Lou Wauna Ruth Ogburn passed away on Nov. 17, 2018 at home, of natural causes. A viewing will be held from 5-7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 20th at Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel in Payette. Services will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 21st at Christian Life Fellowship in Ontario. Burial will follow at 2 p.m. at Riverside Cemetery, Payette. Services are under the direction of Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel, Payette. Condolences may be made to Lou Wauna’s family at www.shaffer-jensenchapel.com.
Lou Wauna was born in the small Indian village of Siletz, OR on May 31, 1933 to Harry and Nan Downey; a lumberjack. Shortly after, Harry was called to the ministry of the Assembly of God to be a missionary in Africa; so Mom and her two older brothers, Burg and Earl, spent five years, age three through eight, in the heart of, then, Belgian Congo of Africa. Lots of Stories!
While Mom’s parents were away in Africa, she lived with her grandparents in Salem; working in the berry fields for extra money. When her parents came back to pastor at the Ontario Assembly of God, she was introduced to the Treasure Valley, reluctantly. But, she came to love this area and decided to stay when her parents went back to Africa, again.
Mom married Paul Ogburn in Oct. of 1954, moved to New Plymouth, and helped Paul farm. While helping raise feed crops, chickens, and dairy cows, she found time to raise a family of four; Paul Jr., Dave, Sandy, and Bryan. The family moved to Payette in 1965. In 1967, they sold the dairy and started row cropping exclusively. In 1968, Mom started weighing beet trucks for Amalgamated Sugar for extra money and stayed with it for 41 years.
With the children grown, Dad built Mom a cabin on West Mountain in Cascade in 1982. They spent many weekends, winters, and later, years, snowmobiling, entertaining guests, and gathering wood.
Lou Wauna is survived by her husband of 64 years, Paul; daughter Sandy (Greg) Baskett; sons Paul Jr. (Beverly), Dave (Charlotte) and Bryan (Jo); 12 grandchildren and 29 great grandchildren.
