Wallace "Wally" Bogart Obituary (1927 - 2017)

Wallace (Wally) Bogart passed away on April 1, 2017, just 6 weeks shy of his 90 birthday. A memorial service will be held on April 14, 2017 at 11:00 AM at Coles Tribute Center at 1950 Place St., Baker City, Oregon. A reception will be held at Coles Tribute Center directly following the service. Wally was raised near Richland, Oregon, the youngest of 6 children. He attended Eagle Valley High School before running off to the big city of Portland where, as a kid, he worked briefly as a journeyman welder at the St. Johns shipyards. While he had a talent for the work, he didn't stay long. Like many young boys during WWII, he lied about his age and joined the Navy when he was only sixteen. He served in the South Pacific at places like Guadalcanal, Guam and New Caledonia. When he returned to civilian life, he wasn't done with adventure. One story he recently shared was heading off to San Francisco with a friend to join the Merchant Marines to go to Saudi Arabia. It was a much different world in the 1940's, but no matter. As the story goes, the friend went out drinking and lost all their money gambling. Instead of Saudi Arabia, they were soon back in Baker County. In January 1950, Wally married a beautiful young woman named Joene Patricia McEnroe. They raised four children: Steven, Linda, Matthew and Mark. The children were raised in the Bogart home on H Street in Baker, which Wally built almost entirely himself. Wally loved kids, and baseball. He was one of a small group of men who built Wade Williams baseball field and brought Little League baseball to Baker in the early 1960's. Wally coached Little League and Babe Ruth baseball fo 13 years. Wally worked much of his life as a sawyer in saw mills in Burnt River, Baker and Kinzua, Oregon. He had many lifelong friends from the mills and many memories from that era. When the Kinzua mill closed down, Wally and Joene returned to Baker and moved into one of the two historic McEnroe farmhouses outside of Baker. Joene passed away in 1990. Well, life brings surprises, and Wally ran into a force of nature named Geraldine "Geri" Bagenstos. Geri and Wally not only married but had a deep friendship and ability to work together on many projects. They worked on the "Bogart Ranch," repaired old houses in town that they bought together and separately, and cut and hauled many, many loads of firewood (their main source of heat on the ranch) over the years. Wally also worked for a number of years as the entire "maintenance crew" for the City of Haines, 10 miles north of Baker City. He did a little of everything in Haines, a job well suited for a man of many talents. He had many fond memories of Haines and a knowledge of just about everything that ever was connected by pipes, electrical wires, fences, ditches or machinery. Wally's was a life well lived and his family and friends will miss him dearly. He is survived by his wife, Geri, his four children, 11 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. Baker Little League Charity of your choice