Avonne “Von” Mae (Hinton) LeaMaster died March 22, 2008. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, March 28, 2008 at the Haines First Baptist Church in Haines, Oregon, officiated by Mr. Clifford Cole. A private family internment will follow at the Haines Cemetery.

Von was born May 4, 1929 in Wallowa to Velma Margaret Davis Hinton Plass and Harry Hinton. She grew up on the family ranch near Crow Creek a few miles northeast of Enterprise. She especially enjoyed spending time with her grandmother, Myrtle Davis. Von and her mother had a special passion for horses and her rural upbringing provided the perfect environment for her to become an expert rider.

As the Great Depression years continued into the latter 1930s, Von’s family moved off of the ranch in search of employment. The family moved several times, but eventually found steady work in Portland.

She attended her first two years of high school at Roosevelt High before moving back to Enterprise, where she completed her senior year and graduated from high school in 1947.

She worked several jobs following high school including secretarial work in San Francisco, hostess/usher at the Paramount Theatre in Portland, and later helped her mother with their restaurant business in La Grande. She soon met Carlus Raymond LeaMaster “Lee,” a sailor on leave visiting family and friends in Eastern Oregon.

They were married July 20, 1951 in Honolulu. The young couple moved several times during the 1950s, but eventually returned home and settled in Haines in 1960 when Lee retired from the Navy.

Von’s was a voracious reader and could devour long novels in just a couple of days. She especially looked forward to family picnics, dinners, gatherings, and visits from friends. If you knocked at her door you would be greeted with a warm smile, a cup of coffee (and perhaps a piece of pie) and an engaging conversation.

Von was preceded in death by her father Harry Hinton, her mother Velma, step father Orville Plass and her husband Carlus. Survivors include half-siblings Thomas Hinton, Milton-Freewater; Sandra Johnson, Wallowa; son Brad R. LeaMaster and his wife Katherine of Dallas, Ore.; daughter Carla Michel and her husband Jim of Meridian, Idaho; and son Blain LeaMaster and his wife Paula, Baker City, Ore.

Those who would like to make a memorial donation in memory of Von, may do so to the Haines School Fund through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home P.O. Box 543 Halfway, OR 97834.