Susan Joyce Werner

Susan Joyce Werner, 66, of Baker City died Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at her residence. Arrangements have been entrusted to Gray's West & Co. Pioneer Chapel. Susan was born in Montclair, New Jersey and spent her formative years in the Bronx borough of New York City. She attended Hunter College in Manhattan.

After witnessing a fatal mugging outside of her Astoria Queens apartment building in 1981, Sue decided to relocate with her children to what was then called Baker Oregon, where her father Neal 'Doc' Werner was already something of a local character. She immediately fell in love with the town's charm, the patience and kindness of the locals, the availability of parking space, and the majestic mountain scenery.

Sue worked at Burnside's (now Payne) Insurance on Main Street for a decade before returning to school at Eastern Oregon State College. She graduated, with honors, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing in 1995.

Sue spent the next 20+ years of her life working as a registered nurse at the St. Elizabeth Care Center (until they closed), covering shifts at St. Elizabeth's hospital, and until her passing, at the Post Acute Rehabilitation Center in La Grande.

Sue had a passion for helping others, be they her patients, random strangers, or stray animals. She was clandestinely sentimental, collecting and saving every photo, every drawing, every note, and every card that her children, family, and friends ever sent to her. More than anything though, Sue loved to laugh, and her sense of humor could best be described as having an 'east coast' sensibility.

Sue is survived by six siblings, five children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed by everyone who met her.