February 25, 1930 – January 5, 2023
Obituary
Lila Fern O’Brien was born on February 25th, 1930 in Bemidji, Minnesota, and passed away at the age of 92 on January 5th, 2023 in Medford, Oregon.
Lila was the first child of Edward Lamb and Isla Rogers, and moved at the age of 17 to a logging camp in Hayfork, California where she helped as a camp cook. It was there she met her Don who married her on March 24th, 1947 in Central Valley, California and took her to the family ranch in Bogus Creek, California. Don and Lila had two children, Duane and Ellen. For many years until the children went to high school she helped with the everyday running of the ranch. After the children started high school she went to work at the AAA insurance company as a clerk for many years, traveling the wash boardy road from the ranch to the highway daily. She and Don sold the ranch in 1970 and moved to Montague, where she went to work as the City Clerk of Montague. She also worked for a short period of time for CASA. In 1998 her beloved husband Don passed away and she moved to Eagle Point, Oregon to be closer to her son and grandchildren. She eventually moved to Trail, Oregon where she lived for many years and worked at Rays Market, Shady Cove Market, and Walmart where she retired in 2018.
Lila and Don enjoyed camping at Orr Lake with their friends and taking the grandkids there. In her later years she enjoyed ice cream dates with her great-granddaughter and watching her old westerns on TV such as Gunsmoke (we think she liked Matt Dillon.) She joked that she was looking for a hairy legged old man to dance with but we suspect now she’s dancing again with her Don. She lived a long and full life and was loved by many. She will be greatly missed.
Lila leaves behind her son Duane and his wife Betty, grandson Shaun and his wife Samantha O’Brien, grandson Scott Morris, great-grandkids Kyle, Kobi, Hanzel O’Brien and great-grandkids Tella, Kiefer, Karlie, Zane, Justyne, and Conner Morris. She was predeceased by Don O’Brien, daughter Ellen Atkins, granddaughter Shannon Morris, and many sisters, brothers, cousins, nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 20, 2023 at 2:00 PM at Girdner Funeral Chapel in Yreka. Interment will be in Evergreen Cemetery in Yreka.
