affection in his later years, he was, and is, greatly loved by family and friends.

Cecil was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Celia Johnson of Powell, Wyo.; a brother, Judson McCormick of Denver, Colo. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, two sons, Ron McCormick of Redding, Calif., and Brian McCormick of Lebanon, Ore.; a daughter, Carol Ann Barnhart of Careywood; 12 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the Spokane Veterans Medical Center in Spokane, Wash.

Arrangements are under the care of Coffelt Funeral Service of Sandpoint, Idaho.